Creativity is something that many of us need to be reminded about.  Through creativity we can connect with our hearts. We can also pray or mediate, that's good too but for so many, it's an alien idea! So I like to open the door through 'creativity'. We are all able to communicate from our hearts through any creative media we choose - if we are able to tap into that gift then we are artists in one form or another, able to inspire, share & communicate with love, forgiveness & hope for the good of humanity, our Mother Earth and above all, God. I can truthfully say I am guided by my dreams and spirituality is at the heart of those.

 

I didn't study art at school, I doodled a lot. I loved fantasy books & a favourite childhood story was written & illustrated by Patrick Woodroffe...Tinker, the Adventures of a Hole-Eating Duck. http://www.patrickwoodroffe-world.com/books.htm

 

I kept doodling & one day in 1991 crossed paths with a young upcoming product design graduate who taught me the most simple thing in the world, how to draw a straight line with panache! For the next 3 months he sent me to galleries & museums & set me projects & as a result, I was accepted onto an Art Foundation course at Croydon College. The tutor didn't believe that I had no prior art education.

 

I didn't take the place. My path changed direction & I went off & had more life changing experiences - some ecstatic, some traumatic. I spent time travelling, meeting people, working & living abroad, observing, living life & enjoying it.

 

I met my italian husband in 1996 (www.MrPeace.org). He comes from a family of musicians & is a natural with a guitar having been instructed by his grandfather who himself was a well known musician in his home town.

My husband came to the UK looking to djay & I promoted him for a few years - he played all the big London clubs & I used my creativity to make his cd covers, designed logos & enjoyed making  decor for a few club nights - backdrops mainly & banners.

 

Kids came along and djaying was slowly replaced by music production and I started to develop my own interests some more. In 2005, my creativity led me to take an AS level in Art & Textiles at SCOLA in Sutton. It wasn't my intention, I'd joined a creative sewing class to learn how to repair a jacket and week after week I brought in different bits & pieces I needed help with & one day brought in some folders of my artwork & designs.

 

The tutor suggested I take the AS Level in Art & Textiles, which started the next day & as I felt ready to get my teeth into something more juicy, I signed up. Only 4 out of the original 12 completed the course & I was one of them. That felt great - a very positive experience. I chose Spirals as the theme for my coursework & for the exam I created a project entitled 'The Six Point Star - An Occult Symbol to be Feared or a Divine Symbol of Truth & Light?' (Of course it's the latter!)

The spiral of creativity continued as I began making more & knitting & fiddling with wires & beads & embellishing vases & working with flowers, photography, reusing & recycling to recreate anything I felt like. If I stopped creating, I became quite moody! I couldn't ignore the feeling of wanting to work with others & do group projects & then, in October 2007, I met Victoria Nunn.

 

I was flicking through the local Sutton Events Guide & Text Fest was on. A local scriptwriting workshop at Charles Cryer Studio Theater caught my eye & I booked myself on it immediately, paying the £15 over the phone. Good job I didn't stop & think about it first or I wouldn't have signed up as the week it was running was a hectic one, my husband was working odd hours & it would be tricky with the kids. I just trusted that if I was doing the right thing, it would happen easily.

 

Victoria was the Community Arts Officer for LB Sutton and she was one of 5 on the course. Shortly after the course was over, I received an email from Victoria, who was wondering whether any home educating groups I knew may be interested in having artists run workshops for them as part of a community art project (we had made the decision to home educate the kids in September 2007)

In my reply I mentioned that I made art & textiles so she asked to come & see my work. We talked about her aims for the project and the possibility of me running sessions with a group in Sutton, run by Friends of the Elderly. We arranged to meet after the New Year.

 

Also around the same time, my husband & I were considering a move to Italy. His job here wasn't going well, his manager wasn't particularly friendly & he'd had enough. We headed to Italy, he had some interviews & there were possibilities but at the end of the day, it didn't feel right.

Another chance meeting meant we visited a rather unique little village on our trip to Italy, and it was there that we decided to stay in the UK but change the way we did things.

 

We were at the top of an ancient hilltop town, built in rocks, called Calcata when we made our decision to change our lives completely & pursue our creative passions, his being musical, mine revolving around art. It was just so interesting that we were in this town because of another one of my dreams...

