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For more information: Number 40 @Southbank Arts Trail

Following the weeks residency I created two groups of work to be shown at the farm throughout June:

‘WOOD WORKINGS’
A constant theme of my work is the human interaction with landscape.  Whilst walking the woodlands that surround Little Dodnash Farm I became increasingly in awe of the trees, and fascinated by the process through which they are managed.  ‘Wood Workings’ documents the human relationship with the woodlands, and ultimately reflects on how; through domestic occupation and husbandry we leave a transitory mark on this environment.

See Gallery – Wood Workings for images from the collection.

’5 WORDS – SHADOWS ON A RURAL IDYLL’

Responding to the question – ‘give me 5 words that describe your feelings about living in a Rural Idyll’, the owner of Little Dodnash farm replied:

Solitude, Panic, Pleasure, Hardwork and Comfort.

’5 Words – shadows on a rural idyll’ uses these words as inspiration for a series of shadow based photo-ascetates constructed and photographed   at the farm during the residency in March. Through the use of Real-time graphical programming the photographs have subsequently been transformed into five animations (one for each word) and shown as a site-specific installation in the farms wood cutting yard.

It should be noted that although the inspiration for the piece sprang from the owner’s feelings about living in a rural idyll, its creation and ultimate presentation are based on my own responses to spending time at Little Dodnash Farm.  My main aim was to produce a piece that creates unity and provides equal weight to all five words, so giving us an insight into reality behind living in a Rural Idyll.

I’m in an upstairs Studio – number M3, so please come along and say hello.  I’ll have some  new work as well the odd bargain for sale.

Opening times:
Friday 19th November: 6pm – 9pm (party continues/drinks served till late)

Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st: 11am – 6pm

Free Entry, Food available throughout the event from Katie & Kim’s Kitchen. Teas and coffees from Daisy Rollo of CoffeeArabica available Saturday and Sunday.

After years of thinking about it, wondering if I can afford or even deserve it I’ve just got the keys for a studio.  It’s in the BV Studios which is a brand new development of purpose-built artists’ studios in Philip Street, Bedminster, Bristol.  I have a portion of one of the mezzanine studios (pictured here), I just need to get some shelving, furniture and all my boxes of frames in and I’m sorted.  I’m really excited about this and hope it’ll give my practice an injection of energy it needs and help me move my career on to another level.

Just a quick update – I’m really enjoying being in the space, I’ve got shelves and furniture, so it’s down to work now!!

Having been involved in organising the South Bank Arts Trail for five years, I have been looking for a ways to develop new community arts based events.  The big difference being that I’d like to retain more creative control, be funded to do it and be able to pay artists to be involved. Jess Wright was in a similar situation, having run the South Bristol Business Awards for two years she was looking for a new challenge.  We share the same aims but come from different backgrounds:art and business. Seven months ago Jess and I started working on a new project called illuminate. Illuminate aims to produce arts-based events that promote and reflect both the creativity and rich history of South Bristol. Key elements of illuminate projects will be the use of disused properties to show art/moving image work, to reflect the community and history they are set in and to involve key creative organisations in the city of Bristol.

illuminates long-term aim is to produce a festive Christmas event that would transform multiple disused shops on North/East St by using projected films/light/artists installations. We will be piloting the illuminate concept at the end of March with Spring Forward, an event partnered with the Knowle West Media Centre and Picture This:

The weekend of March 27 to 29 will see two empty shops – numbers 26 and 28 in Bedminster’s North Street  – playing host to illuminate’s first event ‘Spring Forward’. Number 26 will feature a series of projected films made by Bristol based artists alongside an exhibition in the empty property (no.28) next door. The exhibition celebrates the past and present of Bedminster’s retail history.

For more information see the illuminate web site

As Chair of the SBA I wanted to continue this collaborative approach and facilitate more projects as part of this years Southbank-Bristol Arts Week (12-19 May 2007). In partnership with Tony Eastman I devised two projects with a similar ethos. Here is a summary of the project briefs:

Message on a Bottle invited Southbank artists and friends of all ages to make a work of art that sent a message from our own community to friends, family or the world at large: by taking a bottle (or bottles) as a starting point, everyone was asked to construct a positive message they wished to send by using any medium or combination of mediums (i.e. paint, enamel, collage, papier mache, sound – you name it!) The ‘bottle messages’ (signed or unsigned – it’s your choice) were installed in St Paul’s Church and unless otherwise indicated included in a silent auction to raise funds for the SBA.

Seaside, Cities and Sandwiches – a ‘ReCollection’ offered the chance to share holiday memories and see them incorporated into an audio photographic collage at the Grant Bradley Gallery: Choose an old photograph that records one of your most memorable holiday experiences and be prepared to record a short description of the experience.