Living through my values

An arts organisation that will serve as a platform for emerging artists through events and short documentaries got in touch. They said “We want our work to be about people and socially relevant”. The questions they asked are as follows;-

• What do you care about in the world (this could be related to ideas of politics/ art/ culture or any social topic)

• Why do you make art

I was delighted to respond as this is core to my soul purpose in the life and always has  been, however my approach has changed in recent years. I have always cared about this planet especially environmental and social issues. It was my specialism as in both my professional roles as a Consultant and as Lecturer/Professor in the Universities where I taught along with International Liaison Group. These two roles go hand in hand as it is only through Global communication, discussion and sharing of ideas that we can evolve new ideas and inspire ourselves into a new way of living,

 When I started my life as a Designer/Artist I would not believe that what i’m doing now is right, as I thought protest and agitation was the path to change, now I see that creates more of the same energy.  ‘Yes’ my work is socially engaged in that the core of my work is about soul conscious awareness, my own journey and the other aspect is the fact that I work with others on the path as co-creation allows me to work on projects bigger than an individual ever could to achieve more awareness….change.

London Design Festival

 

Now, I believe the change within the individual affects their the outer journey ,we actually send out a frequency of energy. (Like attracts like). Wherever my soul is now is a magnet of attraction , as pure energy it creates. Therefore,  high vibrational practices in my life, my beliefs and thoughts will manifest into my life meeting likeminded souls each one raising the collective vibration manifesting for the highest good of ourselves, our families, communities and this world it is here we can create a real lasting impact. Following my soul purpose is not easy, however being off the path is harder and in the end leaves me feeling lost and isolated from my self.

Truth and integrity is woven into my art and design through my practice and that work is with all kinds of creative souls , including my sister Jennifer Dutton and Angie Brew who Co Founded Sky Lark Arts (Wellbeing through the Arts) collaborating with other organisations like Lyndons Arts Trust and University of the Arts London and Thinking Through Drawing  .  I have set up a number of  Social Enterprises because I believe that social change needs to reflect our core values, soul by soul through inner work and co-creating with others: believing in our own unique talents and qualities as individuals. Its time for us to show up in the world.  There are times when I would rather hide…yet, that is not really an option the gift of a physical life and the choices I make each day, are always creating the next step. So I ask ? What to manifest? How to face difficult situations? Do I heal or harm this planet other the other souls on it?

Exhibition ‘Angels’, Art Installation ‘Wings’ and projects including the IMAGINE Workshops from last summer, Oxford 2016 at Peace in the Park, Global Retreat Centre… also showed some of this work at London Design Festival, Oxo Tower on the Southbank.

 ‘Angels’ with Ginger Gilmore (Wife of Pink Floyd’s Guitarist David Gilmore) , who is an artist making sculptures of angels and  writer of the ‘Light side of the moon‘. My work was about the fact that we can all be Angels, through Random Acts of Kindness to ourselves and others…we can be powerful agents for transformation.

Peace in the Park…Imagine,Big Love, meditation

wings Instalation and Paintinfs by Kathleen Dutton and sculpture by Ginger Gilmore

Wings Dragon fly and Angel wings in a field This was the Installation i created 2 sets of wings each with approx 9 ft wing span and people did selfies in front of them.

(Watch my You Tube Video if you feel you’d like to hear more, why I changed the tone of my work from a negative to positive mindset, especially with projects directly related to social change. Clients: Friends of the Earth and other Eco Businesses charities and organisations in the 80’s and 90’s). 

Teaching and learning is integral to my the work I do, and the companies and organisations I work with too, with a focus on Creativity, Wellbeing and Environmental Issues, from Campaigns for Friends of the Earth,  Pollution in HK, also Research and some International projects that bring different people and ideas together around the globe:- UK, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan.  Whether at Conran Design Group or as Independent Artist/Creative Director and all through my life I always found third sector work and integrated it with corporate life with from Annual Reports for at a discounted rate or free, to Corporate Social Responsibility expressed through the 4 c’s;-  Creativity, Compassion, Catalyst and Consultancy all go together in my world.  I have some Guest Lecturing spots coming up in Malaysia and China for 2018 that focus on bringing this vision together.

