Light and Illumination.

What is it with sunsets? I do love the magical transitory times of a day, the times when the light changes, and as I am not a regular early riser, I especially love the transition between day and night. Dusk is a wonderful slowing down time, especially in the Summer when the spectacular sunsets can be enjoyed by the whole family on the beach.

Tankerton sunset.

The reflection of the setting sun in the sea is a natural gift if we choose to observe it and even more special is the feeling of swimming in the sea, eyes closed, heading towards the warmth of the setting sun. A treasured memory indeed in the depths of any cold, grey winter!

The path up to the sky.

A few weeks ago we had a log burner installed in the living room of our home and I surprise myself by now looking forward to the darker evenings and the increasing chill of the next season. We needed to make a hearth to put the burner on so we laid some concrete and I have been busy playing with the surface. I collected some beautiful leaves from the garden and used them to imprint their delicate undersides and overall form into the damp concrete. The result is a very personalised hearth that hold precious memories now of an abundant summer. The leaves I chose were Honesty, Passion fruit, Grape and Hop. Not only are their leaf forms very beautiful but they are also imbued with another layer of symbolism that could be the start of an interesting tale or two on a long dark winters evening.

Laying the leaves in wet concrete.

I enjoy observing the way that the light changes due to the season or the time of day. Recently whilst walking along the coast the sun was very low, about to set but had seemed to shoot out its last rays along the surface of the water towards the shore and it lit up the yellow Horned Poppy in a way I hadn't anticipated. It glowed! Luckily I had remembered to take my mobile phone with me and the camera on that is great for recording such sights. It's not the best, I also have a small digital Olympus and a larger digital SLR Cannon, but the mobile always allows me to capture any moment, to record it so that I can revisit that feeling of discovery and joy another time. It helps with my artwork too, I can revisit that time and place and refresh my memory if I am struggling to obtain the variation of colours needed in a piece.

Sunset glow.

This week I have been collating all my past blog posts so I could pass them onto a friend who will help me edit my book. It's been a long time coming but I am keen now get it out there. Re-reading the blog posts has been very interesting, seeing how each season often inspires walks, reflections and illumination. Themes seem to come up year after year and it is encouraging to know how much in tune we are with nature if we are able to get out regularly and walk amongst it.

Yellow beauty.

I came across a really nice article via a Facebook group that I follow called Treesisters, there is a link to it here. The article looks at 3 ways to connect to nature, one is to create a 'sit-spot' where you go regularly and observe the natural world around you and another is to go on a walking quest, a practice where you walk alone for 2-6 hours.

Walking with others is a joy too.

Personally I find even a daily 15 minute walk can bring great awards such as peace of mind if you allow yourself to be immersed in the very act of walking. This can be achieved both in a busy city and in the countryside. It is the act of giving yourself permission to just be, to walk and to observe without judgement. Perhaps this is why sunset walks are so attractive and satisfying. I for one, cannot help but be affected by the phenomenon of a setting sun. It quite simply 'fills you up' and when the experience is shared with loved ones it is truly wonderful.

A well worn path towards the sunset.

I will be opening the doors of my beautiful straw bale studio once again this year to exhibit my own and Alison Lees work as part of the Canterbury Festival, the theme is still 'The Spirit of Place' as it is an ongoing art project based in Kent.

Sunset and bubbles, could it get any better?!

You can keep up to date with our explorations and discoveries by looking at www.facebook.com/EastKentSpiritOfPlace

Open times are 11-5 daily on the weekends from 14-29^th of October. We can be found at house number 25 on the Whitstable trail. Please see the webpage www.ekoh.org.uk for more information.

 I can be contacted on 07432679164 or clare@people-to-place.co.uk

Seasonal Markers, our place in time, location and nature.

It seems hard to believe that it was just a month ago when the Bluebells were fully out and smelling so powerfully fragrant in our woods. Today it is hot, very hot and the season of Bluebells seem an age away.

The way into the wood.

When I remind myself of how it was when I walked into the lush woodland to see and smell such a vibrant and abundant flower it almost seems like a dream. The floor of the wood was covered in this amazing blue, nearly violet in hue and the haze of the colour spread out as far as the eye could see, in bright contrast to the emerald green leaves of the new Beech leaves overhead.

Storing and pressing a few Bluebells for my printing work at the studio later.

I remember Alison Lees, my friend and collaborating artist on the project 'Spirit of Place', sat on a fallen tree trunk and I sat on the damp forest floor observing and sketching the Bluebells, insects and trees and in doing so we felt nestled in, among and part of nature itself.

Painting in situ, on the woodland floor.

Later on in my studio I created a series of Gelli-plate prints coupled with William Blake’s words, celebrating the wonder of this moment. Since then I have also made a very large woodcut print of my experience and a much smaller drypoint etching. These will be on show in our mid year Summer exhibition, which we are planning now for next month. (Dates and place to be confirmed ASAP!).

Detail of the 'reveal' as it happened!

Tonight, I will lead a group of people in a procession up the ancient Salt Way, to mark the change in season, celebrating today the Summer Solstice and the longest day of the year. A day when the daylight prevails and darkness is scarce. The path we take, The Salt Way has been written about many times in this blog, for I used it as a case study when I studied for a Masters a few years back. It is a trading route which has views out over Whitstable Bay to the north and the remains of the ancient North Wood of Kent to the south.

