top of page

White canvases.

Writer's picture: Alison AmosAlison Amos

November 2020.

I genuinely have no idea where October went. On a blink of an eye it felt 30 days went by and I have now idea what happened between then and now.

Settling down in a new village - very different form London scenery, was a very bitter pill to swallow. Don't get me wrong, I will never trade a second lockdown away from with my family for London. Right now, I am pretty content of the choice I made - but it really felt like a whirlwind of emotions I was no prepared to experience.


From living in a pretty decent 3 bedrooms victorian house in East London ending in an hunted house, in a village with 6.000 habitants, was something I knew I could cope with.

Realising that 80% of those villagers are +80's and heavily devoted in Christian activities is something completely different. Add to the 'misfortune cake' that I basically had no internet connection (I do have barely 3G signal on my mobile when I am lucky), one electrical socket in each room, no oven, no washing machine and one crazy woman as my only neighbour as the ice on the cake - then I started to seriously question my life-changing decision.

I am (only) 33 years old, feminist, atheist and most likely I was one of the witches that half a century ago were burnt alive on those inhabited lands in south Lombardy from those misogynist fanatics. 'What the hell I am doing here?!'. This was the only voice echoing in my head.


Both my businesses do heavily depend on internet connection. And wifi is vital to me in order to attend my university course at the Central Saint Martins.


The result? I struggled. I struggled a hell of a lot.

From missing important emails and calls, to not being able to attend my uni course for several weeks,...then a second lockdown... those were all the perfect ingredients for a disastrous recipe.

I decided to just let go. Let go any sort of anger, grief and bad thoughts attached to this change of scenery.


It was liberating.


One of the things I did really enjoy was the low pace of life. Here they stop few hours for lunch and they spend this time with their families and their loved ones. There is also a wonderful sense of community: everyone helps each others.


But let me take you to another chapter. The House.

I am staying in a section of the house which once was owned my the Bialetti family. I am sure that name is no new to you and in fact, you are completely right: the coffee brand!


Originally - centuries ago, the Bialetti family split their business interest into two very much different fields: one branch of the family decided to fund a business around coffee. Which proved to become a very successful one. The second one, less well-known, decided to fund its business around the grappa industry and the arts.


My ancestors are coming from the latter and they were owning several properties, including The House and the distillery, which is now owned by a crazy neighbour.

I always believed in lost souls, multiple universes, vital flows and energy fields but one thing is study something and another is put that knowledge into practise.

I could smell cigarette early mornings in the kitchen and late at night in the bathroom.

It turned up that my auntie was a heavy smoker and she was used to smoke a lot in the kitchen first thing in the mornings. She also loved bathing while smoking her last cigarette of the day.

There were episodes where I couldn't through away some of her favourite objects as windows were all of the sudden opening (with no sign of outside breeze).

I even found that some of my jewels were extremely similar to the one once belonged to her.

It took me a lot of patience and daily practises in order to be able to fully cleanse the house. At the moment I have only my apartment cleared, and there are times when I do feel very uncomfortable do simple things like walking through the stairs or accessing the basement. I am sure that many sinister things happened in the past, within those walls.


From noises of moving furniture on the flat above (which is completely vacant), to hearing singing, from shutters and blinders which were left completely closed, to all of the sudden up half away, discovering hatches, drawers and doors opened when I was 100% sure to have left them closed.

Those and many more unexplainable events gave me a massive inspiration for start writing a fiction.

I always loved the idea of creating stories and storytelling, unfortunately every time I was bringing my ideas (and my writing) forward, I've always found (male) managers or directors completely shutting me down. I've always been told that storytelling and writing should just stay a passion and an intimate interest for me.

Well, guess what? I am now writing a fiction and I cannot care less of all the closed doors and bulling I was forced to be subjected to in the past years of my life.


I also met my dead auntie Nanda, who is still currently living in my flat. To be completely honest with you, she is actually the owner of the place - which kind of makes me the current lodger of the flat. From an initial rough start to a peaceful flat sharing - she is now helping me to channel my artistic energies into the most various fields: from furniture renovating, to painting, from photography to Interior Styling.


And do you know what is fascinating about it? I've always been in tuned with things that others can't explain and many times I felt an outsider just because of this.

This is the very first time I no longer feel that way as my family truly believes in what I can do, I can feel and in what I can sense. After answering questions there was no chance I knew prior the answer they started to believe in my abilities. But I am nothing special, I just kept that tune for 'see' things that normally, when we grow-up, we get told it does not exists, that are just illusion, pure concepts that we mould into our own reality.

The truth is, at early age we simply get indoctrinated, we get mould in a way that is the way society wants us to become. That is not who we really are. It is like we are wearing a mask that doctrines force us to wear.


That is the reason why I always had a mask on my working desk and now on my tripod.

I cannot wait to blog more about the several artistic projects I am/have been working on. There is so much to tell that I think each project really deserve its own chapter, therefore I will be blogging quite often from now on in order to keep you all updated about all of those new exciting things that are happening in a very boring village.


In parallel to my movie script project I did work on my second project of Interior Styling which saw me busy for an average of 16 hours of hard work each day, 6 days a week for 4 weeks. It was a fantastic opportunity to really discover something I do really enjoy doing and - at the same time, an additional skill I can be proud to add to my portfolio.

I discovered the passion of restoring antique furniture and I am now planning to open an online shop to sell unwanted furniture. My garage became a wonderful lab and I am over the moon I now have a place where I can get my hands covered in paint and dust.


I also started to paint. And this is another long story that deserves its own chapter.


After the first unsettling beginning, starting fresh felt like walking in a room full of white canvases. And this is exactly want I am now doing: painting beautiful chapters of my life in those blank canvases. And I am looking with great excitement how is going to look like that room at the end of this journey.

 

6 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


  • White Instagram Icon
  • White Facebook Icon
  • White Twitter Icon
  • White Pinterest Icon
  • White LinkedIn Icon

Alison Amos | Creative & Art Direction © 2024 All rights reserved. 

bottom of page