The story of mouse, thatched cottage and Dunchideock by Kasia Turajczyk

A mouse (plural mice) is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse is of course the common house mouse. But in a case of Lyalls Cottage, the common species are the field mice. They have stood with us in the autumn and winter time and they are visiting us on regular bases every day in the spring, at the moment. Our mice are very keen on expensive chocolate. They also like very much my paintings, especially the ones which contain seeds. Often they are very timid face to face, but not always.
Since mice could be a perfect companion pets I don’t understand why some are so afraid for them. They can be playful, loving and can grow used to being handled. But I admit I didn’t try it with our field mice, no time for it.

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My perception about the subject “mice and high culture” changed dramatically after the most recent event in my studio. I didn’t expect that a rodent would appreciate art! You see…..I was wrong. They do.
One of the agreements from the Four Agreements by Jose Ruiz says ‘do not make assumptions”. How true. I did not expect that mice would love art; my paintings particularly. Perhaps I shouldn’t have used so many tasty seeds? This painting (see the image) has been eaten by mice (I assume so, I hope that we have only mice here and no rats!). I assume that they were mice, I don’t expect bats or spiders would eat my painting, maybe I am wrong?
This is my new painting from the series 'The Personalities'. The title is ‘The Family’. Maybe I will bring some changes into it the next few days……I am not sure of it is ready or not.

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It hurts me when I think about Haiti.
Every time when I think about the past of Haiti I get very angry .
Tragedy, love, blood, voodoo, anger, bloody history, freedom, colonialism, slavery, plunder, natural disaster and hope.
Lots of weird stuff in my painting.
I hope for better future for Haiti.
A radical shift in awareness, values,
and behaviour is required to meet the bright future.
The painting is 3D, it is acrylic + lots of impossible things; 114 h. cm x 74 b. cm
The money I will raise will go to Haiti.

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Winter in Dunchideock by Kasia Turajczyk, acrylic on board – 2010

Autumn in Dunchideock by Kasia B. Turajczyk

I present my new fantasy abstract paintings from the series Four Seasons. (N.B. it has nothing to do with The Four Seasons of Vivaldi; however I love his four violin concertos, especially when listening to them in Venice – the perfect place, with an exciting past and a unique atmosphere)

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I have always been fascinated by the phenomenon of the human BRAIN, including my own brain…… to see the whole article please, visit "My brain – part I"

My brain, my chaotic brain inspired me to make these, I think really good, paintings. The series is called "My Brain" of course.

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The topsy-turfy garden of Lyalls Cottage by Kasia B. Turajczyk

My two new paintings, actually collages. I painted them in Dunchideock, in my studio in the Garden of Lyalls Cottage. I forgot it to present them to you.

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This painting/collage is one of the Lyalls Cottage Garden series. It is a weird one. I only used natural materials from my garden and kitchen + wax. I called it an 'ugly girl'; Involuntariiy I created a face, truly by accident. The nearness and the intimacy with nature has an undeniable effect on my imagination. The painting is full of petals, styles, filaments, leaves, seeds, small stems from weeds, dried flowers, small chillies, seeds and feathers.

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Since settling in Dunchideock, I have started to use in my paintings/collages/installations more and more attributes from the garden.

My studio is situated in the epicentre of the garden, in a certain way that is. It is in the middle of the gardens ‘natural resources” and flora, as well being centred in the macro and micro dimensional sense. Among the trees, bushes, and flowers there are also a huge variety of insects, birds and other animals, both alive and dead. The nearness and the intimacy with the nature has an undeniable affect on my imagination and it so happened that my new born paintings are full of leaves, styles, petals, filaments, fruits, and small stems from trees, bushes, flowers and weeds; but also some parts of dead and alive insects and birds. In some of my old abstract paintings I have already used couscous, rice, diverse seeds, grasses and bay leaves. But it was only incidental and my imagination was limited by the ingredients I had in my kitchen and on my balcony. In Dunchideock, in the garden of Lyalls Cottage I have unbounded forms, colours, pigments, consistencies, structures and odours; the last aspect is only significant for me not for the paintings I am afraid.

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I can’t remember who said that paintings should tell stories not only present them, maybe I imagined it. Maybe it referred to films and not to art, but what actually determines whether or not a painting tells a story and not only presents it? Perhaps it is the behaviour of creatures, colours, a smile on somebody’s face, a group of people arguing about something, children playing in the garden, insinuations, an absent gaze, or even musings. Is it possible, really possible to see the story? Is it really the artist who tells the story?  Isn’t it true that the artist presents the story and the receiver creates, interprets and concocts the past and the future of the given picture/story?

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Since three months ago, we have lived in Dunchideock in Lyalls Cottage. Dunchideock is a small, old village, with the house itself dating from around the 15th century. But, the house as a house is only a house; walls, a ceiling, thatched roof, and a floor. The most important part of the property is the garden: a beautifully fabulous, magical and bewitching place. The garden and the house are surrounded by all kinds of nature including horses, rabbits, deer, pheasants, foxes, and veritable smorgasbords of birds which all emerge silently from the forest, hills, meadows and fields. The scent of life: the scent of a real, simple, rural life.
All the nature, the garden, the air, the colours and the music of Dunchideock are inspirations for my new paintings. I spent almost my whole life in big, bigger, and even the biggest cities. If I had been told, say, four years ago, that I would have loved to live in a small village, I would have proclaimed that the person was totally irrational…

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