Summer Solstice procession.

From the point at which we stop and sit, gathering around a tiny fire as dusk finally arrives we have a 360 degree view of our surroundings. Once again nestled down in nature and on this significant day, amongst friends, we mark time, recognising the deep connection we have with people and place.

The Salt Way continues on from this point at which we are seated, to Canterbury and beyond as it has done for thousands of years. To step out literally from this seemingly highly chaotic and busy world we live in and take time to slow down, the notion of the path connecting people to place over generations and more recently seasons has a very calming affect on us all.

Long may it last.

A finished Gelli-plate print.

Our mid year Summer exhibition, which we are planning now for next month will have its date and place confirmed on the next blog. In the meantime for your diaries I will be opening the doors of my beautiful straw bale studio once again this year to exhibit my own and Alison’s work as part of the Canterbury Festival, the theme is still 'The Spirit of Place' and is an ongoing art project based in Kent.

You can keep up to date with our explorations and discoveries by looking at www.facebook.com/EastKentSpiritOfPlace

Open times are 11-5 daily on the weekends from 14-29^th of October. We can be found at house number 25 on the Whitstable trail. Please see the webpage www.ekoh.org.uk for more information.

 I can be contacted on 07432679164 or clare@people-to-place.co.uk

Mapping and Territory

Mapping

I have successfully taught one of my workshops now a couple of times and past participants are eagerly asking for the next ‘chapter’. I had decided to break down the full day workshop into three parts as each part is really quite a substantial subject in itself.

Surface Rubbings from an earlier workshop.

So literally moving on from ‘Way-finding and the art of Psycho-geography’, there will be another workshop looking at ‘Mapping and Territory’. It is with this in mind that I have been immersing myself in many books on mapping, walking routes using maps and rereading the relevant part of my personal MA research.

Robert Macfarlane has had a lot of press coverage recently as he launches his new book ‘Landmarks’, I love the way he writes, he is a true observer of the beauty of place. I feel an affinity with the way he approaches the subject. Yet to be honest, as I am on the cusp of writing my own book about connecting people to place (through the simple act of walking), I feel hesitant about picking his newest book up and starting to read it. I know it will be enjoyable, beautifully written and informative.

But I need to refine my own thoughts, research and practice and concentrate on finding my own voice in this ever increasing popular subject.

Mapping my post-it notes..

I started to literally map my blog two weeks ago, taking subjects, words and themes and mapping them out on post it notes in front of me. I easily used up a few pads of pale yellow notes, arranged about a third of these on a large sheet of paper and stopped. I have so much information and although grouping a third of it together into specific themes, arranging it in an order that I understand does help, it also makes me aware that collating and bridging all these themes into a concise, enjoyable, easy to read book is going to take a while. And that time will not be found in the Easter holidays!

One page of many to do...

So now it is term time again and even a short term such as this will afford me some time to finish arranging the remainder of my post-it notes into order and start developing chapters. Lets hope so anyhow as now I understand why I hear of writers who take themselves away to remote places to construct such a piece of concentrated creative endeavour.

Territory

We spent an enjoyable week in Wales over the Easter break, 3 days of it was spent about 6 metres up in an Oak trees’ canopy. We had travelled up to the southern edge of Snowdonia to stay in a beautiful tree-house in a remote valley that felt truly magical. This could be an ideal place to write a book as there was no WIFI or electricity; the water came from a mountain spring and the heat from a log burning stove.

Fun was had with fire and glow-sticks.

It was wonderful for my family and I to have a break from virtual technological connection and sink back happily into the true nature of things. The glow from the candles and stove was comforting and real but stopped us from reading late into the evening. There wasn’t a TV or radio to distract us either, so time was spent well, living with the natural cycle of the daylight hours and dusk to dark times.

Our tree-house.

Because of this we all went to bed earlier than I can ever remember doing, as a family and naturally awoke relaxed and happy the next day as the daylight got brighter. This gentle transition time felt so natural, as it would be, that I wanted to try it once we had returned home, but there are so many distractions here that I haven’t even managed to try, maybe we need to book a tree-house holiday for next year to make that happen again.

Nestled in the trees.

There were 5 tree-houses in the valley, there are all located on one side of the stream in ancient woodland, a final and sixth one is now being built. Each tree-house had its own bridge that took you from one side of the stream to the other, these bridges could be seen if you knew where to look, the tree-houses were less easy to see.

From the moment of crossing ‘our’ bridge to climbing ‘our’ tree we felt more familiar to the area and started to know our place. As we timidly explored our surroundings I felt an emerging sense of belonging to the home that we as a family were about to stay in for a few days.

 

At home.

The next day we felt we knew the territory a bit better and became happier to leave it and discover the larger context of the place that we were staying in. In blazing sunshine we walked a large circular route around the surrounding hills and were able to pinpoint our magical valley.

Looking down on the magical valley from the surrounding hills.

As we returned back to the tree-house it felt like home and we had a few daylight hours to ‘hang out’ back at camp, outside, before stove heated water washed us in the open shower cubicle under the tree-house and in the dusk we climbed back up the spiral staircase to spend another early night in the trees, gently feeling the movement of the branches, cradling us as we dreamt.

The tree-houses blend in, even in the Spring.