Community Project - FlightPath

For several years now my work has focused on Nature Corridors.

​If you would like to "bee" involved in a Great Big Wildlife Corridor - read on for more information and a PROJECT UPDATE (280821)

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PROJECT UPDATE 280821

Thank you to everyone who has requested a pack - to date I have sent out over 230, an amazing response and I'm thrilled to see them shared and responded to on social media.

I can honestly say there is something wonderful about each piece that I have held in my hands. At times it has been overwhelming - the pieces, the stories, the conversations and the hope that this project has given me. I wish you could all have shared in the excitement of opening the envelopes and looking closely at the inspirational work you have done.

Please, please continue to send them back - I will endeavour to share and include each one. And if you are concerned about the quality of what you have done, please don't be - each one is an important piece of the concept and what you are seeing on social media is heavily curated (the "instagram" effect - the best views, in the best setting etc etc). The main objective was to get people thinking and we've certainly achieved that in spades!!! The individual pieces help you focus a bit closer and the collection publicises the message further. I'm thrilled and somewhat overwhelmed at the response. You can follow the hashtag #flightpathcommunityproject and there are highlights on instagram under 1#FPCOMM / 2#FPCOMM / 3#FPCOMM (if I have missed your post on instagram, please drop me a DM)

Exhibition information: I am delighted to say that Ros and Sue have offered us the main Gallery at Kaleidoscope Gallery in Sevenoaks from 23-27 November (setup is likely to be in the morning of 23 November, hopefully ready by lunchtime). I hope to be there as much as possible but please contact me nearer the time if you want to be sure - it would be lovely to meet you. The exhibition may then move to the mezzanine for a few weeks. 

If you are new to this project: I am winding down a little to sort out what I have received and get ready for the exhibition in November. You are still welcome to join in but I cannot guarantee you will be included in the publicity or exhibition (depending on when I receive your piece back) but I will try! 

There are conversations taking place to extend the project into 2022 with a possible new exhibition venue ... keep in touch for more information as it comes available.

end of update 280821

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I was introduced to the concept in 2017 by Nikki Gammans when I joined her Bumblebee Identification course and my main takeaway from this event was the problems created when groups of species get isolated in small pockets of land. Apart from the obvious catastrophic events, such as flooding or fire or lack of food, there are other issues arising from lack of diversity such as male sterility in Bumblebees. 

As my work has evolved around the more abstract series "FlightPath", the nature corridor narrative has grown. The concertina sculptures have focused my attention on the barriers to nature as I catch glimpses of insects between the folds and struggle to find empty space to draw a wasp within the marks. It's become a metaphor in my head for the struggle in nature.

The concertinas are created by random mark making with graphite on a large sheet of paper (both sides) and then cutting into strips and folding on the square. For a large book the strips may be glued together. Then I search for appropriate places to draw wasps throughout the length, occasionally in small clusters but more often with big gaps. Some strips are concealed in handmade boxes - a further isolation.

General awareness of wildlife corridors is increasing with projects such as "B-Lines" run by Buglife and #BeeTheChange from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and I'm looking to help promote these through a project of my own.

This community project is intended to get you thinking about insects and their habitats.

• I will create a supply of graphite marked paper cut into 60cm strips folded every 2.5cm (similar to the piece in the image above) 
• The graphite marks are reminiscent of concrete, roads and buildings, barren ground and other barriers to insect migration
• I am asking you to draw or paint wildlife onto these pieces and then return them to me at Oak Cottage, Talbot Road, Hawkhurst, Kent TN18 4LU as soon as possible*
• Their small size is intended to focus you to look closer at the small creatures as you draw, paint, print etc - insects, flowers, trees, meadows etc or maybe just the colours of nature - anything to represent a network of pollination pathways throughout the UK
• While working, consider your own environment - is your garden wildlife friendly? How many insects have you seen today? Does your local park have areas where the grass is left to grow longer and wildflowers bloom? What are your favourite insects? Are you scared of wasps or spiders?
• I have tested the drawings with black marker pens and felt pens for colour (see below) but you are welcome to try some other things. I'm excited to see the diversity of responses - reflecting the diversity of nature.
• I will be gluing the returned lengths together with some of my own pieces to create a community wildlife corridor which will be displayed in the main Gallery at Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks from 23-27 November and then move into the Mezzanine

* the deadline is fairly flexible - it's there to help you focus and encourage you to get the work back to me!

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MORE INFORMATION AND IDEAS
Please note that the information below is taken from the Chairity websites
​and I hope it will inspire you to look further.

