Oso
Sutherland
about me
Getting started...
After growing up across Europe and Scandinavia, I studied philosophy at Swansea University in South Wales. There at 23, I found myself drawn to three fairly simple ambitions: I wanted to do something useful in the world, I wanted to be peaceful and happy while doing it...and I wanted to surf. Those three aspirations have shaped my life ever since.
Meditation
Since I was already surfing a lot, I decided to start with "learn to be peaceful" and as it turned out, it was a bigger job than I imagined - who knew?
It's still very much a work in progress and I have spent many years studying meditation and exploring different approaches and Buddhist traditions and along the way. I have helped to run meditation centres, taught and learned. After some years in robes I concluded that, for me at least, spiritual life is best lived in the context of a "normal" life. Also I missed surfing and simple human contact, so I got an old a board, started tango lessons and at 33 began my second year of shiatsu training.
Photo by Cam Naga, taken at a Sacred Sons event in Washington State
Cameras and filming
Throughout my life, my camera has been a close companion. Photography and filmmaking have given me a way to explore the things that interest me and to share them with others. I've spent much of my working life creating photographs, films and other media for charities, community organisations and artists, helping to tell meaningful stories that bring important ideas to wider audiences.
Shiatsu and healing
Another thread running through my life has been Shiatsu. I began studying Shiatsu at the age of 23, and it has grown with me ever since. Over the years, it has become a way of exploring the relationship between our bodies, emotions and inner lives, as well as an important part of my own journey towards greater self-understanding, healing and presence. I completed my third year of formal shiatsu training at 45 with the Bristol School of Shiatsu.
Art and Creativity
Alongside all this, I've found enormous pleasure in making things and spending time in nature. Pottery, poetry, sculpture and jewellery making have all found their way into my life, each offering different opportunities to explore, create and become absorbed in the simple pleasures that are available in life. To me, creativity is best practiced in nature and I love to make things outside, with natural forms and organic shapes.
Earth Craft Studios
Today, at 50, I live in a small coastal village in South Wales, where many of these different threads are coming together in "EarthCraft Studios", the space I'm creating to share and house some of what I've learned over the years. My hope is to offer people ways to explore their own wellbeing, find greater ease in themselves and reconnect with some of the simple pleasures of being alive.
Next steps...
If what you find here resonates with you, please feel welcome to explore my meditation or shiatsu offerings. Join a course or book in for a session. Also, hopefully soon I'll have some pottery for sale here...