Why Red Ladder Studio?
The red ladder has landed
On our last retreat people asked, where's the Red Ladder? Well, here it is.
But why Red Ladder Studio in the first place? In 2012 I moved back to the UK from Spain to look after my mum. I needed a flexible way to support myself, so I bought a little van and set myself up as a painter and decorator. The business needed a name, and the name that came to me was 'Red Ladder Painting and Decorating'.
Later I relocated to Sweden and set up an online Dharma project. What should it be called? I spent days brainstorming, trying names out on friends, never quite settling on anything. Then it came to me: Red Ladder, the name I already had. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche coined the phrase 'first thought, best thought,' and over and over in my creative process, the first thought turns out to be the best one.
But Red Ladder what? It was no longer Red Ladder Painting and Decorating, so what was it? Honestly, I didn't really know what the project might become — and I have a deadly fear of being pinned down. That's where 'Studio' came in. As Red Ladder Studio, I could do my Dharma art stuff, but if I had a new idea, I could become anything: a website studio (I did that), a haircutting studio, a sourdough studio. Red Ladder Studio was born — a creative Dharma project that's been running for well over a decade, mostly as an online space.
Now this project has a physical home. Moving here a year ago, we went through the whole process again — brainstorming, testing ideas on friends, even landing on 'The Guesthouse' — before realising we'd overlooked the obvious. First thought, best thought: Red Ladder Studio. So Red Ladder Studio it is.
We talked about this word, studio, on the last retreat — it evokes a creative space, somewhere to be curious and experiment. Its root is the Italian for 'a room for study,' and for me it holds both: a place to study the teachings, but with an artist's attitude — open, creative, experimental.
But why is it a red ladder? The red ladder is an image of ascent — Dharma practice can take us to the heights. But a ladder is also needed to go into the depths. At first the heights and depths seem like two different directions; later we see both lead to the same place. The heights are the depths, and vice versa.
In Tantric Buddhism there are 4 rites: the rite of pacification, of prospering, of fascination, and of destroying. All are needed in our Dharma life. The rite of fascination is the red rite — it points to the idea that it's not enough to be merely interested in the Dharma, we need to be fascinated by it. That falling-in-love feeling. A little obsessed even!
That's really what Red Ladder Studio has always been about, however the project has taken shape at any given moment: keeping that fascination alive. Not letting our practice get dry, or becoming stuck in a rut. Using art, retreats, writing, whatever the current form — to stay inspired, in love with the practice.
The Red Ladder Studio has found its home. The ladder has landed.
