My Walk this Week 131 – Sticks Shadows and Shapes

Posted on 31/10/201829/10/2018 by Alastair

The sun created some interesting shadows on my walk this week along the beach in Swansea Bay. Light, as sculptor, had worked with the conditions left by the weather previous to the ebb of the tide. The materials were clusters of sticks and scattered individual twigs. The art created was both three and two dimensional and the one without the other would not, could not, have had the effect on shape and form that the specific conditions provided.

It was the clusters of sticks that initially interested me, gathered together as though they were abandoned nests. On noticing these and then an individual stick and its shadow, I couldn’t help but notice more and more of them. Continue reading→

The Nature of Copperopolis – Part 1b

Posted on 23/05/201818/05/2018 by Alastair

Exploring one of Swansea’s old industrial areas on my walk this week, I am focused on how nature continues to take over Copperopolis. The old Hafod-Morfa Copperworks has plants growing out of its walls now – it closed down in 1980 and nature seems to be doing a fairly efficient job of reclamation as 1980 doesn’t seem all that long ago to me (I must be getting old!).

But the wall plants weren’t the only things of interest as the shapes, patterns and textures of the old walls were also caught my eye. From theContinue reading→

The Nuts, Bolts and Perspective of Architecture

Posted on 11/04/201807/04/2018 by Alastair

On my walk this week around an area of the Bristol cityscape next to Temple Meads railway station, I was attracted by the patterns and perspectives, and the nuts and bolts of the architecture and construction along the riverside.

A passing walker said he liked the view up the river from under a nearby bridge so I made a point of heading that way. Underneath I found I liked the view of the bridge as much as from it, enjoying the rows and patterns in perspective of nuts and bolts and rivets as well as the dark heavy weight of the structure. The design and engineering of structures like this and all the architecture around me was remarkable. The arrangement of the buildings is also remarkable and looking at them from different angles creates a new jigsaw of shapes with every turn of the head.

arrangement of shapes

architectural perspective

Looking out from under

Constructed and construction

Riverside cityscape

nuts and bolts

nuts and bolds perspective

Urban Walk – Second Side of the Triangle

Posted on 28/03/201824/03/2018 by Alastair

Looking at some of the patterns and features on my triangular urban walk this week, the second side of the triangle provided me with a number of everyday aspects of the city with, to me, points of visual interest. The angles and perspectives of architectural features, when looked at on their own and viewed without the context of the wider urban environment, become simply lines, shapes and patterns and can be seen as works of abstract art.

Those lines and shapes are reflected in the design of murals on the walls of the Elysium artists’ studios but opposite this is an apparent anomaly – Continue reading→

Snow Going

Posted on 11/03/201611/03/2016 by Alastair

Even towards the end of my walk round Lower Lliw Reservoir, the thaw was minimal. But as the snow gently melted new shapes and patterns were revealed. I particularly like the twisting twiddles of last years bracken.

Elliptical Illusions

Posted on 10/08/201410/08/2014 by Alastair

I saved the images below from those I took recently while away visiting family. I used my iPhone for all my photography while away and posted images to Instagram.

I wanted to post these images here because, despite my familiarity with the design of MIMA and the obvious link in the arrangement of shapes in the interior around the cafe area, the illusion that is created by this arrangement when seen from a specific angle did not properly register with me until I looked back at the photos.

Constructing and Constructed Architecture

Posted on 03/07/201403/07/2014 by Alastair

I love the complex patterns created by the scaffolding on this construction site in Swansea. I have no idea what the new building will look like but it will be sitting beside the interesting patterns to be seen in the design of the BT tower across the road.

The BT tower is not a particularly attractive building – it looks a bit like something you would need to plug in for your phone. There are, however, many fascinating shapes, patterns, reflections to be seen in its surfaces and structure.