Author Archives: Alastair
Tree Festival and Evening Sounds
This photo reminds me that StillWalks is going to be at the Tree Festival in the Botanic Garden of Wales this weekend, but actually . . .
The park at Richelieu
. . . it’s from a small selection of images about ceilings (!) I arranged from a recent trip to France. Here a couple more of the natural ones and a sound clip to prove my mother wrong about there being no sounds at night !?!
French Evening Sky
Evening Sky over Faye la Vineuse
And here are the real (if not natural) ceilings from the Chateau d’Oiron, an amazing place full of contemporary art and crazy ceilings. These pics were taken on my iPhone.
Chateau d”Oiron
Hoofing It – A blog entry on the hoof
At the weekend I was busy again, this time with StillWalks Equestrian. Earlier this year I was asked if I would be interested in doing the photography for Clydach Riding Club and, what with nothing better to do at the weekends (ha, ha), I ventured on down to their new show field at Ynystawe.
I don’t have the best camera for this kind of work as the photography I do for StillWalks does not involve that many fast moving objects. However, I manage well enough and enjoy watching the events. Having watched my daughter riding for many years, it is very useful to have an understanding of what is going on. This also allowed me to appreciate the equestrian Olympic events that much more than I have in the past.
Here are some alternative shots from the weekend. The event photos can be seen here.
Keeping in the Cool
Ghost Forest
StillWalks will be present at the NBGW (National Botanic Garden of Wales) next weekend, 18 – 19 August, for the tree festival which features the Ghost Forest. We will be focusing our collection of StillWalks on woodland walks such as the Garden of Wales Woodland Walk and Arboretum Walk at Gelli Aur as well as many others from the collection.
. . . and here’s some from inside the Great Glasshouse.
Eerie Creatures on the Marshes
Sunshine and rain– We’ve been away to foreign parts recently – well, France! More importantly, we managed to avoid much of the torrential rain in Britain during that period. Unbelievably, we arrived home to Britain and Wales to dry, sunny, hot weather – amazing 🙂 Here’s a lovely sunset from the other night to prove it.
Sunset Over the Marshes
Eerie Sounds – There were some strange sounds coming from the marshes and so I went to investigate . . .
All will be revealed – no cudding 😉
Yoiks!
Maybe I was the monster
Under Abertawe Bridges
Adverse Weather Conditions led a scheduled day of equestrian photography to be cancelled at short notice. I didn’t check the website for updates before hand and so ended up down at the show field anyway. The day was dry but the previous week had been very wet. So I took the opportunity to go for a walk along a section of the River Tawe and quickly found myself under a bridge!
Under Bridges – My interest and curiosity about the underside of bridges goes back a long way now. About 14 years ago I was taking photographs of the underside of the second Severn crossing, a striking suspension bridge of the Severn Estuary between Wales and England. It was all part of my research towards designing and weaving a major tapestry commissioned for Caldicot Library in Monmouthshire.
Secret Places – Since then, I have looked at the underside of many other bridges and find them to be quite secret places, even when they are busy with people, it is the side away from public view.
These photos were all taken on my iPhone 4s.
Road and Rail Bridges
Under the Road Bridge
Working on the Rail Bridge
Rail Bridge Structure
The DVLA, Swansea
Another Road Bridge
Underside
Ludlow Exhibition
Ludlow Assembly Rooms – Not long ago I visited Ludlow for the first time. I needed to view Ludlow Assembly Rooms Arts Centre as I have been invited by them to exhibit both my media work with StillWalks (including my “Interventions“) and my work as a tapestry artist. The exhibition is short notice and so I asked if my mother, Jean Duncan, could exhibit alongside me.
Beautiful Market Town – Unfortunately it was a very wet day but that did not stop us seeing what a beautiful place it is. It was very lively on this particular Saturday as it was a market day and despite the rain, very busy. Ludlow is a great example of an old English market town on the Welsh border and we have driven through the area many times from choice rather than necessity.
I took a couple of pics on my phone and look forward to setting up our exhibition there from 5th – 27th October.
Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow Assembly Rooms Arts Centre