An Artist in Residence position in Thornden Woods with the Kent Wildlife Trust. The project was entered for the Canterbury Cultural Awards and was a finalist in two categories: The community Award and the Environmental Landscape Award


Monday 17 October 2011

The Best Bits


Raptor: a symbol for the Wildart Trail and the wider Blean Project 

So the Wildart Trail has officially opened now and vitually everything is installed.
So this post is a small selection of photos showing the finished works.


 detail from the woodland workshop
unusuall to see th konic ponies here
is this guy whistling as he takes his pigs to market
walking along the Radfall on his way to Canterbury

Bugton Underwood; where the insects live
  
counting tree rings

Heron

A Totem Post (pupils at Herne Junior School)
woodpecker


lady of the Woods

these are now known as the 'stump routings'

The Arch

the Sparrow Hawk and Konic Pony Totem Pole


Tuesday 11 October 2011

A day alongside KWT Volunteers

I spent the whole day working alongside the KWT Volunteers, I had my agenda and they had theirs. They were clearing areas of trees along the path improving the habitat by breaking the path corridor effect, which can act as a wind tunnel not so good for insect type wildlife.

 
fire: always an event even if just burning waste


I was stripping leaves from branches and was glad of passing converstion. Interesting hearing about peoples different backgrounds and walks of life. This band of helpers rotate around various KWT sites during the week. Focus on the Bidbury site one guy was telling me. Another lived in London (all be it on the wrong side of the river) but plenty in common to talk about. Others had foriegn holidays, amusing dog stories and I enjoyed my day with them. They made me tea, and shared chocolate cakes and this is welcome as the work is fairly physical.


 




















In the afternoon one volunteer was kind enough to find time to help me and Kathryn fill one of the insect homes with sticks and twigs etc which helped a move things along for the opening event on Sunday.


These log cabins take quite alot of material and we spent the whole afternoon sawing wood to the correct length. One passer buy suggested we set up a xmas nativity scene in there, which would work. It might mean changing the accepted characters and replace them with wild life ones.

There's no room in the car park, 3 owls for the wise men, bringing acorns, chestnuts and wild mushrooms who were guided by the red lights on wind turbines on the horizon. We got ponies and highland cattle to watch, we might have a woodpecker as Joseph the carpenter. But I'm struggling to find replacements for Jesus and Mary?


Sunday 9 October 2011

A Map of the Wildart Trail in Thornden Woods



The Wildart Trail
  Here is the final version of the map which will mark the entrance of the trail. It lists all the features that can be seen along the trail.....er.erhm one or two are till in the construction phase. Looking forward to the Opening Day where the trail is officially opened to to public on Sunday 16th Oct. It has been open to the public all the way through construction really, but the chance for everybody to meet everybody and see whats happening in the woodland workshop.

the finished map at the start of the trail