Firstly, a note of gratitude: thank you so much to everyone who donated so generously to the campaign to save St Johns Fields. If you still want to support, the fund is still open here - and just a few pounds from everyone would go a long way to help the fight to protect nature. Not sure what I’m talking about? Check out my previous post on the power of community here.
Now, on with the show.
Somewhere on a farm in rural Essex, my godfather wiles away the days in his workshop, creating works of art.
He builds complex automatons and intricate fantasy castles, all out of bits of driftwood and and old reclaimed materials he finds on his walks.
Back in the spring, I spent a day with him in his workshop, documenting his process and his reflection on his life’s work.
There’s something particularly fascinating to me about an artisan who continues to put the hours of work into his craft in a world in which tech juggernauts are desperate to sell us the dream of ‘creating’ art and music and film using AI. The dream of removing every part of the production process, the thousands of hours of trying and failing and getting frustrated and learning and improving.
The importance of this friction to the human spirit cannot be underestimated. This desire to create - to learn how to create - is what has built human culture for the last 10,000 years. To claim that we can do away with all skill and time commitment and still achieve the same output is to miss the point of creation entirely.
Yet here is a man in his eighties, still putting in the time to hone his craft, to allow himself to make mistakes, not because he is desperate to reach the finish line but because the process of creation is what makes him feel. To top it all off? His art is just for him and his family. He doesn’t sell a thing. He creates for the pleasure of creating.
He is, of course, inspired by nature. He’s inspired by the unpredictable nature of the elements. His work, as a result, has a uniquely organic feel.
Personally, I love it. And I’m proud of the film I made. If you’re watching on Substack, check out the link above. If you have any trouble accessing, there’s a YouTube link below.
If you enjoyed it, please drop a like or a comment or share it. I’d love to create more work like this and when people engage with films it really helps small artists like me.