 

...Around the time of the TextFest, just as we'd started having discussions about moving, I'd had a vivid dream. I was driving a van, all our belongings were in the back, the kids were with us & I was driving up an old road into a village that was full of artists warehouses. People were creating something in every warehouse. I instinctively knew where I was going & knew that one of these warehouses was ours. I heard the sound of music & followed it. I parked the car & got out & walked towards the sounds of people & loud music coming from 'our' place. I felt anxious, I thought a full blown party wasn't really the best place for the kids but we were altogether & I felt protected by being a family unit so I opened the door. The room was full of party goers who dispersed immediately & the sound went with them. This was our space. I crossed the room, opened the blinds & the large square window, you know the ones that slide up. Sunlight flooded the room. The view onto the open plains below was breathtaking. We had arrived.

It was just a dream but so clear. I thought it was a good sign about moving to Italy and thought nothing more of it. A month later, I caught up with an old friend from Leeds Uni through Facebook. Scott & I hadn't seen each other for 15 years. We'd been good mates for the year that I studied arabic (I was top of the class). We arranged for our families to meet up. It was November. How great to catch up! He'd finished the arabic degree I'd dropped out of & while I'd gone off to draw straight lines with panache he, on graduating, went to live & work in Rome, which is where he met his partner, an artist. We shared stories, talked about being creative & then told him about our plans to move to Italy & that we were heading there for Christmas.

 

"Oh, well as you like creativity, you need to go & visit this place just outside of Rome, called Calcata!" he said.

 

"Hold on," I said, "does it have an approach road with an old stone wall that leads in to the town which is full of art warehouses  & creative people everywhere?" I asked, adding more details I recalled from the dream

 

"Yes it does! Have you been there?" he asked

 

"Well, yes, in my dreams," I replied, bewildered by the serendipity of it all

 

So that's how come we were sitting in a coffee shop in Calcata, a most beautiful artisan's town set in rocks on a hilltop, just after Christmas 2007. It was here that my husband & I concluded, if we didn't follow our dreams, we'd reach 70, look back & wonder why we'd never tried & then just regret it! Surely, with all our experience & passion & some compromising we could find ways to use our creative gifts.

We didn't move to Italy. We came home. He took a  job with no responsibilites at the local supermarket & stopped being Head Chef of a 1500 pupil private school. (er, he is now asst manager at said supermarket) This gave him creative space to think & plan & pursue his music production hobby ( EP due out on 25th October 2010 on PointZero Record Label) and also an income that paid the bills. I set about looking for ways I could be working creatively while I carried on book keeping, payroll & VAT work in my familes' optics business. (Why do I keep reading that artists aren't good with figures? It's not true! )

February 2008 comes along & things are moving-ish but I'm getting a little worried. Was Victoria ever going to call? Maybe we'd made a mistake? Fear is so destructive! I really had to push the doubts away and carry on trusting that if what felt right in my heart was truly meant to be, then things would happen. If it wasn't right, then I asked God to make it all go away.

 

That's when Victoria emailed me back to arrange her visit. Thank God she came when she did! It was a fantastic meeting, for both of us. She was happy she'd found a local artist who could work with all kinds of people and I was happy to be given the chance  - even though all sorts of fears in my mind tried to convince me I wouldn't be good enough for the task!

 

"There are quite a few artists I've been to see & their work is good but they wouldn't be good with people. I just know you'll be able to work with anyone & deal with situations as they arise!" she said.

 

She was right. I started with Friends of the Elderly, 5 sessions of 2 hours. I made it to that 1st session, again having had to banish the destructive thought processes, the fears that were trying to convince me that this was beyond me. Ha, stinky ego, it all went great! By the second session, Victoria came back to me, looking worried

 

"Would you be willing to do more sessions with some other groups that have only just got back to me? I know you're busy home educating & everything & I don't want to overload you..."

 

My heart was bursting, I tried to accept without jumping for joy! All of a sudden, I had 21 sessions with 5 diverse groups of people with learning disabilities & mental health problems. My dream of working with my gift & of working on group projects had unfolded right before me.

It's October 2010 (though of course, if you're reading this in November you'll be right in thinking I'm wrong - but I wasn't at the time!)

      CHOIS - Community Homeopathy Initiatives is a low cost homeopathy service which I've been talking about setting up since 2007 and this has now come to fruition and good for Sutton! The first low cost clinic opened on Wed 13th October at Salvation Army in Sutton, 2-6pm and continues every 2nd Wednesday of the month. You can drop in or make an appointment - call Helen 0208393 9500 or Margaret 020 8644 2132 both are registered qualified homeopaths. I will add the obligatory disclaimer here - if you're not well, go see your GP first for a diagnosis. Homeopathy worked wonders for me, I am a BIG FAN.

