I am starting a residency on Epsom Common. This is a project I have devised and organised in conjunction with the local council, arts organisations and the city of London. There will be three art walks over the summer, they will concern the boundaries both real and imagined that exist over this remenant of wilderness that is only 17 miles from central London.
Now winter is here and the walks are over. I felt it was a very successful process, I got a total of 7 people along to walk over the commons and I have realised that a wet Monday in October is not a great time to expect a big turn out. Next year the walks will all be on Sundays in June, July and August and I am going to have help with the PR side of things. I have nearly pressed the submit button on my ACE funding application, which has been given a great boost by this pilot in 2012 and the fact that i got some money from a community fund to help with the costs this year. It is the first money I have had for a pure art project since leaving college in 2011, so for that I am very very pleased.
From now on the blog will be at
http://artwalksepsom.blogspot.co.uk/
I have renamed the blog so as to re-emphasise the walking and art conjoining.
I have had an operation on a cataract in my left eye, and the results are nothing short of miraculous. Contrast, saturation and detail, especially in back lit situations has improved greatly. The slow growth of cataracts means that you get used to the clouding and although you notice it, you learn to live with it.
We walked the Lleyn coastal path just a week after my operation and it was a revelation. It is a remote and beautiful coastline. Some of the beaches are four miles long and deserted. The hedgerows full of Red Campion and Mombrisha, and the variety of pebbles on one beach amazed me. The duality of Welsh and English languages on the peninsular is of interest to me as in some instances they can be seen to be in opposition.
This visit to the Lleyn has persuaded me to make a short film around Nefyn, and given me renewed vigour to pursue the residency on Epsom Common.
I only had my iPhone with me so I made some preliminary videos and stills, I include one from Porth Ysgo.
It has taken many months of work to get this far and I will be trialing the walks this summer with a view to getting ACE funding for next year. I have the possibility of some funding from a local committee of councilors, but so far it has been down to me to email, meet and ask for help.
The common in Epsom and Ashtead was the first place I crossed the line physically and mentally between urban and wilderness worlds. This was as a school boy and it was a revelation. We passed into a place of birdsong and trees where I was both scared and fascinated. Ever since I have returned to walk over the heathland, woods and tracks that cover some 936 acres.
My interest in boundaries started on the common and has underpinned a lot of my art practice.
The next walk will be on the 27th of August, so please come along, see details on my other blog.
http://walkingtheboundaries2012.blogspot.co.uk/201…
Since graduating from Chelsea in 2011 I have had quite an artistic journey, via the Ovalhouse prize, being lead artist on the Wild Project in the Czech Republic I have ended up in Penzance, Cornwall. here I have concentrated more on painting, drawing and collage and have had work in the Open West 2015 where I won the Gloucester University prize, and last year I had work in the Wells Art Contemporary, The National Open Art & the ING Discerning Eye exhibitions. Currently selling paintings to local collectors direct and through Saatchi Art to international collectors. The animal/human area is my subject matter and has been since graduating.
