The first painting I remember feeling really proud of was a scene depicting a barrel top wagon in a field of poppies. I remember the joy of discovering how to depict the poppy flowers by turning my paintbrush around and dipping the end in the red paint, stamping the red circles onto the paper.
I was seven years old, recovering from a three week bout of pneumonia. My primary school teacher had suggested I paint a picture of something I really loved.
I’ve always loved and been fascinated by traveling wagons. I would see them every year when we drove to my granny’s house from Scotland around the time of the Appleby fair. Families would be filling the lanes with wagons pulled by horses on the way to the fair.
I had dreams of traveling in one and I nearly fulfilled that dream in my mid 20s in 1998 when I wrote to Stonehenge from Brighton along the downs with a group of friends raising money for Survival International …but that’s another story.
On the road I soon realized that with today’s fast-paced traffic, traveling the road by horse and cart is a very scary prospect.
I am fulfilling part of the dream by staying in a lovely old Wagon on my seven night residency which is one element of my year of research and development funded by the National Lottery & Arts Council.
The wagon is nestled on the well cared for land of Cuckoo Farm, which borders the Wildlife Trust’s Andrew’s wood. On the farm, the owner, Janet offers equine therapy and shamanic drum making. There’s a weekly forest school and she occasionally hosts Wildwise and other nature connection groups for residential and day events. Besides the wagon there is another lovely cabin available to rent.
Bell Bartlett and I have happy memories of holding the final weekend of our course “Rooted” here, under the giant oak trees.
On my residential retreat I will be spending time connecting to the land of Cuckoo Farm and Andrew’s wood, deepening my spiritual connection with the trees and plants and widening my creative language through play as I explore the fibres and forms in a variety of media.
I feel so lucky to have this opportunity and feeling delighted surprise as I write this with the realisation that I have manifested a childhood dream.
Find out more
Cuckoo Farm – http://www.cuckoofarmstead.co.uk/
DYCP Arts Council – https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/dycp
Wildwise – https://wildwise.co.uk/
Rooted – https://creativejourneys.org.uk/the-nesting-project/
Andrew’s Wood – https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/nature-reserves/andrews-wood
Appleby Fair – https://applebyfair.org/appleby-horse-fair
Photo of the wagon from cakestack (this is not the wagon at Cuckoo Farm)
#thejourneysofar #dycp #artscouncilengland #creativepractice #natureconnection #forestbathing #fibreart #residency #manifestingmydreams