Winter Walks 2020-2021 (part three)

Last Autumn  I completed an excellent online course - Inspired by Nature with Tara Axford.  One of the course elements involved using a gelli plate to produce mono prints. This is a  process which enables very fine detail and textures to be created. I have made prints from some of the objects and textures found along the shore.

Rather than faithfully reproducing a particular view, my aim has been to capture the essence of the place as I have experienced it during the winter months. The resulting prints therefore become infused with memories and emotions.

Some of the prints have been selected and placed into small books. I have chosen the concertina structure as it is sympathetic to the subject matter. The books are tactile objects where the folding and unfolding pages mimic the movement of the water and tides. 

The estuary is indeed a dynamic place. Having walked the same path for a number of weeks, no two days have been the same. The walks have covered the period of Lockdown,- from midwinter through to the Spring equinox. The soft light, and subtleties of winter are already starting to change as the days lengthen. I see these works as being firmly routed in this particular time.

 
"Here the land, water and air meet; here we have the ebb and flow of the ceaseless tides...of such eternal change - the struggle and competition for existence"

                                      Joseph Conrads description of the Thames estuary (from  Heart of Darkness)