Berry Woods

Last week I visited Berry Woods on the Gower. The purpose of the visit was to explore the the area to be used as the production location for Knelston Primary School and the Sights and Sounds of the Countryside project (mentioned in a previous post) which is due to start next month.

I am really looking forward to going out with the children and the other project workers, Emily Hinshelwood and Julie Brunskill, to investigate the landscape in detail.

Here are some pics from my visit to the woods.

En route to Berry Woods

En route to Berry Woods

Berry Woods

Moss in Berry Woods

Berry Woods

Berry Woods

Berry Woods

Berry Woods

On the way back from Berry Woods

A friendly face near Berry Woods

Heading back from Berry Woods

Heading back from Berry Woods

Buzzard

I spotted four of these Buzzards while around Berry Woods

 

logos

Exhibition and Meet the Artist event.

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

Tenses 3 by Alastair Duncan

West 1 by Jean Duncan

West 1 by Jean Duncan

John Muir Award Training Day

I had a great day in Singleton Park, Swansea this week where I and about 20 others enjoyed a day of training in the delivery of the John Muir Award (see pics below). John Muir’s environmental philosophy and the award criteria fits perfectly with the ethos of StillWalks.

Appreciation and understanding of the natural environment is at the top of the agenda with StillWalks as are other features such as stress relief, health and wellbeing – these elements are also a part of the John Muir philosophy.

Town and Country – StillWalks, however, does not exclusively feature the natural environment and wild places. Indeed, the urban environment is of as much relevance to StillWalks as the countryside – and in fact this is the case with the John Muir Award as well. The young and the old, school children, teachers, families and individuals are all encouraged to look at and listen  to, explore, discover and appreciate the wild places within urban areas as much as those in our countryside.

And the news is – StillWalks is going to be carrying out a project with schools and communities over the Autumn and Spring called Sights and Sounds of the Countryside. The project will tie in closely with John Muir Award work also being delivered to schools by Tim Orrell and Swansea Nature Conservation Team (hence the training day). StillWalks has successfully applied for funding for the Sights and Sounds project from Swansea’s Countryside Connections,  Sustainable Development Fund and Literature Wales to work with an artist and writers to produce a collection of videos similar to those made on the Josef Herman project.

The training day was interesting, useful and great fun. Fortunately it was good weather and we were able to get out and about in the park for some fun and games.

logos

 

 

Walking with Josef Herman

“Brilliant” “The very best schools project ever!”, Betty Rae Watkins (Josef Herman Art Foundation Cymru).

The “Walking with Josef Herman” DVD, made with Alastair Duncan and StillWalks is to be screened on the BBC Big Screen in Castle Gardens, Swansea next week (see invitation below). The videos produced on the project (see below) are what I would describe as bespoke StillWalks – bespoke because they use voiceovers. These are recordings of the school children reading the poetry they wrote with Emily Hinshelwood as a part of the project following our production day on location in Ystradgynlais. The project was the ninth annual artists’ residency organised by the Josef Herman Art Foundation Cymru and Caron McColl and Lynne Bebb from Swansea Arts in Education, part of Swansea Education Effectiveness Service.

Screening – Castle Gardens, Swansea. Wednesday 19th September, 2012 from 11.00 – 12.00.

JH logo

Herman Walk logos

Josef Herman DVD

Josef Herman DVD

The DVD contains more than videos made with the schools but the videos can be viewed individually below.

Llanfaes Josef Herman Walk – Rainy Day in Ystrad from Alastair Duncan on Vimeo.

Ynysmaerdy Herman Walk 480p from Alastair Duncan on Vimeo.

St Thomas Herman Walk 480p from Alastair Duncan on Vimeo.

Parcyrhun Herman Walk 480p from Alastair Duncan on Vimeo.

Invitation - English

Invitation - Welsh 

Going Pipistrelle Batty at the Weekend

Last Friday night was a first for me – I found myself without a torch in our local park hunting for bats. It didn’t occur to me to take a torch but fortunately there were plenty of other people there to whom it had occurred and a great time was had by all.

Click here to listen on the blog to the sound of Common Pipistrelle bats in Coedbach Park last Friday night or here on SoundCloud.

