Homecoming

Piano, Strings, Bassoon, Marimba, and Guitar.

 

·  I Am My Home  ·

This World, Alive

 

•    •    •

 

Home: my ancestral land; a place I was born; a place I live; a place I feel I belong; a place I return to; a place I yearn for.

•

The idea of home is an experience as much as a physical place.

I can be alone or at home in the company of another, in how I act, or what I do.

I was taken from my first home at the age of one and a half for my safety and care. I lived in the homes of strangers until I was almost four when my aunts offered their home as mine. I have felt at home in places where I have not spoken the language of those whose homes I have shared. I have felt at home under the stars as much as in a house with solid walls. I feel at home by the sea, in woodland and wilderness, on mountain, by river, in heat and wind.

I love those I feel most at home with. Those who accept the way I live and the different rooms of my mind, some tidy, others not, large, small, high, low, simply furnished, or wall to wall with pictures, objects, music, books and more.

Home is all these things, but most a place where my body and spirit are at equal ease. For those I love my home is theirs.

•

The sounds of Spain, Portugal, and Latin America have always been close to my heart. This music is a piece that touches on my aural heritage of the Iberian Peninsula. A place where sounds from many cultures merge, where passion and rhythm evoke movement and dance. I let this spirit take centre stage as I play unbridled with my thoughts of friendship and love. With the piano my arms stretch wide as I embrace its sounds, with the guitar my body enfolds the instrument in a more protective gesture. The bassoon brings breath, and the strings, an insistent force that is supported by the round and welcome tones of the marimba. All come together in the music's centre as if an extended family at home. The piece then returns to the sounds of the piano, enriched by its meeting and community.

•

The artwork shows the rich colours of sun drenched earth, sand, sea, and animal forms. I look from far above at the rugged, magical, mysterious shoreline below. The shapes and textures are elemental and symbolic of my love of nature, and of my wider sense of home. It is as if I return after a long voyage, when this my homecoming, my place of belonging, is to make.

A full size extract of the artwork follows...