This is a series of artworks that I created during my time as an Artist in Residence at The Wilson, Cheltenham's art gallery and museum, and have continued working on since.

These artworks are based on local open spaces—the Park Campus, Pittville Park and Leckhampton Hill—and locations along the routes on foot to these spaces. Unable to drive due to my sight impairment, local open spaces are important to me, as they were to all of us during lockdown, when our excursions were limited. My inclusion of benches within the larger landscape paintings nods to my experience of living with Long Covid since March 2020, and the importance of creating accessible and inclusive spaces for everyone to enjoy.

When spending time in green spaces, I enjoy the sounds and feels of nature as much as the sights. I am far more likely to hear birds singing that to be able to see them, and I enjoy feeling the textures of leaves, tree bark and other natural elements.

I created audio recordings that can be listened to alongside the landscapes. These audio recordings are based on field recordings from these sites and the journeys to them. They aim to bring another element of the experience of spending time in these local spaces to the artworks. I also created plaster artworks, which were cast from found natural materials. 

The collection also includes four pieces that combine knitting with found natural elements. Knitting is a craft that was passed down to me from my grandmother forty years ago. The knitting uses local wool from rare breed Cotswold sheep. Our local landscape has been shaped over millennia by human activities, including the Romans bringing the “Cotswold Lion” sheep to farm locally for their wool. Natural and human elements run side-by-side in the environment, and I aim to illustrate this by weaving them together in these pieces.