Diann Dirks
The other day I sat watching a documentary about a Native American potter making pottery from scratch; digging the clay from the ground, processing it, hand forming it and firing it in a pit fire. Being an old potter I was intrigued at his techniques and his care for each stage of the creation of beautiful pots. While I was watching this I sat at my table filling empty capsules for my own supplements and herbal medicine I make for my husband and myself. And it struck me that what I was doing was like that art form, only the end product was also science (which pottery is, taking into account many kinds of science).
Being a kind of science and art nerd (call it being a citizen scientist) I saw the parallels.
First of all, I grow about 150 medicinal plants in my organic garden, and do a lot of research on plant medicine, not only for individual plants and their medicinal properties, but also in blending and formulating mixtures of them for various applications like in tinctures, salves, teas, vinegars, and other ‘delivery systems’. I also teach these things to people who want to make their own medicines from plants.
I spend a lot of head space working out various combinations to help with various problems to be solved by which plants, such as wound healing, or helping with sleep. And I have formulated some pretty awesome salves and teas, etc. We use these all the time in our household.
When I was a potter I would wake up in the middle of the night designing pots to make the next day in my studio, being enthralled with the media of ‘throwing’ clay on a potter’s wheel or hand building. It was always an esthetic experience. Then I realized sitting there filling capsules that I do the same thing in the middle of the night, waking up putting various herbs together mentally and turning on the light, writing the combinations down. I do the same thing in combining plants for ‘companion planting’ in my garden, and writing my ideas down. It’s just the way I create and live.
While I’m out in my garden and walking around harvesting, or planting, or tending to the plants, I’m thinking to myself, there’s “….” plant and it’s calling to me because it’s a healing plant or a ‘nervine’ (helps sooth nerves), or whatever the properties of it are. Just like the clay speaks to me with an idea for a pot or a sculpture.
Creativity takes many forms in people’s lives. My friend who is a consummate bread maker makes breads from many kinds of grains and flours, combining them, developing them, fermenting them, in many ways – all delicious.
He has created a bread oven in his back yard out of bricks which is in itself a work of art. Another friend is a blacksmith who can take some iron or other metal, heat it up, bang away at it, and come up with beautiful and useful things like tools and beautiful works of art. Whatever your passion, taking something that is ordinary or even in the eyes of others useless, and making something of it that is a creation is art. The definition of art is ‘fitting’ i.e. something that harmonizes with life, or can be worked to make something by fitting together the pieces. So, if you have a passion, whether it’s decorating your house, knitting a sweater, cooking up a new casserole, sewing a piece of clothing or something for other uses from fabric, renovating an old car, making things from wood, renovating a house or an old piece of furniture, or designing a model airplane or robot, or even just being a caring friend who knows how to sooth some one with the right words, you are an artist. Those are just some of the media we can work with.
I was watching another documentary last night where a woman was taking the debris of pineapples which are usually considered pollution, and making fabric that resembles leather or linen. Another man who takes the skins cut off and usually buried, and making it into cleaning products that don’t pollute the water tables. The list goes on.
All around us are resources we consider debris or useless things, and people who have gotten creative and put them to work. I once saw a documentary about a man in Africa who collects old flip flop shoes, glues them together and makes amazing sculptures out of them. He sells them for Bo coup bucks too.
So, to me, growing, dehydrating, powdering, mixing, and taking that powder and making capsules or tinctures or salves from my plants, or teas to give relief or strengthen the body is an art form. For yourself, anything you make to improve life, help people, or bring beauty into the world is likewise an art form.
The aesthetic wavelength is one of the highest highs there is, much more satisfying than almost any other wavelength in life so I say to you revel in it, explore it, enjoy it, go forward and CREATE!
Diann Dirks 10-28-23
The Garden Lady of Georgia 