BY NICKY SCOLTOCK
Mary Oliver, the late renowned nature poet, has been a much loved companion on my journey as a contemplative artist.
I first discovered Mary Oliver’s poetry when I spent a year participating in Seminary of the Wild. She embodies a playful way of relating to the wild earth and the more-than-human, in honest and often humorous ways.
Put simply, her way of being in the world inspired me.
She is in deep relationship with the wild earth.
She doesn’t pretend to have all the answers.
She sits with and asks questions, without answering, letting mystery be present.
She names fears and grief, letting them be.
An excerpt from her poem ‘Sometimes’ has become a kind of mantra for me.
In three lines she captures the essence of how I want to live my life.
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
It could really be that simple. To live like this is to never be bored or restless. Her words continually call me back to this call - to love this wild, adventurous life.
Instructions for Life
Art in conversation with poetry
I start each day in my art studio with a walk. For me, walking is a meditation, a prayer. It gives me space to be present, to myself, to nature.
When I return, I take some time to settle into my creative space. My well-thumbed copy of Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver is always close at hand for inspiration.
I read slowly.
I discovered the poem ‘Sometimes’ after a walk in the rain - sheltered by the trees and watching the rain drops fall into the estuary. The sound of the water on the leaf canopy and the smell of the wet earth brought all of my senses into the present.
After the rain, I went back into the field of sunflowers.
It was cool, and I was anything but drowsy.
I walked slowly, and listened
to the crazy roots, in the drenched earth, laughing and growing.
Out of this experience I created my watercolour series, ‘Instructions for Life’.
When I am among the trees
Watercolour has a wonderful immediacy to it; the water allows it to form its own patterns and textures. Some of the marks have a mystical, barely there quality.
Whenever I look at these paintings, I am taken back to the feeling of shelter and aliveness I felt among the trees in the rain.
Nicky Scoltock is a contemplative artist, Green Sketching guide and Soul Companion living in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Inspired by a deep connection with the Sacred Wild, she explores creativity, grounded spirituality and our relationship with the natural world. You’ll often find her wandering the shorelines and bush trails near home with Asha, her trusty walking companion — or back in the studio making art, with good coffee and her Mary Oliver poetry book close by.