Rationale for the work on the parallel project.

I live in the town of Wellington Somerset and a lot of my work for the past couple of years has focussed on a foraging map. Wellington is a Transition town and it is in that sense the local communities map. The map consists of various sites where the Transition Town organisation has planted fruit trees of various varieties and as they ripen anyone in the local community can come and pick the fruits for free. In this regard I’ve followed the map and visited it’s sites throughout the seasons and have generated a body of work that covers all the areas on the map. My genre ranges from realism through to abstract. Decaying leaves, fruits and allotment scenes are amongst the subjects. My work is culminating into an exhibition starting on 6th June 2023 and this will run for a week. Details of this are below. The exhibition is for charity and I am donating half of the proceeds to the Transition Town as my work and time spent on following the map has been invaluable in my artistic journey. The other half of the proceeds will be going to the Wellington Hospital League of Friends. This small cottage hospital has provided many services to the local community and one of the reasons I want to support them is because they are wanting to develop work on mental health. Mental health services have become so vital and a lot of people old and young are still experiencing problems arising due to covid and our lockdowns. I’m a firm believer that painting and other artistic pursuits are of great benefit to helping people and that these activities are therapeutic.

The Transition movement is an international organisation and there core values are about sustainability, biodiversity and for us to become carbon neutral. Anyone can join the organisation and there are various spin off groups such as a wildlife group and a food group. There are regular events and initiatives that anyone in the local community can get involved in. They have acquired land from the council in various places. Fox’s field was an acquisition and they community was involved in planting trees in the area. I recently attended an evening of music, poetry and where there was also some artwork displayed. Some of the poems were amazing and about the soil and the land. I feel very proud to be giving back to such a wonderful organisation. There was one woman there who had added some chemical to soil to create beautiful art on natural material. Their next ambitious plan is to work on the Basins. This is the rugged unspoiled area where I worked on the allotments and some of the fruit trees. There are beautiful walks too and the small lake or pond where people fish. There are also some swans and ducks.

The work I’ve created is quite diverse but it all reflects the people. The people who’ve devoted time and energy to planting the fruits and the trees through to the allotment holders. Their dedication to growing their own produce, creating unusual but beautiful unique spaces. I thank them all as it’s been a privilege to see their work and labours. I just hope I can do them justice and raise some money.