How quickly the Summer slides into Autumn. Whilst there is plenty of warmth in the sunshine, you know that as soon as you move into shadow, the air is thin and chilly. This is a great time of the year, and I shall be planning some walks for the next few months as time allows.
Back during the midst of the heatwave, at the beginning of July, I did an early morning walk along the Rea Brook in Shrewsbury from Meole Brace into the centre. I had been reading various books and writings of Richard Jefferies, Edward Thomas, Richard Mabey and Robert Macfarlane, and so their detailed noticing of the landscape and nature were fresh in my mind as I made this meditative wander alongside the river.
Shropshire Council owns most of the land and manages the meadow, wetland and woodland habitats as a nature reserve. This green sliver connects right into the heart of Shrewsbury, but it was hard to ignore the tightening encroachment of housing all the way out to the outskirts of town. There are some 8,000 new dwellings to be built in the town by 2036, and the pressure is being felt on all the undeveloped green spaces.
There is plenty of edginess to this edgeland landscape with graffiti covered bridges, corrugated tunnels and patches of tangled woodland.
I was early enough so that I saw only a few dog walkers and a couple of runners. I shared the walk mostly with the birds, and I stopped on the bend in the river by a rope swing and listened to their conversations, the buzzing of insects and the gentle rippling sounds of the water.
I have seen a kingfisher along the brook before, but not today. Today, I noticed how many houses had been built on the bank from Sutton Farm – lacking distinctiveness, confidence or any sense of their place in Shropshire in the 21st Century.
Back in the studio, I made a series of about 10 little paintings in just under 2 weeks. Unlike my more recent large and expressive paintings, these were more finely detailed and representational. I tried to capture the early morning light that I had enjoyed. Four of the paintings were in acrylic on wood panels (23cm x 19cm):
The other paintings were acrylic skins made by painting in reverse layers onto glass, then peeling off the skins once dry for mounting in frames.
Three of these paintings were selected by curator Mel Evans for the Lawn and Meadow exhibition at Participate Contemporary Artspace in Shrewsbury (24th July to 11th August 2018).
No Time Like the Present 
great images! difficult to distinguish even the art from the real thing, it’s all so amazing, this interchangeability! Before new houses are being built, the council should look into how many properties are currently empty…
Thanks Ursula, I think the Council try to, but not so easy to identify empty properties unless they are registered as such. As they rarely develop houses these days, Councils face a difficult task of approving or resisting developers planning applications, whilst under pressure of Government targets for building houses. In Shropshire, the Council is hoping to trial a proposal to encourage more self-build houses in order to address the problem of lack of affordable housing.
Hope to see you Friday/Saturday!