30/09/2009 by James.

Yesterday we were back in school, with the children and their parents making collages, either on paper or recycled polythene. We were discussing our experiences at Stonehenge last week, looking at a plan and aerial photos of the area, and starting to imagine what the whole landscape might look like from the air.

The families used marker pens, wool, string and found objects to define boundaries, draw paths, and map out the circular barrows.

Laura (Salis Museum’s Ed Officer, with whom I’m running the sessions), had found some postcards of Stonehenge from the two world wars, written by soldiers based at Bulford Camp, just like these children’s parents, with messages to their own wives and children.

Next week we are all back on the minibus - heading back to Stonehenge to explore the stones themselves…

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23/09/2009 by James.

Yesterday was the second of five Making Tracks project sessions. We went in a minibus from Kiwi School on Bulford Camp to the Stonehenge site and met the National Trust Stonehenge Landscape team, who told the group about the landscape, its history and different features.

The children explored, drew and handled examples of the kind of objects found in and around the barrows. We’re going back to Stonehenge on the fourth session to get in and spend some time around the stones, and do some more mark-making in response to the monument itself.

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22/09/2009 by James.

I went to Fyfield Down again recently. Set up above Avebury, I used to walk there sometimes when we were living Marlborough.

It is a much more wild and windswept feeling place than most of Wiltshire, and the Sarsen boulders lying along the hillsides really give it the feel of an upland moor in Wales or Cornwall, rather than a patch of the Wiltshire countryside.

The visit linked in well with the work that I’m doing around Stonehenge, with its huge Sarsens from this area and the smaller Bluestones from west Wales.

www.wessexarch.co.uk/projects/wiltshire/boscombe/bowmen/stonehenge_bluestones.html

This time we walked along the Ridgeway to get there, on a misty and drizzly morning. Very atmospheric and pretty soggy… here’s a few photos from my phone.

For info on how to get there, see…

www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1006057.aspx

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22/09/2009 by James.

We’ve been trying to get out with Moshi (my dog) every evening to get the most of the evenings as the sun falls lower and the shady parts grow cooler. I know if I don’t that in a couple of months I’ll be wondering why I wasted these moments of the last low sunshine, of leafy space and peace.

We went to some woods near a neighbouring village last night, with dark corners, unseen animals rustling through the bracken, and a family of buzzards calling and moving above the trees.

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16/09/2009 by James.

Here are some links to information on the other artists involved, and associated cultural events running alongside the exhibition and fundraising auction, for which I was invited to make a piece of work.

General info on the Mencap Website 

On Matthew Williamson’s contribution in the Pink Paper

Albert’s Shirt (detail) - my piece for Dia de los Muertos

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16/09/2009 by James.

We ran the first session of this Stonehenge Landscape focused project last night, meeting the children and their parents, chatting about what we might see as we explore the Stonehenge landscape next week, and looking at aerial photos and artefacts.

Everyone soon got stuck in, using natural and more traditional art materials to explore the shapes, marks and patterns in that landscape, and the sensory qualities of the materials themselves.

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14/09/2009 by James.

A great day on Saturday, designing and creating a woven shelter sculpture in the garden of this Devizes based museum, with children from the local young archaeology and natural history society, and their parents.

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10/09/2009 by James.

Things have developed again on the Stonehenge front… I am starting work on the project that I’m running with Laura from The Salisbury & South Wilts Museum today - Making Tracks. We’re meeting up with The National Trust team working in the Stonehenge Landscape, and then going to meet and talk to children and their families at Kiwi School in Bulford Camp, to spread the word and see who wants to sign up to 5 sessions of exploring and mark-making. Great to be getting started!

Also I’ve heard from English Heritage that I am confirmed as the consultant working with local children and young people, to develop ideas for the new Stonehenge Education Centre, and its associated learning programme. The centre opens in 2012 and I’ll be spending a few days a month over the next few months, with people from Key Stage 2 to 18yrs+, visiting the site and using creative ways to generate ideas on what they would most like to experience at Stonehenge in the future.

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03/09/2009 by James.

There seems to have been a lot of text and not so much imagery on here recently, so here’s a couple of images that I’ve been working on recently to balance that out…

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03/09/2009 by James.

Here’s some information for your diaries on the Dia de los Muertos exhibition and auction; raising funds for the charity from the sale of artwork made by a group of invited artists, and based on the Mexican ‘Day of the Dead’ festival.

As you can see from the list of artists involved, mine will probably be a little more affordable than the rest.

Exhibition dates - 27th October to the 1st November 11.00 a.m to 5.00 p.m at The Proud Gallery, Camden

Artwork available to buy via the Mencap website, from the exhibition or by auction at Bonhams, Knightsbridge on 11th November

Other artists exhibiting include -  Craigie Aitchison, Tracey Emin, Gillian Ayres OBE, Martin Parr, David Birkin, Matthew Williamson, John Keane, Hilary Simon, Roberto Gonzalez Fernandez (RGF + DDT), Carlos Diez Bustos, David Trullo and Stephen Wright

Should be a wide range of interpretations on the theme, so worth a look even if you can’t afford to buy…

More info nearer the time on the Mencap website

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