Help Buglife save the planet - B-Lines

‘If we and the rest of the back-boned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well. But if the invertebrates were to disappear, the world’s ecosystems would collapse.’
Sir David Attenborough

Imagine trying to travel around Britain without our road and rail network. Or imagine if nine out of every ten miles of road just didn’t exist – life would be impossible!
 
Well for much of our wildlife this is the reality – it is confined to tiny fragments of habitat and unable to move across the countryside as our climate and landscape rapidly changes. It has been predicted that 40-70% of species could go extinct if action is not taken to enable species to move through the landscape (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007).
 
We can all play our part in helping to solve this and B-Lines is showing really positive change
 
At home and in your community
 
Gardens cover over 430,000ha of the UK, which is over four and half times the total area of our National Nature Reserves! This makes them hugely important habitat stepping stones for sustaining wildlife of all kinds.
 
The nation’s lawns are a huge untapped resource for our pollinators – even just mowing less often will give dandelions, daisies, clover and Selfheal the chance to flower, so give the mower a rest. Bigger gardens can provide diverse habitat features for pollinators including wildflowers, bee friendly garden plants, fruit trees, hedges, spring bulbs or wildlife ponds. Even containers or hanging baskets can enhance small paved gardens.
 
Local community spaces can be great places to deliver for wildlife, with people working together to share their skills, experience and enthusiasm. Sowing wildflower patches in allotments, creating wildflower-rich grasslands in schools, planting fruit trees in wildlife gardens or bee friendly gardens around housing estates for example, are all great ways that people can work together to help their local pollinators and contribute to filling the B-Lines with flowers.

Sourced from : www.buglife.org.uk
https://cdn.buglife.org.uk/2021/03/B-Lines-Report-DIGITAL-01.pdf

Buglife are working alongside many partner organisations to spread the message throughout the UK. Organisations such at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust who are promoting and supporting Be The Change:
 
Bee the Change is all about quick, simple ways you can make your local area more bumblebee-friendly. It doesn’t matter if you live in the city or the countryside. If you have a garden, a flower pot – or no outdoor space at all!
 
Bumblebees do an amazing job pollinating our crops and wildflowers. But as our towns and countryside change, there are fewer flowers to feed on, so bumblebees need a helping hand to survive.
 
Get started with their FREE how-to guides and resources and keep checking back to see what’s new!

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Thank you to everyone who has taken part in this project so far - the video above gives some insight into the process to create the pieces and below are some highlights from recipients

I'm really excited by the diversity of responses, both in terms of the finished pieces and also the conversations that are taking place as a result. It's lovely to see so many of you "thinking outside the box"
I will gradually add images and captions below to continue to inspire you and also to include you in the dialogue. Please bear with me - this has proved far more popular that I envisaged! 
If you are uncomfortable with what I have shared please get in touch and I will edit or remove accordingly
Click on the images for more about each artist

" We've started our drawings for the #flightpathcommunityproject.. It's been lovely looking at insects in detail with my son. It's really made us think about #wildlifecorridors and barriers to insect migration " ... Laurie and son

" I have decided to concentrate on the parts of my garden that the bees are drawn to and started by monoprinting lavender " .. Jacqui

" I looked at the graphite marks to become part of my paintings of insects and flowers, to break up the 'concrete' and show that wildlife corridors should be part of a new development planning approval and to break up the 'concrete' of manicured lawns and verges " .. Merike

" I like the way the disused railway lines continue to provide access routes for animals/insects, hence line drawings of insects. I enjoyed the plants growing and chose to use plantain, dandelion and dock to print with " .. Janet

Children can be quite unpredictable but I love that Alice became interested in how to make her own concertina lengths. They are also good at thinking outside the box

" mosquitoes are prime pollinators - who knew " .. Franny

" I have been considering how insects interact with water ... how they get their water depends a lot on their diets. Herbivorous insects, those that feed on plants, get most, if not all, of their water from their food because plants contain a lot of water. Smaller insects can end up trapped in water droplets, heavy rainwater droplets can be deadly " .. Flic

" I’ve direct printed some of the wild flowers which come up in the lawn between mowings onto a watercolour background responding to the shapes on the prepared concertina. There are a few faint drawings of bees lurking amongst it, to reflect their constant movement, but I’ve concentrated on the dance of pollen around the garden. I am lucky to have a garden full of bees, and often several sorts in the roof too" .. Estella

" I went a bit literal and painted a male and female Common blue butterfly separated by a chunk of trunk road. Clunk " .. Gary

" I started mine by pricking holes to represent insect flight paths and then added prints of plants from my garden particularly useful for bees - they are truly indispensible to our environment in so many ways!" .. Kate

