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Threads
Cotton sheeting dyed with oak galls and iron. A lot of the projects I’ve worked on over the past few years connect back to my childhood and the activities that occupied me then. Making cords by plying together strands of knitting wool was something I’d tried before but until recently I’d never used found…
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The May Month
My spring stay at Clifford Barton Cottages turned out a bit differently to what I’d planned because my Dad died just before I went. It was sad but not unexpected; he was ninety-two and had been ill for a while, and he had said many times during his last months that he was ready to…
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Fingle Woods – Halls Cleave
My website has been on hold for a few months while other things have taken priority but hopefully I’ll be able to post more often now. To start with here are some autumn photos of Halls Cleave taken while I was staying at Clifford Barton last November The weather on the day of my walk…
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Celebrating the shortest days
A riddle My first is in Jack but it’s not in his box My second’s in hours but never in clocks My third is in earth but it’s missing from clay My fourth is in night but it’s absent by day My fifth is in treasure but not found in thief My sixth is in…
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Autumn in the Teign Valley
During November I rented a cottage for a week on Dartmoor and spent some time taking photos and collecting material for future work. The location was perfect and and the accommodation (see links below) provided everything I needed in the way of comfort and facilities. Having fifty acres of private woodland on the doorstep was…
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Printing and dyeing with walnuts
Over the summer months I’ve been busy with a number of plant dyeing projects which I hope to get around to recording now that autumn is here. I began harvesting material back in July by collecting windfall walnuts in a local park – the crop was fairly sparse but by making a few repeat visits…
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Thinking about photography
I’ve recently been reviewing the photos I took during my final Newlyn School of Art Defining Practice weekend. I didn’t have a laptop with me so I was only able to view my pictures on the back of the camera before sharing them with the rest of the group and I wasn’t happy with the…
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Abstract art workshop
Yesterday I attended another one-day workshop at Green Hill Arts in Moretonhampstead (see Bookbinding class for an account of the previous one). Advertised as ‘a day of conversation and hands-on activity’ it was led by Mark Jessett, Robert Manners and Seamus Staunton; three artists whose current exhibition at the gallery entitled ‘Fathoms Fragments Fieldwork’ continues until 3 June. A morning of illustrated talks was…
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Spring in the churchyard
