The landscape of a peat bog is muted especially in winter, but on closer inspection there is a fantastic array of colours in this landscape.
There has been a marked drop in temperature this month. A change in cloud cover also often brings a change in the sonic landscape. Some days the hum of the boundary motorway is very invasive but on other days you barely notice it and just focus on the birdsong.
Early morning walks early in November bring with them heavy dew. Drops sit on the ends of the grass like jewels glistening in the light, soaking your legs as you walk.
Dew days reveal unseen rhythms of the grass and the spider’s lines linking the trees and heathers.
This month saw the Beaver Moon – the beginning of hibernation months.
A late sprinkling of snow changed the moss from autumnal colours to a landscape in monochrome.
Networks of Fox and Hare are mapped across the bunds.
Observations and recording have become more than a weekly exercise, they have begun to take on a life of their own, reflecting my presence as much as the weather and landscape. My studies reinforce my connection to this place. Within the first few months of the residency multiple ideas took shape, threads weaving in and out of each other, of me, and the landscape itself.
Much of this year has been about noticing small details, strange patterns, colours or just one particular view changing with the seasons.
October was very much a threshold of the changing seasons. Peat levels began to rise again as leaves and vegetation begins to fall and die back.
Umbers and Ochre’s are everywhere. It is very pleasant not to need insect repellent. Buzzards regularly dance overhead. The first half of the month was generally very still, large clouds and low sun bathing the moss in a golden light.
The moss seems to be slipping into a more relaxed state as we edge towards Autumn.
Fungi are appearing everywhere; colonies of beautiful shapes and colours embrace the dampness.
Walking in the rain revealed a low drumming as the rain hits the dry leaves. When wet the moss deepens its colour palette to rustic reds and browns.
Towards the end of the month the time spent walking feels particularly precious again. As life returns to pre-Covid times, work and family commitments squeeze my time.
As my residency time nears its end, I consider the responses this landscape inspires.
I look closely, I look again and again.
I walk, I pause. I look. I hear. I touch. I smell. Relationships build, I draw and I collect. My visits are a repetitive process which build connection.
