My life is a little darker without Summercamp.
It must have been before Summercamp too but I hadn’t realised.
Making art is hard.
Being an artist is hard.
Making good art and being a good artist are even harder.
Doing ‘whatever it takes to support your art’ is a great way to end an ideastap blog but when you’re working six or seven nights a week to support a few hours’ rehearsal towards no gig in particular, you can start to forget. Your head is down, grinding, and you rarely get the chance to look up; to do the thing your supposedly supporting and take stock.
Summercamp can do stock-takes.
Did the weather help? Hell yes.
But thanks to safe spaces, the passion of others, good & bad food, ammunition dumps, jetty jumps, check-ins and outs, and crisp azure waters;
My compass points truer than before.
I know where I am now. And I have an idea of where I’m going.
We did make maps after all.
Whilst the world outside Dale is slightly less colourful, slightly less kind, slightly less tolerant, and slightly more drizzly; the horizons shine far brighter than they had before I made the journey to the back end of Cardiff Central Station, 10am sharp.