Happy New Year!

18/08/2010 by James.

I know its not January, but with the new academic year starting, and my work needing to fit with the school year more and more, this year I’ve kept most of August aside to get things done that I never have time for, and feel like things are just about to kick off again at the start of term.

Its been great to be able to step of the treadmill of work and get my websites updated, visit museums and galleries that I’ve been meaning to for a while, carry out research for my installation at College Lake, and generally reflect on everything that’s happened so far this year, and all that I need to plan and prepare for in the Autumn.

Its meant that I have spent a lot more time than normal staring at a computer screen, writing c.v’s, making the creative ecology site more user friendly, and getting slightly obsessed with twitter.

As someone who can feel fairly isolated by being based in rural Wiltshire, I’ve found twitter invaluable for keeping up to date with what everyone in the arts, heritage and environmental worlds is up to, making really interesting new contacts and being signposted to useful documents and events.

But I remembered this morning that another thing I was aiming to do this Summer was to actually switch the computer off and give myself some time out, exploring my local patch. It was a beautiful morning and just what I needed, getting up above everything, with a breeze blowing, a pregrine turning and swooping to avoid mobbing crows, and butterflies all around me on the downland flowers.

I try to keep a balance in my work life, and that’s not easy when you’re fascinated by the relationship between so many things. Yes I love to go out walking and quiet peaceful time in the hills or woods, and to make things in a quiet, meditative sort of way, but I also love the buzz of a stimulating conference, a meeting with like-minded, passionate people, and travelling around the country making new connections and sharing ideas.

And most of all I love to combine the different strands together. Its been great to have a few weeks to get things up to date, to visit the new Ashmolean in Oxford, and discover for myself the Sir John Soane’s treasure packed rooms, but I’m itching to get back out and be working alongside the children again, sharing my passion for the outdoors.

So, tomorrow I’m heading to Bristol for a meeting with English Heritage about developing the family backpack project for the Stonehenge landscape, and will pop in to see the Art From The New World exhibition at Bristol’s Museum & Art Gallery that I’ve heard so much about (on twitter…). I’m also talking to another museum about working together to create a teacher’s resource on exploring biodiversity creatively, and on the 2nd September I’m meeting with staff from Ashmead School in Aylesbury to plan an exciting creative outdoor learning project as part of my residency at College Lake.

So, its all go again, exploring, making, sharing and learning, all mixed up together, and I can’t wait.

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