Once up near the top of Mynydd Llangorse on this second part of my walk on the hills above Cwmdu in Wales, I stopped for some lunch. The food wasn’t the only thing in my mouth though, as I watched a hang glider and glider apparently so close to each other that I thought a collision was almost inevitable.
With my heart in my mouth I watched as the glider and the hang glider circled to take advantage of the thermals. Having witnessed an actual collision of small aircraft a few years ago where the occupants died, I had those memories flooding back to me and was seriously concerned for those above me. Continue reading→
Having posted about focus and time, here is some physical photographic evidence of me “adjusting my focus” and “allowing the time” to stand back and look at the “big picture” – enjoy the view of Pen y Fan from Brecon, the highest peak in the Brecon Beacons, South Wales.
Following my re-focusing photos in yesterday’s post, I would say that time is also needed to see different view points and understand a given situation.
In slowing the shutter speed and giving time for the water to flow past, the bike becomes clearer – and all because a little more time was given. I try, these days, not to get into a panic if there doesn’t seem to be enough time to do everything – there is only so much you can do.
Some of my recent work has taken me to the town of Brecon in the Brecon Beacons, South Wales. The photos below, which I took one sunny day after school, remind me of the need not only to stay focused on the task at hand, but also to adjust that focus to ensure that I can see and understand more of what I am doing and what is going on around me.
Keeping things in perspective seems to me to be so important. In order to do this I often have to adjust the angle at which I look at things and take into account the current circumstances. Standing back and being more objective can often help but this is not always easy to do.
My main strategy for doing this is walking – and that, of course, is where StillWalks came from and, I hope, may be able to take others as well. With this is mind, I have decided to feature my StillWalks “Welcome” video this week.
Photos taken and adjusted on my iPhone 5c. Check out StillWalks on Instagram for more of my iPhonography.
This week’s featured StillWalks video is the introductory welcome video to the StillWalks website. On this you will meet me and see just a little of what goes into making a StillWalks video.
You can use the Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.
Here is the video then, if you have not already watched it – Lakeside Walk.
Switch off your phone, put everything else aside and relax for 6.5 minutes to the sights and sounds of a walk alongside the lake at the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
Working in digital print was, perhaps, a natural outcome of the fact that during the design and weave projects I ran with schools, I discovered that I was able to help teachers with some of the problems they had with their PCs when ICT (Information Communication Technology) was being pushed in the curriculum.
I bought a second hand Apple LC III computer in the early 1990’s and a new and exciting world opened up to me. To cut a long story short, it wasn’t long before I was running interactive digital media projects in combination with design and weave. These included communal large scale digital prints. This was something I had built up some skill with over a period of time and training as well as through liaison with printers.
The barbs kept coming back and in these two giclée prints on canvas, I was aiming to bring together a number of different thematic strands I have worked with over the years. Interpretation of the image and its different elements is entirely open.
These works are available for sale. There is only one other print of “Waves” and “Waves 2” is entirely unique. Anyone interested should contact me.
You can find further information on school projects and much more at Design Fibre ICT
Sticking with the theme of conflict, this piece has, perhaps, become more personal again (see previous posts this week for context). The patterns from printed DNA are still there but the barbed wire is also becoming more personal. StillWalks development is not far off!
Woven from the back – as a tapestry artist, I have usually woven my designs from the front. Design development continues, for me, throughout the weaving process and working from the front obviously facilitated this. However, “Now and Then” had to be woven from behind and I think the reason is obvious – perhaps this piece, more than others, has indeed got my personal DNA within it!
This work is available for sale – anyone interested should contact me.
