This weekend's inspirations: art festivals and walks
Pontypridd Lido, 'Hadau', Pontypridd Common Heritage Trail, The Caerau/Rhiwsaeson walk...the spring sunshine blessing us with it's warmth and the sounds of birds! Inspirations and aims from this: to gather and collate audio soundscape using Audition (learn), to aid in design of bench planning, to understand the natural world to inspire making...
3/4/20241 min read
I have had a nature and art-filled weekend. A lot of food for thought and serotonin in the sunshine and fresh outdoors. I visited (for the first time?!) the ancient stone circle in Pontypridd Common, walking along the folk history, the daffodils and hyacinths bursting through. I also visited part of 'The Caerau' and Rhiwsaeson https://www.taffelyramblers.org.uk/bunny.htm, gathering sounds as I went. I feel so grateful for just how much time I have spent outdoors, putting my new learning about the season into reality. In the early morning (after the snow!) sunshine on Sunday, I swam in the Ponty Lido with my friend India. To swim in the cold water in spring, I could feel the benefits immediately. I am really getting to know Ponty in a greater depth through its natural world and history.
On Saturday, I attended the 'Hadau' Welsh Arts Festival with my friend Meryl, thanks to the kindness and generosity of Abs and Nate at Parc Arts who gave us two tickets and project-managed the event. Despite this having a religious undertone (I don't have a religion) and sometimes feeling uncomfortable, I still learned and spoke to some incredibly inspiring creatives and kind welcoming people, working in fields such as arts in health, and exploring the ideas of nature, belonging, connection, to name a few... looking at the theme of the festival 'something new'/seeds. It feels very fitting for my explorations. The main things I took away from this day was:
Learning about liquid art and just how accessible and universal this workshop and art form is for anyone, producing beautifully organic and unique pieces through the art of pouring (no stress about 'right or wrong').
Ways of facilitation that felt the most comfortable and safe
Sound work in nature and with others in settings such as hospitals, to connect, share stories, and aid wellbeing: https://www.artsinhealth.wales
https://thefieldrecordingproject.co.uk
^^The above feels so very fitting for my explorations into audio in nature connecting us and giving us a time to pause and find peace.
Learning about the Fibonacci sequence in nature, polyrhythm, the word for seed in Welsh (Hadau)
Listening, even if you don't agree with what is being said