diaryofawalker

I have travelled to Melton Mowbray a few times lately in my car, and I had forgotten how nice it was to drive through the countryside. With the added extra of the sun shining, my window wound down and music playing, it has been absolute bliss. The countryside is beautiful heading out in that direction and the fields of bright yellow rapeseed are gorgeous.

I need to stop my car and get a photograph.

I stumbled across this group last year when researching for my degree and found that I do exactly the same as them, the only difference is we have different outcomes. They have really inspired me in my work and I am very excited to have my work being shown alongside them. I am in an exhibition they have curated which starts next week and a book has also been created to compliment the exhbition.

http://www.walkingtheland.org.uk/earthwater20112.A3a.pdf

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3169624#author-bookshelf

http://www.walkingtheland.org.uk/

Two pieces of my work have been accepted into an exhibition in Gloucestershire in May and I am very excited by this fact. They are ‘The spindly trees surrounded by the wild earth’ and ‘Mist is hanging low over the earth.’

I thought the email was rejecting my work so I can’t tell you how it felt when I realised it wasn’t. I was at work and the smile on my face wouldn’t disappear and I was telling everyone I saw whether they wanted to know or not!

I had to write a 25 word personal statement for it which isn’t as easy as it sounds and it took me a while to find one I was happy with:

I leave no permanent mark on the landscapes I walk in, experience and discover but the work wouldn’t exist if the walk hadn’t of happened.

17th March 2012

I went on another walk today, I started at Cromford Canal, past Black Rocks and on upto Middleton Top. It was a walk I had done before, but I still enjoy it. I didn’t however take any photographs, apart from one on my phone and made no written notes. I felt like sometimes I take so much time finding something to photograph or to make a comment about my journey and my experience, I forget just to enjoy the actual walk.

I must say though that I felt so free on this walk. I looked out for the water vole which is common along the canal, I saw the Dab Chicks playing in the water, Coots and Morrhens stretched along the length of the canal, a Swan scared the hell out of me when it jumped out of the water after I had just finished my lunch. I took in the beauty of the forest around me, the colours and sounds, sat and surveyed the views and enjoyed the day for what it was.

In a way I feel like I took so much more in as I was looking everywhere and anywhere and could just enjoy the freedom of being out in the countryside, away from any demands of everyday life.

It’s been my third walk in a week - which is a rarity to me nowadays and it has tired me out.

15th March 2012 

Castleton - Mam-Tor - Castleton

7 Miles

Boots on - There is a chill in the air - It’s foggy - The sun is shining brightly through the fog - Birds are tweeting - Walking through Castleton at the side of the road - The hills rising up from the road - Turning off the main road onto a quieter path - Four sheep in a field - Over a stile - Through a field - Through a gate - Two lambs sitting quietly together - The rocky land - Lambs covering the path - They run away as we approach -  Pass an old Hawthorn Tree - The misty view of the rolling hills - Slowly climbing higher - Heavy breathing - The sun is beginning to beat down - The sound of water in the distance - The hills are starting to rise up on either side of me - A welcome breeze - Through a gate and then back onto a road - Turning onto land that will slowly take us up - The ground is muddy and uneven the whole way - I;m trying to catch my breath - The sun is high in the sky - I;m at the bottom of Mam-Tor - Beginning the ascent - Up stone seps - Stopping to catch my breath - Continuing onto paved ground - The view is beautiful; The bright blue sky, bird song in the distance, the rolling hills and the valleys - A man about to paraglide off the top - Coming to a trig point - Descending slightly - The view is breathtaking - I can see for miles - The tinted purple forest on the valley walls - Over a wooden stile - A crow flying low over the ground - A hawk gliding up from the hillside - A mine;s siren blasts breaking the silence - An explosion - Sttop for lunch -

The wind has picked up a little

Continue on - A haze is slowly spreading across he valley - Over a stile - Beginning to head upwards again - The beginning of a forest on the valley wall - A solitary tree’s leaves slightly swaying in the breeze - A lone walker - Two buzzards circling in the distance - An uphill climb - Sheep grazing by the side of the path - I stop to catch my breath and again marvel at the view all around me - We begin  a downward descent - Struggling to find which way to go - Around the back of a farm - A trickling stream - A tree lined path - Approaching another farm - Horses in their stables - Following a dirt track around - Two crows siting side by side on the telegraph poles - Over a bridge- Entering back into Castleton - Boots off

I have a new pair of walking boots. It;s strange wearing different ones. Don;t get me wrong they are comfortable and lovely but they don’t feel the same.

New chapter of my walking life?

My piece sold in the art auction.

 I can’t tell you happy I was. It has really inspired and spurred me on to keep going.