In order to convey the eternal, one needs to bow down to the ordinary. Art underpinned by cultural humanism is the act of looking closer, of stopping to meet the eyes of the stranger who we ignore, most of the time, because we are too hurried to acknowledge what we do share - birth, hopes, work and death. Cristopher Rush writes in his book ‘ To travel hopefully - journal of a death not foretold’ ( 2006: 91)) ” I embraced the Yeatsian credo that you can only attain to universalism through what is near to you and what is meaniingful to you: your nation, your village, the cobwebs on your wall, the hailstone that is the journeyman of God, the grass-blade that carries the universe on its point.’ Looking closer and closely - may be one aspect of an honourable practice.

Success in a creative project is not an unconcious act. An honourable practice requires freeflow creativity which is grounded in a ethical core combined with craftmanship and clearly defined aims. So far, the Puzzle Project is proving to be the most effective in my explorations in developing a sense of community and engagement of strangers without the overtones of a community arts workshop. Building a giant puzzle together,like a Buddhist sand mandala, without the participants knowing each other, seems to spark ongoing questions and musings over what ‘together’ actually means in practice. The Puzzle project, in its quiet and slowly progressive way, unfolds to become an embracing, and positive shared activity , where the community has been created through kick-starting curiosity over what kind of 10 x 3 mter puzzle can be built by strangers coming ‘together’ by making but not meeting.

For more information and show time; www.puzzleprojectuk.com