Where we left off, EXPERIMENTAL PROJECTION AND ANIMATIONS AT AN OPEN STUDIO EVENT AT MY STUDIO AT LEIGH SPINNERS MILL.
OCTOBER - Back to the moss
First trip back to CHLW Moss IN A WHILE, capturing audio and VIDEO footage for an entry into our annual exhibition at the studios. This is called The Nights Are Drawing In. WINTER IS A TIME OF REGENERATION FOR PEATLANDS. AS THE WATER RETURNS, THE SOIL CAN HEAL AFTER THE LONG DRY SUMMER.
A STORM HAD BROUGHT PLENTY OF RAIN AND THE FUNGI WERE OUT IN FORCE
Hydro signal: Broadcast from the bog (2025). THIS IS THE WORK I HAD IN THE EXHIBITION, BUT A LATER VERSION OF IT. I HAD TO DO A QUICK TV SWAP BECAUSE THE OLD RETRO TV GAVE UP ON ME.
THE FIRST OF THE DOWN-TO-EARTH, ARTIST IN PLACE NATURE WALKS WAS ON THE WINTER SOLSTICE
I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR TO GET A COUPLE OF OPPORTUNITIES, ONE OF THESE WAS THROUGH AN ARTIST IN PLACE RESIDENCE, WHERE FUNDING WAS PROVIDED FOR ME TO BE CREATIVE AND PROVIDE WORKSHOPS IN MY AREA. I RAN NATURE WALKS AND WORKSHOPS with a focus on hidden lives. THIS WAS HARD AT TIMES BECAUSE IT WAS THE MIDDLE OF WINTER, BUT PEOPLE STILL MANAGED TO COME. THE NATURE WALKS WERE PARTICULARLY SUCCESSFUL. These are some images of the first one, which was on the winter solstice.
SOME OF THE IMAGES CAPURED ON NATURE WALKS AND AT CHLW MOSS - I’VE BEEN PLAYING WITH DIFFERENT STYLES TO SEE WHAT WORKS BEST FOR ME SO I CAN USE SIMILAR STYLES FOR VIDEO FOOTAGE LATER
WORK IN PROGRESS FOR THE WIGAN'S VOICE COMMISSION, the second opportunity I had, I had proposed to make a felted wool screen with projected footage focusing on Wigan's Green Heart, an area of post-industrial land that had undergone extensive regeneration over the years. Some of the area is wetland and marsh fringe, so it is well linked to research on peatlands. Also, the waterways that run through Wigan connect to peatlands upstream and downstream, with Winter Hill at the top and Cadishead and Little Woolden at the lower end.
I COULD BEGIN TO SEE WHAT THE FELTED WOOL WOULD LOOK LIKE AND IF MY IDEA TO USE IT FOR A SCREEN WOULD WORK. ALSO THIS HELPED ME REALISE HOW THE WOOL AFFECTS THE OUTCOME OF THE IMAGE AND HOW TO ADJUST THE EDITING TO ACCOMMODATE THE TEXTURED SURFACE.
WIP
A LAND LEARNING TO BREATHE (2026)
UV NIGHTTIME NATURE WALK FOR THE DOWN-TO-EARTH ARTIST IN PLACE RESIDENCY. I ran 2 of these, and they were really well attended and lots of fun. I had handouts for people to see why plants emitted certain colours, but obviously, this was an issue in the dark.
AS MUCH AS I WOULD HAVE LOVED ALL THE sessions TO BE OUTSIDE, AS IT WAS WINTER I HAD TO PLAN FOR SOME INDOOR ONES TOO, THIS WAS GOOD THOUGH AS IT MEANT ENGAGING WITH A MORE DIVERSE GROUP OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS THROUGHOUT THE RESIDENCY.
SCANOGRAPHS from one of the sessions, made using a flat bed scanner and later edited
PREVIOUS YEARS MATERIAL AND DYE EXPERIMENTS SHOWN OUTSIDE MY STUDIO
MUD AND CHARCOAL SKETCH, have been thinking about ways of painting and drawing in ways that have less of an impact. Charcoal and mud were as far as I had got last year; not much has changed, but I have been looking into this more. With plans in place for a dye garden, I have seedlings all over the house. This will be an ongoing project, though.
I am mindful not to portray peatlands as desolate places, so finding sustainable ways of bringing colour back into the wool works is important
OAK GALL INK MADE FROM FORRAGED GALLs
WOOL SAMPLED BURRIED IN OCTOBER 2025 WHERE COLLECTED, I WAS HOPING FOR A DARKER COLOUR FROM THE PEAT SOIL BUT HOPEFULLY I CAN USE IT TO TEST FOR MICROORGANISMS.
MORE RECENT MUD ANS CHARCOAL DRAWINGS, THIS TIME WITH BLACK CHALK PASTEL TOO
WIGAN MUSEUM WORKSHOP, FELT MAKING, LOOKING AT MAPS OF THE LOCAL WATERWAYS, DISCUSSING MY WORK IN THE MUSEUM, ECOLOGY AND SUSTAINABILITY
SETTING UP SMALL BOG BOGES TO TEST SOIL TEMPERATURE, I’VE USED THE SAME AMOUNT OF SOIL AND WATER AND LEFT THEM TO ACCLIMATISE SO THAT THEY WILL BE THE SAME WHEN I EVENTUALLY ADD MOSS TO ONE OF THE BOXEDD AND TURN THE HEAT ON TO THEM BOTH.
BEE IN A POPPY, THIS HAS AN AUDIO FILE TO MATCH CAPTURE THROUGH A ZOOM H5 RECODER AND CONTACT MIKE. This is an example of how I capture sound. I have a contact mic pegged to another poppy just out of view here. I also use a hydrophone to capture sounds underwater. I am collecting different audio footage as I go to use later, including swans sifting through gravel, creaking gates, and trees slowed down or wind blowing through grasses.
Some of the other bits and bobs happening in my garden. These all form part of my work later, but I need them to grow as much as possible before I do anything with them.
COTTON GRASS FOR A BOG BOX ALLONGSIDE SOME EARLIER SAMPLES THAT HAVE BEEN GROWING SINCE LAST YEAR IN A SHALLOW TRAY WITH COIR GEOTEXTILE MATTING, it is the root I am interested in here. I love the way they have curled into the grooves of the tray.
BIOFILM UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - microscopic images will form part of my footage that will be projected onto walls and screens.
SCREENSHOTS OF LIDAR SCANS OF TREES VIEWED FROM THE INSIDE - again, these could be incorporated into footage at a later date
CONSIDERING FUNGAL RELATIONS AND SYMBIOSIS
A SCHOOL VISIT TO THE MILL PROVIDED A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO TEST SOME MOSS AUDIO BOXES WITH SOME OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF LEIGH. Different sound recordings are playing through each box. I hope that this will form part of an interactive element in one of my immersive works.