Arts & Living Landscape
Malham Moor is a living landscape - one under the protection of the National Park for its unique landscape features, its wildlife and habitats but also one that is farmed, has a history, supports communities and their economies and at the same time welcomes visitors for learning and recreation. Learning is so much more than the acquisition of knowledge. It can be the discovery of what you don't know that you know. It can be discovery of self, of nature and of the meaning of life. Recreation too is so much more than we often assume - not just a matter of getting fresh air and exercise but really to recreate one's self.
For some that can come about through activity and contact with nature. For others, such deeper exploration takes them into the realm we call art and perhaps, through art, to awakening of deeper perceptions.
|
Tony Heald is one artist that has used Malham Moor as an inspiring environment for his own art(above and some of gallery left) and High Trenhouse for courses. Malham is one of the most popular "resorts" for the painter for over a century. Perhaps you would like to bring an art group to High Trenhouse? see our Leisure page or contact Bernadette Schutte, as below. |
It is said that the eye is the window of the soul. By opening oneself to what nature offers, nature can reveal to you who you truly are. Here in this remarkable place it becomes possible through art - through drawing and painting, through sculpture, movement and drama, through writing and performance - to discover much of what really makes meaning in our lives.
Learning an art, then, can also be to learn to be. One can discover the extent of one's own ignorance, of how one sees things in limiting ways and how this can be transcended to open the doors of perception in which your senses are extended to embrace an every richer world of meaning.
Beyond the artist's approach, there are other means of addressing personal development. Our words for healing, wholeness and health are closely linked. There is little doubt that the fragmentary nature of our modern world, the pressures many people are under and the destructive aspects of city life, make it highly desirable to find time for an occasional retreat. This can be a low-key affair, no more than a healthy relaxing break, or it can be a serious attempt to find a new order in one's life.
Simple exercises in imagination, contemplation and meditation coupled with the time and space to reflect, can have profound healing effects. Drawing on often ancient teachings and powerfully translating these to the modern world, management consultants, therapists, teachers and shamans can help people to find deeper meaning in their lives.
At High Trenhouse we understand the needs of artists and teachers who need a sympathetic ambience for their work and also the needs of their clients who need space and time to be.
Article by John Varney on serious play.
