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Wayfaring Chair: walking, nature and well-being. Well-being; an illusive, mutable and desirable objective for each day.   Mind mapping: a new visual for using contours and labels to investigate routes for my new work. Stillness. The point at which external distraction and noise, filters out of the psyche. Why is it so difficult to maintain…

February 2019 begins with an exciting adventure into an artist residency at Caladar Arts, Cawdor, Scotland; two blissful months of immersion into creativity and contemporary art in the Scottish Highlands. Culminating in an exhibition, I will be walking, talking and sharing my way through with ‘Way Finder’ walking workshops (details to follow) and using this…

Happy New Year one and all. Hope for a happy 2019 is to be found in the form of a special issue of ‘Interartive‘ an online magazine. My art project Wayfaring, was published in December 2018. This pursuit of mine to create art around walking, is based on a firm belief that I am a better version…

I don’t remember when the smell of leaf litter became important in my life. Decomposing leaves improve soil, adding carbon, nitrogen, phospherous and other inorganic compounds as well as helping to maintain moisture and temperature at ground level. On a warm August day, I had the good fortune to go foraging for Blaeberries with a…

In 1966, Blandford Press released a series of books on rural Britain. Book number 8 in this series was by J.B. Wood. It was called ‘Growing and Studying Trees’. In it, Wood stated ‘The true value of trees and forests were now to be recognised, and steps taken to check the drain of tree-wealth. For…

Having used traditional rope-making techniques and gathered small quantities of the dominant plant species in each walk carried out, some interesting observations have been yielded in the resulting small scale studies. This gathering and weaving created a deeper understanding of place and the conversations that ensued amongst participants tethered me to a moment frozen in…

Going for a walk is a daily occurrence for lots of us. We distractedly gather together our hats, gloves, scarves and head out into the leafy lanes and wander around our rural idyll, without even noticing what we are doing. This walk was no different from any other walk I had done of late. I…

‘Conversation Piece’ by Juan Muñoz has been an installation I have visited for many years. There are 22 life size bronze figures that appear to be in deep conversation with themselves and each other; greeting their visitors from both land and sea. Installed at Littlehaven Promenade and Sea Wall South Shields, Muñoz won Spain’s prestigious ‘Premio…

Origin of the word “influence” Late Middle English: from Old French, or from medieval Latin influentia inflow, from Latin influere, from in- into + fluere to flow. The word originally had the general sense ‘an influx, flowing matter’, also specifically (in astrology) ‘the flowing in of ethereal fluid (affecting human destiny)’. The sense ‘imperceptible or…

Just occasionally, something happens in life that is so profound that it strips away the superfluous and reveals the truth behind the stories we tell ourselves on a daily basis. Last night I had the privilege of attending the launch of a book. Marcas Mac an Tuairneir was the author, (Facebook link) Little Bird the poem and Lus…