I’m drawn to Langport and the ever changing river Parrett. The transformation from earlier this year to now spectacular.
My favourite spots are the Cocklemoor Bridge designed by Richard La Trobe Bateman and a wooden gate and fencing on the opposite bank. These two sum up for me the contrast between the industrial and agricultural communities on the Levels.
These locations will form the basis for my initial idea developments
I
I’ve found my main source of inspiration from the Cocklemoor Bridge in Langport . The patterns, textures and shadows will definitely inform my work
The low light in the evening has been a great time to capture some illusive light and shadow in the back lanes of Langport.
First visit to the Black Swan Gallery to view the studio space I will be occupying in September -what a great space to play with and close to the Diva Café!
The first group meeting has taken place at SAW and now I feel I’m on my way with this new project. Great to meet the others involved and share ideas.
One of the things I love about working on these projects is that you meet some really interesting people and go to places you wouldn’t normally get to visit.
Today I meet Neil and Lucy at Two Rivers paper mill near Watchet. What an amazing place and what a lovely warm welcome I received.
Down a narrow leafy lane on the edge of Exmoor to Pitt Mill and the hub of The Two Rivers Paper Company.
Neil is a highly skilled paper maker has a passion for the hand made papers he produces. I learnt so much while I was there and can’t wait to play with the cotton and linen Two Rivers papers.
I’ve been taking photographs of the Levels to see them in different seasons and the changes to the landscape are dramatic – big skies, wildlife, rolling landscape, water and flooding
The shadows and reflections create patterns and textures to surfaces and it’s these that I will attempt interpret.
As promised here is a recording I made recently whilst doing my research. I am amazed at how much I am learning about the Levels and Moors but I must admit I think its the voices that make the recordings really interesting. (if your computer won’t let you play the recording click on the audio tab above this post)
So this is the beginning of my work and the start of me blogging so please bear with me 🙂 As I will be concentrating on the moorland areas I have been visiting the hidden wooded gems of Exmoor. Today I spent a little time exploring around Dulverton (This is where I will be exhibiting) and then we stopped off at Wimbleball Lake. It was very peaceful and the walk took me through a little wooded area that was host to the beautiful cerise pink of foxgloves, They were gently nodding their heads in the breeze. I almost found myself nodding with them! Next week I will be going on a 12 mile walk from Dulverton to Tarr Steps and back, I will keep you posted!
I spent a really interesting afternoon speaking to Horace Wilcox at Westhay today. Here is an image of an old trough which came from the village school, Horace told me a very funny story about what the trough was used for – I won’t give it away at the moment as I may need the story verified by other locals.
On the drive back I grabbed a few moment to complete some quick sketches of the droves at Westhay Nature Reserve, where I seem to spend huge amounts of time.
I am off to interview a local lady tomorrow and have a couple of other leads for local people which I am following up this week. I will look into posting some of the recordings here so you can have a taste of the wonderful stories I am getting to hear.
I am currently researching my project, which involves a lot of visits to Westhay Nature Reserve and the Taunton Records Office (more on that later). As the project progresses I will let you know what I am up to and will share any photos that I can with you.
Here is an interesting one from Westhay Nature Reserve.
The Levels and Moors 