Steve Lucas, Welsh Bat Officer with the Bat Conservation Trust gave a fascinating talk/slideshow about the various species of bats and their habitats until it got dark. Then we ventured out and were given bat detectors to use in the woods and along the hedgerows. We heard three different types of bat in Coedbach Park – Common and Soprano Pipistrelles and a Whiskered bat.

Seeing with Sound – The bat detectors respond to the very high frequencies bats use as their “sonar device” to detect and catch insects and “see” their surroundings – bats, however, are not blind. The frequency range of a Pipistrelle bat is around 45Khz (kilohertz). The range of the RODE NTG-3 shotgun mic I use for StillWalks recording (see the last blog entry) has a range that goes up to 20Khz and so has no chance of picking up the sound of bats!

The sound file above is a recording of the output of the bat detectors we were using made on my Edirol RO9 recorder – the hiss is mostly from the bat detectors but the sound patterns of the bats are quite clear. Adults and children alike were excited and fascinated to hear the bats at first hand rather than on a TV programme and I, for one, am looking forward to the next time.

Mumbles Promenade and Street Photography

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.

RODE Blimp Windshield

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-1

Mumbles Promenade-3

Mumbles Promenade and Oystermouth Castle

Mumbles Promenade - the feet have it!

Mumbles Promenade – a popular place for joggers!

Mumbles Promenade

Mumbles Promenade – a popular place for children

Mumbles Promenade

Mumbles Promenade – a popular place for cyclists!

Mumbles Promenade

Mumbles Promenade – a popular place for walking

Mumbles Promenade

Mumbles Promenade – a popular place for walking

Stress Signal Status

Aching, painful muscles?

Tinnitus?

Headaches?

My stress signals include these three symptoms and probably in that order. StillWalks or walking are my most immediate remedies.

Tinnitus – The tinnitus comes second in the list even though it is a constant in my left ear. It is when it becomes a textured and vibrating whine that it gets more difficult to accept and it does this at times of greater stress . . . and then, of course, I get more stressed as a result.

Muscles – It’s the same situation with the muscles – the pain in the muscles (often my neck, currently my shoulders) may be the cause of stress or something else but the result is the tensing of those and other muscles which only makes things worse.

Headaches – These come last on the list for me because I do not generally get headaches. When I do, it is usually the result of stress. I have only ever had a couple of migraines but that is two too many. A good description for them was put up here at the A Word in Your Ear blog last week.

It’s Amazing – I’ve just watched a StillWalk and it’s amazing how well can work! The Garden Park Walk is a full length example – you’ll find it on the Spring Walks page of StillWalks and it is recommended that you watch it full screen.

Here are a few images from this short 6 minute video.

Magnolia, Clyne Gardens, Swansea

Magnolia, Clyne Gardens, Swansea

Clyne Gardens, Swansea

Clyne Gardens, Swansea

Clyne Gardens, Swansea

Clyne Gardens, Swansea

Rhodadendron, Clyne Gardens, Swansea

Rhododendron, Clyne Gardens, Swansea

Time to Pause

Time to Pause – This is largely what StillWalks is about – taking the time necessary to keep calm and not get too stressed. Whether it be relaxing at the end of the day or taking 5 minutes out in the middle of the working day, StillWalks can be both enjoyable and a useful alternative to actually getting out there for a real walk.

The queue of things to do – There never seems to be enough time to do all that I want or is necessary. So, considering what I have just said about StillWalks, I have decided to make a priority completing the four or five StillWalks that are half way through the post production stage by the end of September. The production days for these walks date back to the middle of March and completing them should be a priority because this is work I enjoy doing and, like taking a real walk or watching a StillWalk, has it’s therapeutic value.

Current explorations – In the meantime I have been enjoying finding a new place to produce a StillWalk – Singleton Park in Swansea and its botanic garden. I joined Martin Humphreys and others last Wednesday for a Bees and Butterflies walk through the botanic garden – it was very enjoyable and relaxing. The walk will take place again next Wednesday at 10 AM – anyone interested should meet at the botanic garden entrance in the park. Enjoy the photos from my phone below.

Singleton Park, Swansea

Singleton Park, Swansea

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden

Singleton Park Botanic Garden - Twisted tree

Singleton Park Botanic Garden – Twisted tree