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Monday, March 28, 2011

Sculpture and Home

It goes against the stereotype of the chaotic artist, but in order to create, my life needs to be pretty quiet. Dare I say it? Even boring.

Academy Award nominated filmaker, Courtney Hunt talks elequently about how her home in East Chatham, NY. preserves and fosters her creativity.

“My mind is a very busy place, so I need to be in a place that is not. 

I love the wide-open spaces here. They make me feel clear, as if I have more room to think. 

Right now I’m working on a project for Focus Features and sometimes I find myself sitting at the window, just watching. It’s like a movie: always in motion. A squirrel darts across the yard. The mail carrier passes. A rabbit emerges. And always, the change in seasons provides a constant show. 

We don’t watch a lot of TV here but during big rainstorms we’ve watched little tree frogs drop to the ground. And during snow storms, we’ve observed the white as it gathers, layer upon layer, all around us. This kind of quiet is hard to describe. As is a star-filled sky. The other night I was awakened by the sound of a hooting owl. This is not the city."

Interviewed by Bethany Lyttle from the NYTimes article, House Tour: East Chatham, NY. 3/24/2011.

1 comment:

Susan Gallacher-Turner said...

I totally agree with you, the importance of quiet is so hard to explain to others, sometimes. I love how Courtney describes sitting by the window and just watching. It's those moments of nothing in which something emerges. I think we all know it, but we don't all acknowledge it. Did you see my little poem on moss gathering on my blog...that's what I was talking about.