      I'm co-ordinating the Sutton Community Art Space, working in the heart of the High Street, and when I'm there I get to inspire and share with the general public. However, I haven't been there so much since April though I am thrilled that the groups who have been using the space for their events and exhibitions have all reported back that their time there was of great benefit to them and the groups they represent. Community Arts, Culture and Diversity - yea, celebrate it, it's good for the heart and soul!!!

      Treat of the YEAR - I met Prince Charles and presented a silk painting gift to him on 4th Feb at Old Trafford! (and yes, I had a dream about this happening some months before. The dream came after a week when I was wondering what on earth am I doing with the SIlk Road Project, thinking I might just call it a day! HAHAHA - life is soooo funny ) I could not have done this without my sister's help with her beautiful calligraphy work and surely some Angels were helping us out - how else would it go from my little idea to do something nice for HRH  (inspired by the dream) to actually being there myself to present it. I'm such a kid,  I had butterflies and he shook my hand and we chatted and - nobody has made me feel like that since I got married! Really, life is full of surprises - I urge anyone who has ideas or dreams that come from the heart to follow at least some of them, you could be in for a right royal treat!( Oh, I feel like I ought to add an obligatory disclaimer #2 here but I'd rather let common sense prevail - it's an EU Directive - Common Sense Will Prevail - oh, no, sorry, that's just me dreaming again! )

      I helped launch the Imagine Arts Festival 2010 with WEAVE this year. That was fun and exhausting as I had lots of projects running alongside this one so lesson learned, don't chew with mouth full (?)  - I'll not let that happen again, far too hectic! I was frustrated that I hadn't been told about the other events that took place that day in the High Street as WEAVE could have planned something so much better had we known! Still, true to Samia form, ever one to spot an opportunity for creative communication and collaboration and FFFFUNNNN, a quick word with the team on the day and we had all the other independant High Street musical groups taking part in the Imagine Arts Festival Launch as the Giant & Dragons of WEAVE, wove their way around these slightly taken aback but up for it groups! Geez, the good deeds, they warm the cockles.

      I've also been back to the Charles Cryer Theater to put on a music show with the Epsom and Sutton home educating group which was, also a treat of the year - kids music video, kids songwriting, kids recording, me running around like a blue a***d fly - the children were thrilled, so were there parents, so were we! I was back on stage and for a few minutes I too had a mike in my hand, doing backing vocals for one of the songwriting dads who also wrote a song based on the Rainbow Lights Theme that was performed on stage - a place I haven't been since my drama days at school which I absolutely loved!

       I've had the opportunity to work in creative collaboration with my husband providing music while I provide art & have created 12 Silk Roads (this project was inspired by a deeply spiritual dream, it really was - one of those dreams when I look just like a Sufi, in woollen garb, head to foot - Suf means 'wool', btw) The project has involved directly & indirectly several thousand people at various events locally and as far away as Key Largo, Florida! I've put up Exhibitions, taken down Exhibitions, run creative arts workshops and events and confused people I meet who ask me what I do. I just can't fit into the convenient boxes and I'm so happy about that!

      I am thrilled that I have encouraged so many many people of all ages and abilities to be creative, to work in collaboration with the person standing next to them who they don't know or would not have thought to get to know, to inspire, to share. It is really quite humbling and I thank God for all the opportunities coz I'm just a nobody who loves life. Being creative for me is something that involves the heart and you know, as a society, we need to be in touch with our hearts more, so we can hear the message - we need to remember Love.

    I am fortunate to have met so many creative people and taken part in events in collaboration with clients, talented artists and workshop participants who have often surprised themselves and me with their abilities to be creative. The laughter is infectious and good for the heart and if it's good for the heart it's good for the community! We do truly need to celebrate the wonderful diversity and culture that we live and breathe alongside on a daily basis - no matter the colour, the creed - communication, respect, friendship and love are all roads to peace - life would be so dull if we were all the same, wouldn't it?

 I think the lyric from that Bugsy Malone song sums it up nicely....

 "if you give a little love, it'll all come back to you, la la la la la la la"

 

Love Life, Life Loves You!!!!!

Samia