Rainy staying in days

 

 

Rainy staying in days.

Today it is raining, again. I can hear its constant patter on the roof as I type this blog entry. It rained all night too, I heard the cars swishing wetly past this morning when I woke up. The light is dull and it's grey outside, but there is no wind and the birds are singing their new twinkly Spring songs.

Cloudscape over Adisham Downs.

This weather may mean that I will postpone that long walk I had in mind and do a shorter one instead. Earlier today I reread a newspaper article, published last year, that said that a 25 minutes walk every day could halve the risk of a heart attack and add 7 years to your life. I can walk to the beach and home again in this time if I walk fast, (I've done it in 20 minutes before, down the steps along the prom and back up another set of steps.)

Seascape on Kent coast.

Then when I get home and dry off I shall spread out my OS maps on the floor, along with the geological maps that correspond to the areas I am studying and wallow in their beauty. It can rain all it wants outside as I plan a (hopefully dry) future walk with friends and fellow artists along the Salt Way from Whitstable to Canterbury, and out along the Pilgrims Way to Adisham.

Looking out towards the Essex coast.

My current art project, which is based in Kent is named 'The Spirit of Place'. I am working, in collaboration with artist Alison Lees. This project takes in the two distinct landscapes of the coast here in Whitstable and the Downs, at Adisham, near Canterbury.

 

Collaborating artists, immersed in Nature.

Beachcombing, fieldwalking and wayfinding are certainly part of the project yet there is so much more too. Do come and visit our Facebook page to see some more inspirations, insights, photographs and artwork.

Starting work on a lino cut.

Using carbon paper to transfer the image.

You can see how this lino print evolves on my own artist Facebook page, Rose Clarity.

For your information, my next Netwalking event is on the 18th of March 2016.

 Please call or text me on 07432679164 or clare@people-to-place.co.uk

Walking as a community

Walking as a community.

This time of year is a great time to scour the woodland floor looking for fungi. It feels like a treasure hunt, even if the aim is not to forage for food it can become obsessive, looking down or across the leaf litter hoping for a glimpse of a hidden gem.

A beautiful 'fairy kingdom'?

The fungi that stand out the best in this environment are one of the most obvious poisonous ones the 'Fly Agaric'. It looks pretty but its bright red colour is a warning. There are many other poisonous fungi that do not warn you with their colouring, often they look quite harmless even very similar to edible varieties, so I would never encourage anyone to forage for fungi unless they knew exactly what, where and when and how to pick.

Poisonous 'Fly Agaric' toadstools.

I think that exploring the woodland floor for glimpses of fungi is similar to beach combing as it involves looking down and tracking along without too many upward glances. This is OK on the beach as the position of the sea and coastline are fixed and therefore navigation is obvious, but looking down for too long in a wood can be disorientating and make a short walk a much further one as you try and relocate the main path. But this delay is often priceless as you discover the feeling of being surrounded by nature. Today I could hear the wind move the higher branches of the trees causing loud heavy raindrops to penetrate the lower canopy, birds sang, twigs broke and yet again my friend and I called to each other to confirm our positions and share our finds.

Looking down, this time at a mobile fungi recognition app.

Fungi foragers are pretty canny at keeping their treasures their own. On an earlier woodland walk we encountered mutual friends who carried a basket and seemed to try and hide their finds as we approached. At this time of year there must be a whole community of walkers who scour the woodland areas across Europe looking for fungi treasures, lost in their common purpose and passion for this most primitive form of natural harvesting.

We came across wood sculptures too in this area.

Netwalking

A couple of weeks ago I led the first Blue Banana business groups netwalking event. It was a bright clear day, this was a welcome surprise after the previous day full of downpours and dark grey skies.

The first 'Blue Banana' netwalking event.

We walked along the slopes overlooking the sea, along the prom by the beach huts, up into the tea gardens, around the castle grounds and back to The Marine Hotel for refreshments.

It was great, very productive and enjoyable, everyone said they are looking forward to the next one on the 20^th of November, all are welcome.

And along the prom....

Netwalking allows the two pleasures of walking and networking to be combined. The act of walking creates a forward motion to the conversations too that can be had.

Walking new paths creates a brilliant sense of curiosity.

Friedrich Nietzsche is quoted as saying that 'All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.'