The Light Walks Shop Installation

The final event for our Light Walks For Dark Days project took place in the Bee Inspired Studio in the Mews, Kettering and was a great success. We were able to share our walks and interventions with the community and had a marvellous time reviewing our year. Carole and Jo have both written their thoughts about the project on their personal blogs which can be read here Reflection, contemplation, light and dark and here Light Thoughts

Light Walkers preparing Glow Balls 

for the Shop Installation Opening

Michael describing some of the things we did during our walks

John showing guests images from the walks

As Finedon featured in two of our walks  and one began in the church yard, we were delighted when the Reverend Richard Coles,  Vicar of Or Lady the Virgin Finedon, kindly agreed to add his voice and thoughts on the importance of walking to our Light Walks Film. 

Watching the Light Walks for Dark Days Film

Having a mini indoor picnic during the opening

Pea shoots in December

our hopes for future growth, walks and creative adventures.

Light Creations for a Dark Day

Our last walk for the series Light Walks for Dark Days lived up to its name. A grey, misty and damp day with little contrast or colour.

This did not deter our Light Walkers however, seeing the greyness as a perfect opportunity to play with lights and flourescence - how could we introduce colour and light into the perfect backdrop of a foggy October day?

Armed with glow-sticks we set off to find dark spaces around the lake at Sywell Country Park.

There were many small gems to spot in the mist on the way.

It was great to have us all walking in a group together again, although sadly for the last time for this series of walks.

Autumn brought its colours to interrupt the greyness of the day.

Nipping into a gap in the hedge, we sneaked off the path and into the woodland. A beautiful hawthorn tree stood, its trunk in the dark and a low canopy spreading. We set to work to dress the dark space with flourescence.

Our sculptural light creations glowed quietly amongst the dark tangle of branches, appearing like floating aliens against the green.

We tried out our creations in other dark space, a natural fence in the hedgerow:

and an installation in the bird hide, the sun illuminating the colours as it caught them through the viewing slit.

It was nearly 4 o'clock when we finished circumnavigating the lake, and darker still. All the way round we had been searching for a perfect place of dark water, but had not found it. Carolyn was particularly determined to find the right place for our final installation of the day, and as we made our way back to the car park we suddenly found it! The Sheepwash running along the side of the car park took the water under trees where it was decidedly dark and made the perfect place for our final installation, floating lanterns.



Serenely bobbing along, they rode the current gently and gathered together at the root of a tree before we set them free again. Flames flared and died, turning from orange to blue.

We watched them for some time, then retrieved them from the water with bamboo canes, and left, leaving no trace but keeping our memories.

Our exhibition of the project will open on Thursday 20th December and run until 6th January at Market Street Mews, Kettering. Watch this blog for more details - we hope to see you there!

Back at the Green Patch

After a short break from our Green Patch project 

we were glad to be back during the past week.

We were happy to find the sunflowers

 ice plant

peonies, evening primrose, wild strawberries

 verbascum and begonias are all doing well in their up-cycled planters.

The signs got their first coat of varnish

We spent time making a bird mobile

to install in one of the trees.

We also had time to work on our Weather Installation

Our second day was rainy but we couldn't stop smiling as we find the Green Patch, working in the fresh air , watching the seasons change, totally inspiring.

Day 5 - sun, signs and a ceiling

The end of our first week at the Green Patch, and it has been busy!

We had more visitors today, despite it being scorching hot! But our trusty gazebo gave us shelter. A very pleasant day making more bunting and printing signs.

Bunting: a scarecrow, a ladybird and a cat

We also did some more work towards our installation to go in the summer house. The idea keeps on developing, this time we masked out shapes on a panel to be mounted on the ceiling.

Work resumes again on Monday! 

Day Four - a weather installation

Today we started making parts for our weather installation for the summer house at the Green Patch allotments.

Weather has been a big feature in our residency so far, it's a physical struggle at times to create work in gusty wind, sudden heavy rain and hot sunshine, all of which we have experienced in one week! Of course weather is important for growing and the allotment too, and every day we are all hoping for enough rain to refill the depleted water butts, followed by hopes for enough sunshine to ripen everything, wishing for that perfect balance and making constant adaptations here and there to protect plants from drying out or from becoming waterlogged.

Therefore we felt that we should create an installation in the summer house to reflect aspects of weather. We spent the day cutting, heat bending and machining pieces of acrylic sheet. We'll start installing the pieces tomorrow.