My sister and I have done something since the first Women of the World Event a UK-based festival that celebrates the achievements of women and girls as well as looking at the obstacles they face across the world. It seeks to inspire new generations of young women and girls.The festival was founded in 2010 by Jude Kelly and contains arts and science programmes and has now spread internationally. It takes place in early March around International Women’s Day. This year we were at the Southbank talking rubout sisterhood, social change and soul consciousness.

IMAGINE – Illustrated cards with questions and some fun ideas for  interactive workshops that explore and share ideas  …What is your Utopian vision? Do you want Star Trek Style Utopian, values based future or are we as a planet going to be  more like Star Wars with fighting and the survival of the fittest. We have a choice…we are the change we want to make in the world. Art is social engaged whether we are passive or not…we creative the collective consciousness.

I did words and image for the IMAGINE workshops

We are them. Ha ha … One of the female artists interviewed by Sky TV and on BBC about ART World Sexism with Artfinder at the beginning of this year a cheerful gathering despite the rain and got some publicity a dialogue going about some of these issues.

 

Last night before i went to bed in my mediation I asked for guidance for my next project to expand this idea of awareness through a mindful creative campaign and that night I dreamt some lively dreams of working with some of the people i worked with over the years to expand the ‘Angels on the tube idea’. In less than 12 hours I was at an Event Points of Light talking to Jeremy Sinclair  at the seeds from Advertising Agency M & C Saatchi  about creating a brief, luckily he is interested in the idea at least, so that is the seed, today he talked about his creative work and creating something out of nothing it was very interesting at the as a teaches of Philosophy at the London School of Economics this poses an interesting idea of creating a campaign around our collective consciousness, it is not selling anything physical. Time for some deep silent reflection to see what emerges. I really liked hearing Salina Ahmed from Inspirited Minds talking about soul purpose in such a clear and wonderful way.

 

‘London Design Week’ ‘Create’ & …pause

 

London Design week at Oxo was a lot of fun and free events throughout the building from the designers and artists within, amongst these I facilitated a guided meditation, showed my books on mediation that guide you through the process step by step …then a talk about how my work had evolved and changed. Especially over the last 5 years looking for a bit of peace within these challenging times.  September was a busy month with a lot of  new challenges and opportunities coming up in life, therefore have been developing more local links forging new relationships to further develop the idea  over 3 years ago Titled ‘Create’ developing internal strategies to create a new vision working with others in Creative Industries, Community, Corporate and within Education networks  At the same time also looking at investment outside the UK.

This is a time where the direction and changes for me really need to be connected to my values whilst stepping out of my bubble, moment feels very challenging. The other thing is I’m enthusiastic about is Create Space London in North west London, it will be old tech with Silk screen, Bookbinding and Woodwork and Metalwork and Ceramic workshops meets new with its doors opening to the community as well as working with a team of artists and there will be a lot of exciting things happening there when it opens at the end of  October beginning of November. Will post more as this evolves.

Never has it been more important for me to set aside quiet time to connect to inner peace and the qualities of the soul that emerge through that connection. Allowing life steps to emerge day by day, one small step at a time. I have paused this year on my daily sharing of an illustration a day to really focus on my own inner growth quietly within my own space to reflect, grow and listen. It’s not possible with lots of stuff ‘pinging’ at every other  moment on social media…so i pause.

Saying that, I’m still very busy I will be doing an event tomorrow evening with two fellow guests Loretta Mccabe Angelic Healing and Chandana’s Reiki offering Tasters at this Special Event night I will do an intuitive reading with Zen Tarot plus some of my own cards and a bit of mediation guidance at a wonderful bookshop OffSide books.

I will be featured artist at Skylark Galleries at the End of October too, sharing some of my light works collection. See Below.

 “Each day I do meditation then shared an illustration on my meditation page and social media for 5 years. A few minutes of stillness brought clarity, calm that stays It also became projects and new energy in my life”

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