New Artwork, New Thinking
Photography has changed so much since the days I first picked up a camera, yet like myself many are falling back in love with the film process, it was certainly the best thing I have done, for myself as an artist anyway. Large format photography is not instant, you have to be much more disciplined and it is certainly not cheap to run a large format camera. However if it gives you the best satisfaction then that is the aim of the game, if you ask me anyway. The term art is also far more apparent to me at the moment, I feel I am no longer just a photographer, more an artist that brings imaginative ideas to a visual form of life, I am also excited by the new mixed media artwork that I will be producing, some even being delivered as I write this.
Being different in the way you produce artwork is extremely difficult, selling it is even harder, I do hope that people will enjoy the new ideas I will be bringing to the viewer when they see the finished creations. I am lucky to have a venue in Wales where my work is on constant display for people to purchase. Erwood Station Gallery is a beautiful and very unique venue, with its old fashioned train carriage’s as the gallery space itself where Welsh artists such as myself can showcase their works for the general public. It has a lovely tea room situated next to the River Wye where many bird species can be seen and a walk that takes you along the river itself. It is not to far from the world renowned book town of Hay On Wye, in the other direction you can visit the home of the Royal Welsh Show, Builth Wells. It is a place well worth visiting.
This year I shall hopefully be finishing the loose ends to my project, Lost Forests Of Britain. I have spent many hours over the last 18 months venturing around the temperate rain forest we have in the UK. This rare environment truly needs more profile raising and on the 28th of June I shall be having my first exhibition at the Found Gallery in Brecon showcasing some of the work created over the last 18 months. Over the weekend one of the locations I wanted to visit as part of the collection was a rural ravine in Wales. The visit took 6 months of planning and I was taken by a colleague to the location for saftey reasons, check out the video below the blog to see me with my hard hat on. I have other ideas for the rain forest though and shall shed some more light on this idea in the future fingers crossed. A big thanks to Stef at Hawk Adventures for his help.
The Topographical Chapel project is still underway with recent locations being visited and I have enjoyed every minute of this journey, not just visiting the buildings themselves but the folk law that these buildings have, plus the cultural richness and congregations I have met. Two possible chapel venues for exhibition have been found to show the project once it is completed, one in the town of Hay on Wye and the other in Llanwrtyd Wells.
I have my fingers crossed for my submission of, Landscape Photographer Of The Year. The competition closes this month and I have submitted 8 large format images from last year. I am also running workshops on behalf of Formatt Hitech and Wales at the Wales and West this year for the first time. I am looking forward to meeting fellow photographers and having many discussions on large format photography.
https://www.waleswestphoto.com/
Finally I now have tuition workshops up and running for one to one photography which can be found in the menu of the website. If you fancy improving your skills or would like to be guided in the Brecon Beacons feel free to contact me and I would be happy to assist, link below.
