This past spring I had the experience of attending a collage workshop with Nick Bantock called “Delivered by accident in twilight”. The bonus is that it occured in Spain. We “used” the workshop as a reason to travel and it was well worth the jet lag.

Some of the concepts I learned with Nick:

• the idea of accident in collage, the layers of meaning
• how to work small > collage in a four inch space!
• collage first, story second >story can evolve out of the visual if you let it
• art is an attempt at truth
• ask for what you want
• my art goes where my words can’t
• picture = story > images and objects within = nouns
• duende

Duende is a big one. The Spanish poet Lorca spoke of it.  Nick described it as the spirit of the earth + your passion and creativity, awful in its magnificence.

While in Sevilla, we “found” Duende right outside our hotel.

We laughed and laughed.

Duende found us.

It’s a dead end alley with bars on the windows

which just goes to show

there’s more going on on the inside that the outside.

Goethe said duende is “A mysterious power that all may feel and no philosophy can explain.”

It’s a concept I’m going to research more and maybe search for.

One more thing Nick said: “Art should be a combination of the bordello and the temple.”

More duende?