Shortly after my last blog post I lost my micro camper in a car crash and it's fair to say that the shock was quite hard hitting. In April of 2018 I had the whole of the British Isles to explore, and by the summer all my plans were dashed. My desire to explore diminished, and I found myself creating in a very different way. My focus became needle felting. I'm not sure why I didn't blog about it. Maybe it was because the adventure wasn't outward looking, there were no trips out, no mediatative walks and much of my time was spent making funny little characters and selling them at local craft fairs.
My last craft fair was in December 2019. I was shattered from spending an average of 6 hours creating a small master piece: trying to make enough figures to fill a craft stall was very time consuming. In early 2020 I lost my motivation. Then Covid. And had I booked up craft fairs and needle felted my heart out, they would all have been cancelled anyway.
What took over my heart in 2020?! I'm not sure when it happened. Probably during an afternoon pouring over an OS map of the area I live in, trying to find local attractions to explore, or thinking about the lack of swimming spots alond the River Torridge no doubt. But this tiny acorn of an idea has grown into a wonderful artistic challenge. I'm not sure where it will take me artistically, I am hoping my ferret brain and ridiculous meditative focus will alow me to explore, not only my immediate surroundings, but also new ways to express myself.
I started this journey last year in covid conditions and this year will see me taking it to another level of focus - The River Torridge from Source to Sea. A meditation on the countryside I live in. An adventure on my door step.
