Ruins in the Woods

Posted on 28/07/201428/07/2014 by Alastair

The ruined stone wall hidden in amongst the trees of Cwm Nash Woods was a surprise find – for me at least. The wall belongs to an old mill beside the Ffynnon Marl river. The StillWalks production walk I did with Dr Cathy Treadaway as part of the “Walk and Draw for Health and Wellbeing” research project, was done without a recce walk beforehand.

I had been asked to go along with a completely fresh eye (and ear). I don’t normally do this because there are distinct production advantages to checking out the lie of the land beforehand. However, whether the walk is done as a recce or as a production, new surroundings are always exciting to explore and Cwm Nash absolutely “came up to the mark” for me as a new discovery.

Cwm Nash Woodland

Posted on 27/07/201427/07/2014 by Alastair

These photos are from a woodland on Bristol Channel coast of South Wales. I know the area in the Vale of Glamorgan from working there on a project a few years ago, but I had not been to this particular spot before.

The images form part of a new StillWalks video I was asked to produce as part of a research project being run by Dr Cathy Treadaway for CARIAD at Cardiff Metropolitan University. The project – “Walk and Draw for Health and Wellbeing” – is very much in keeping with my StillWalks philosophy and the video will be available to view at the end of this week.

If you go down to the woods today . . .

Posted on 26/07/201426/07/2014 by Alastair

. . . you’ll find some strange wooden serpents slithering through the undergrowth. This Loch Ness monster like fallen branch is classic shape from the crooked oak trees of the woods in Coedbach Park.

It is not the first time I have photographed this particular piece of wood, but it is in a different position in the woods now, so it is obviously on the move!

Far and Near – A Look at the Land

Posted on 22/07/201422/07/2014 by Alastair

Here is a view of a place I have not seen from this angle before – looking over Hendy from one of my evening walks. I have done the walk many times but never ventured quite so far into the field on the hill. The 11 arched railway bridge over the River Loughor can be seen from other vantage points but none of them have the same green landscape in the foreground – buildings and telegraph lines tend to get in the way.

Snapped on my iPhone, I made the mistake of zooming in – just slightly, but it was still a mistake. Always crop afterwards if need be, but don’t use the zoom function as it is digital, not optical and the effect is a blurred image. I’ve done my best with it.

I did not use the zoom function in the close up of a thistle in the field – I didn’t need to. There were loads of them, the tallest I have seen!

Back On the Buses

Posted on 21/07/201421/07/2014 by Alastair

Due to my car breaking down recently (on top of a Welsh mountain), I found myself having to use buses to get to work for the first time in – well, I can’t think how long.

These photos and sounds may be familiar to those who use buses all the time, but for me, I came to the experience with a new ear and eye. The first bus I took seemed a bit of rickety old thing but this just made for a fascinating series of rattles, squeaks, creaks and bangs to say nothing of the changing noise of the engine and the hiss of doors.

These were recorded the day before World Listening Day!

Bus en route to Gowerton

Standing at bus stop Pontlliw

Josef Herman Schools Award 2014 Exhibition

Posted on 20/07/201420/07/2014 by Alastair

The Josef Herman Schools Award is an annual project hosted by the Josef Herman Art Foundation Cymru which employs different artists each year to work with four South Wales primary schools. This year the Foundation is working with the Tate on a two-year project called Mining Josef Herman; part of a Transforming Tate Britain: Archives and Access programme.

The children enjoyed a promenade performance by Lighthouse Theatre followed by a series of drawing workshops with me in school and in Ystradgynlais, where Herman lived for 11 years. We worked with iPads and traditional drawing materials.

The children researched selected works by Herman provided by the Tate Gallery, London, and made presentations which were recorded on iPads. The exhibition features a selection of their drawing on paper and two TV screens showing both their presentations and animations of the iPad drawings they produced. The exhibition is at The Welfare in Ystradgynlais and will continue until mid September.

Light, Shade and Colour

Posted on 19/07/201419/07/2014 by Alastair

It was the shadow of the stamens on the petals that I really like about these shots of another beautiful flower from Swansea’s roadside verges. I like the contrast in the first image and the subtlety of the same shadow in more muted sunlight in the second.