" I immediately thought of the community vegetable beds and meadow flowers below my window. The meadow flowers in particular as they bring to mind vast open spaces and endless countryside. So I set about sewing meadow flowers, such as poppies, dandelions and yarrow" .. Polly

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Sound ON "I decided to focus on ladybirds, painted using my natural inks; beetroot and turmeric worked well for the red and yellow species. if the insects die we will perish. Important message! So, let your grass grow, plant wildflowers and stop tidying your garden to allow these clever little insects to do their magic!" .. Carol

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" I kept an insect diary for a few days, occasionally helped by my grandson, and found I had to look up quite a few. Enjoyed the research and the drawing, and passing on enthusiasm to a younger generation" .. Kate

" Taking part in FlightPath community- I have focused on the bees in my garden and am happy to do my bit in protecting these precious creatures" .. Klaudia

" I wanted to express the difference verges left to grow make, providing lifelines for insects to find ways through built up areas, gardens with artificial grass and municipal planting with little nectar or pollen. A marmalade hoverfly is joined by a ladybird in a search for pathways through the urban landscape" .. Sarah

" Picking the plants the pollinators love in the garden and printing tiny bits on my concertina strip" .. Jo

" I got fixated on what I couldn’t see rather than what I could. I have responded to the decline of the Garden Tiger, now a UK wide priority species, down by nearly 90% since 1968. When you start looking there’s so much research information in the public domain. We are a nation of great record keepers and Louisa’s project will add to that" .. Lesley

Truly grateful to Shaia, Harry and Jack for being guinea pigs and testing out this project. After a practice before starting on the actual corridor strip, they each chose a section to draw on

" So enjoyed producing this piece called "Unfold the Green". The greens creep back in the graphite gaps created by Louisa and gradually unfold to take over again " .. Rowena

'why are you afraid of spiders or wasps? ' ... " I have focused on this question and this biting wasp spider will be joined by more of Britain's biting spiders " .. Sue

" Not only was it an interesting project, but when we try something new our boundaries change, so for me it was fun to create 'tiny' pieces with a little bit more reality than I normally do " .. Jane

" I love recording the changing seasons so decided to make up a wildflower timeline from the flowers growing around the hedgerows and paths nearby. Already there seems to be patches of grass in town left to grow wilder for insects to feed on which makes a huge difference to the wildlife corridors." .. Audrey

" Loved participating in this project with my son - he was “being a Bee zzzzzzzzzz”, I was thinking wild flowers " .. Sophie

" Here are the flying minibeasts (plus one woodlouse - sorry!) " .. Marsha and Year 1 Holy Trinity, Chipping Norton --- Please don't apologise for the Woodlouse !!!

" Ants - I disturbed an area of crumbly tarmac and they all dashed about on the path " .. Ann

" It's a homage to our bees and the organic farm were we keep them and which provides wonderful foraging for insects and wildlife. It shows what can be done positively" .. Judith

" I'm certainly not an artist but I'm happy to join in. Luckily there's lots of wildlife in our garden and we even got a bee house this year. I spend a lot of time thinking about the wildlife in our garden but it's nice to connected to other people who are taking part" .. Gina

" It has really made me consider the importance of habitat for our wildlife. I had an abundance of green spaces in mind rather than focusing on the minutiae" .. Leila

" While researching I found that bees see blues, lilacs and purples best - my choice of colours have had the seal of approval!" .. Sally

" In May this year I was present during an insightful, incredibly hard hitting discussion by @writersrebel about the decline in insects due to humans. More people need to appreciate the importance of our mini beasts and aid in their survival" .. Sarah

" I have had lots of great walks around my city of Portsmouth and been inspired by the amount of nature surviving in the smallest of cracks in the concrete and the amount of people embracing nature and growing things" .. Rachel

" What a beautiful morning I spent painting and contemplating the plight of the pollinators. We must all do our best to protect this beautiful planet we are lucky to call home. I thoroughly recommend the book The History Of Bees Maya Lunde’s novel, an urgent reminder of how much our survival depends on remarkable insects" .. Liesha

" We have a patch of meadow in the garden, and have been delighted to discover it attracts bees, butterflies, and grasshoppers, so I drew and collaged scraps of prints to reflect what I’d seen in the garden" .. Sue

" Mary Oliver poetry features, her words are circling in my head: 'And consider, always, every day the determination of the grass to grow despite the unending obstacles' and 'As though it were your own twilight. As though it were your own vanishing song' She gets it".. Jo

" considering how our constructed barriers might not ultimately be so. Spiders and insects usually find a way to take them back given time" .. Kate

Thank you Clayhill Arts for sharing the project

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