A BRIEF BACKGROUND.
My interest in and love of the English countryside was
well fed as a child, brought up
in Emsworth with its location
at the north end of a natural harbour of world ranking,
in an area now designated as one of 'outstanding natural
beauty'. To the north, the soft rolling hills of the
South Downs, only a cycle ride away.
This
appreciation of the countryside was to increase during my
three years at college
in London, where I was doing my degree. It was good to
come home at weekends
an go out into the quiet of the rolling hills or walk
around the harbour shoreline.
It
was during this time at the Central School of Art
&Design in London that David
Nash came to tutor occasionally. One result of this was
two periods spent at his
place in Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales, where my interest
in work in the environment,
using found material, was fired.
With
a basis also in the dam building, making of shelters and
other activities of
childhood, it was further fed by inspiration found in the
works of Richard Long,
which held for me a kind of nostalgia relating to my own
experiences in and ideas
about the English Countryside.
I
also liked the idea of the unobtrusive that might be
'come upon' by travellers the
in their wandererings; to be discovered and enjoyed
during the short period of their
existence, before reverting back to the disorder of
component parts. Such work
appealed to my taoist and zen influenced leanings, as
well as being fun to do.
All
were done using the materials found at the place, in
sympathy with their location.
The exceptions to this were nails used in the wood
constructions at Chapmans Pool, and thosseusing coloured
string which was always removed, used in temporary pieces
to indicate motion, earth wind or water.
Click
on the links to the left to explore for yourself, they
will take you to some of the
work done in the areas listed. To visit another area,
just return to this page using the
link at the top.
I
am working on a publication with high resolution images
covering the full works, with
background information and sketchbook extracts, which I
hope to have available in due course from this site.
If
you would like to comment on the work here, please feel
free to leave your views in the guestbook using the link
on the home page.
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