Where the Avon Meets the Sea

Last week I drove down to Christchurch with my friend and colleague Leigh Chalmers from Wessex Archaeology, with whom I’ve been working on the Ripple Effect project in Salisbury. I’ve been planning on going and seeing where my river (the Salisbury or Hampshire Avon) meets the sea for ages, both to inform my Queer RiverContinue reading “Where the Avon Meets the Sea”

Breathing in the Mist: Recent River Drawings

The drawing in progress in the featured image is one I made to reflect on the misty day that Gemma Gore and I experienced on our walk at Blashford Lakes, where the air was filled with fine water droplets, reflecting the light and filling the space above the water. I’ve included some other recent drawingsContinue reading “Breathing in the Mist: Recent River Drawings”

Walking with… Artist Gemma Gore

Yesterday I met with Visual Artist Gemma Gore from Southampton. Gemma and I visited the Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve, managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, near Ringwood, south of Salisbury and on the edge of the New Forest. The lakes are a legacy of sand and gravel extraction, which continues nearby,Continue reading “Walking with… Artist Gemma Gore”

Taking a Spoon for a Walk

Today I took a wooden spoon for a walk, from my home in the Vale of Pewsey, down to the River Avon. The spoon had been used the day before in Salisbury, also by the River Avon, to make tea and coffee for Ripple Effect project participants, and I was keen that it should haveContinue reading “Taking a Spoon for a Walk”

Blue Health with Wessex Archaeology: The Ripple Effect

‘The first six sessions of The Ripple Effect, Wessex Archaeology’s community building initiative with the Environment Agency, took place during June and July 2022. Each week we met at the Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre on the banks of the River Avon in Salisbury, to talk about our plans for that week’s session, recordContinue reading “Blue Health with Wessex Archaeology: The Ripple Effect”

Crossing Points – Views from a Bike

It’s been a while since I did much artwork relating to Queer River. I have other river related projects and project plans bubbling away, but recently my mind and my individual artwork have been preoccupied with exploring autism/neurodivergence. Yesterday however,I got my bike fixed, and this morning I’ve been out and about, thinking about howContinue reading “Crossing Points – Views from a Bike”

Our Animal Bodies

After spending a while focusing on other rivers and people’s experiences of them, I felt the need to spend time with my own local river again this week, the River Avon as it passes out of the Vale of Pewsey and starts heading down towards Salisbury. I decided to focus my walk on the otherContinue reading “Our Animal Bodies”

Thinking About ‘The Language of Place’

Since the First Friday event last week with art.earth, and my walk with Peter Reason before that, I’ve been thinking about the idea of a language (or many languages) of place. In the questions that came up during last Friday’s event, there were a few on sentience and panpsychism (more in relationship to Peter’s workContinue reading “Thinking About ‘The Language of Place’”

Walking with… Artist and Researcher Catherine Lamont-Robinson

Dr Catherine Lamont-Robinson is an Artist/Educator and a researcher in the Medical Humanities (see here for a taste of her work in the Catch Your Breath and Stories of Dementia projects). Catherine is also a good friend of mine who I have worked with a lot over the years on various participatory arts projects. BasedContinue reading “Walking with… Artist and Researcher Catherine Lamont-Robinson”

Below/Above

This week I bought myself a waterproof phone case and a small GoPro type camera, to start experimenting with filming at and below the river’s surface. The camera isn’t quite up and running yet (I’m waiting for the memory card to arrive) but I have been dangling my phone into the river off of bridgesContinue reading “Below/Above”