“Then, gently, the world began anew.”

Then, gently, the world began anew ... ... (click to enlarge)

In September I attended one of Chris Howard’s seminars called Rich Heart Wealthy Mind in Melbourne. After one of the exercises about mastermind groups, I stood up in front of all the participants and said that as a musical composer, I would love the experience of collaborating with a visual artist.

As wise people have remarked, you should mind what you ask for, because you’ll get it. Of the many participants who so generously suggesting working together, the first I’m collaborating with is photographer Stephen Robb.

We’re producing a Limited Edition 2011 Wall Calendar, with photographs by Steve, very short stories by me (strictly six words each!), and an unusual musical component.

The calendar is called Then, gently, the world began anew – “… images and stories for people who have been there, and home again …” We’re donating a third of profits to the charity Think Pink, supporting people with breast cancer.

We’ve created a Facebook page about this project where you can see all 12 images and 12 stories.

The unusual musical component is that I’ll be writing a miniature piece for solo harp every month to accompany the image and story. I’ve chosen solo harp because it feels in keeping with the black-and-white photographs, being expressive within a single-tone palette. The pieces will sound like someone just opened a door to a room where there was music playing, then closed the door again – because this is how the six-word stories invariably read, like near-arbitrary excerpts out of a grander tale.

I love six-word stories. I’ve lost many a pleasurable hour writing them. Give it a shot and you’ll see what I mean. Legend has it that the tradition began with Ernest Hemingway, who won a bet saying he could write a complete story (with beginning, middle and end) in only six words. His story – “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.” Since, many writers have turned out six-word masterpieces. Another favorite of mine is Margaret Atwood’s: “Yearned for him. Got him. Shit.” My apologies for quoting swearing, but it’s such brilliant writing.

Working with Steve was truly collaborative. You know the question they always ask songwriters: did you write the music first or the words first? The question is unanswerable because the process simply isn’t that linear. The same applies to this project. It began with Steve showing me that breathtaking picture that forms our December image (it’s at the top of this blogpost) with sea that seemed like cloud and cloud like sea, reminding me of course that both are water. After a day of gazing at it, I wrote its story. And after responding to a few more of Steve’s photographs, I wrote some stories ‘blind’, and Steve looked for photos for the ones that caught his fancy.

Photos always convey a moment snatched out of time. Photos always make the viewer ask, what else was going on, before and after? The six-word story, because of its brevity, always makes the reader’s mind fill in the blanks, asking what else was going on before and after. Steve and I sometimes made the two messages match up nicely, such as the picture of the tree “rearing like an animal”; sometimes we’d match them ironically, such as the ‘Clifton’ brick, and sometimes match humorously, such as the meatloaf story.

If you’d like to buy a calendar, please simply send me this email. Steve or I will be in touch personally (a change from the impersonal online shopping cart phenomenon …).

You will receive a monthly email featuring the miniature musical composition for solo harp. Here’s an example of a video featuring music with image and story (it’s also here on the Facebook page).

Calendar specifications: double-A4 unfolds to A3 when hanging.

Limited Edition: strictly 50 copies only.

Prices: $35 for one, $30 each for 2 or 3, $25 each for 4 or more.

All prices inclusive of Postage within Australia (please enquire for international orders!).

And that’s not all! Each photo and story is also available as an exquisite handmade print, mounted on mat board and suitable for framing.

5×7 for $20 / 8×10 for $70 / 11×14 for $100 / 16×20 for $150

As we’re only selling 50 copies of the Limited Edition calendar, after they’re gone, the only way to get the images and stories is as a handmade print.

Please send me this email saying you’re interested, and we’ll be in touch to take your order.

I may post some of the stories that didn’t make it into the 12 ….

Tagged as: 2011, breast cancer, charity, chris howard, classical music, Ernest Hemingway, for sale baby shoes never worn, Margaret Atwood, photography, rich heart wealthy mind, six word stories, solo harp, Stephen Robb, Think Pink, wall calendar