All’s Well in Ludlow

Posted on 19/10/201219/10/2012 by Alastair

Despite the tension beforehand, all went well with our Meet the Artists event last Friday at Ludlow Assembly Rooms. It was well attended in the evening and it was good to talk with everyone.

Not only that, we also had a very pleasant stay in Ludlow at The Mount guest house and awoke the next morning to another beautiful day.

The exhibition runs until 26th October so there is still time to visit. Exhibition pics some of Ludlow are below and more will be posted on Facebook over the next couple of weeks.

Finally, on another matter, please check out the StillWalks Crowd Funding pitch and help me help kids and adults enjoy “Sights and Sounds of the Countryside”.

StillWalks exhibition

Jean Duncan Paintings

Evening in Ludlow

Morning in Ludlow

Tension Mounting for Meet the Artists event

Posted on 05/10/201205/10/2012 by Alastair

Last week I delivered my exhibition and my mother’s to Ludlow Assembly Rooms Alastair Duncan (tapestry, prints and StillWalks) and Jean Duncan (painting)

The weather was atrocious and I thought en route, “If I get a puncture, I’ve had it – I can’t unload everything from the car to get to the spare tyre when the weather is like this, it would all be ruined!” Fortunately this did not happen and by the time I reached Ludlow, the rain had dried up 🙂

Our Meet the Artists event has been arranged for 3.30 – 7.30 on Friday 12th October – that’s next week! Neither of us are known in the area and I am concerned that nobody is going to turn up, so the tension is mounting as with all events like this.

Other attractions – Aside from our exhibition, which of course is reason enough to visit Ludlow, there are other attractions as well. The comedian, Marcus Brigstocke, will be playing in the theatre after our event on 12th October and I think there are still some seats available. There are great places to stay overnight and the town itself is a very charming place.

So if your wondering what to do next weekend, that is the place to be. Finish early on Friday and book yourself a visit to Ludlow 🙂

Ludlow

Ludlow Assembly Rooms Arts Centre

Exhibition and Meet the Artist event.

Posted on 24/09/201224/09/2012 by Alastair

Tapestry weaving, original digital prints, photography, video and painting.

Alastair Duncan and his mother, Jean Duncan, will be exhibiting their work at Ludlow Assembly Rooms Arts Centre from 5th – 26th October, 2012.

Alastair’s work will include examples of his work as a tapestry weaver and digital artist as well as his work with StillWalks which will include screenings of selected StillWalks as well as two “alternative” videos that he has described as interventions!

Jean Duncan’s work will be displayed in the Cafe Gallery in the arts centre and includes painings on metal as well as on canvas. The paintings are from her works known as The West.

Meet the Artists

On Friday 12th October from 3.30 – 7.30 both Alastair and Jean Duncan will be at the Arts Centre to answer questions and talk about their work. All are welcome.

Why not stay over and visit the beautiful market town of Ludlow at the same time. There are some great places to eat and stay as well as things to do . . . Marcus Brigstocke will be on stage at the Assembly Rooms at 8pm the same evening!

You can find Ludlow assembly Rooms here.

Further examples of both artists’ work for the exhibition can be seen on Flickr.

Tenses 3 by Alastair Duncan

West 1 by Jean Duncan

Mumbles Promenade and Street Photography

Posted on 08/09/201208/09/2012 by Alastair

Some people get nervous, uncomfortable, even angry when they see a photographer taking shots in the street or other busy public place. However, as I walked along Mumbles Promenade at the start of the Gower Peninsula the other day, I not only had my camera but also my sound kit with its “dead cat” furry cover on the microphone windshield. It’s the dogs that take exception to this, wondering no doubt, what strange creature it is.

People tend to be more interested and wonder what programme I am making and smile or ask if I am from the BBC. I am not sure that I will be able to get a StillWalk from this impromptu stroll along the promenade but if I need to do a full production day there, I’ll make sure I have the StillWalks logo printed on my T-shirt first.

The interest of dogs in the “Dead Cat” is understandable!

And here on the blog is some of the sound recorded or you can hear these and others on SoundCloud.

Mumbles Promenade and Oystermouth Castle

Mumbles Promenade – a popular place for joggers!

Mumbles Promenade – a popular place for children

Mumbles Promenade – a popular place for cyclists!

Mumbles Promenade – a popular place for walking

Tree Festival and Evening Sounds

Posted on 17/08/201217/08/2012 by Alastair

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

Ghost Forest

Posted on 11/08/201211/08/2012 by Alastair

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.

All aboard the Ych-a-fi! « Chris Glynn

Posted on 10/08/201210/08/2012 by Alastair

All aboard the Ych-a-fi! « Chris Glynn.

Under Abertawe Bridges

Posted on 21/07/201221/07/2012 by Alastair

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.