Each drawing is a document of the physical journeys i made for each piece. They were made with my eyes closed, the pencil following the directions in my mind.
16/1/09
First work with the frames
Worked on the paddock underneath the Horse Chestnut tree(?) 16 frames was too many, so used 8. Became clear that I didn't need to use 16 frames for the work to remain valid. Composition ran from the fence. Strong vertical and horizontal lines.
Boden Street, Queen Victoria Street, Waters Green, Buxton Road, Barracks Lane, Higher Fence Road, Whitney Croft
16/1/09
Second work with the frames
Drove up to Longden Lane from Greenways. Whilst getting frames and photography equipment out of the car a man was walking his dog. He kept looking back to check on his dog, but also to check on me, I feel. He barely got out of sight, then just as I was about to climb into the field he was on his way back down the hill. We acknowledge one another as he passed me. I noticed that he lived in one of the houses facing the field, so to ease any uneasiness and to see if I could learn some local knowledge, I knocked on the door. He answered swiftly, as he had only just got in himself, I asked him if he knew who owned the the field. He told me it was owned by the owner of the house on the corner, a dentist he said. At this moment his wife appeared. A very pleasant and friendly person. After I explained my intentions in the field, they both became animated over a tree that resembled a finger pointing to the sky. The man related it to the death of his brother and that it was a sign to where he now was. The man smiled to himself after the comment, but it was clear that it gave him a sense of comfort. Touching. They said knock on the dentists door, so I did. No answer! I entered the field by the gate. Just out of the field stands a small stone building. I responded to that. Four frames used.
Longden Lane
16/1/09
Third work with the frames
Walked up along Longden Lane, then turned left on to an unnamed cobbled dirt track. A couple were walking in front of me, the lady kept turning round to take a look to see what was making the racket. I took eight frames with me. I passed a mature lady walking a dog. She was friendly, "I hope you don't have to go far with those", she said. "Just to the end of the road, and back", I replied. I got to the end of that stretch of road a few minutes later. I worked on a dirt track off the main dirt track, which leads to: Middlehills Gate. I was watched by three horses at first. Two soon left. The one that stayed had a beautiful brown coat with a white smudge on his forehead. He, maybe she, was very inquisitive, trying to eat the frames that I lent on the wall. I made the work, then after packing up gave him some seeds. A lovely creature. The work responded to the wall and the road.
Longden Lane, Unnamed cobbled dirt track leading to Middlehills Gate, Longden Lane
16/1/09
Fourth work with the frames
Walked down Longden Lane, across Buxton Old Road and up the unnamed road leading to Eddisbury Hall and Eddisbury Park Field. I took eight frames with me. When I reached Eddisbury Park Field, the gate was shut. I quickly opened it and stepped into the field, closing it switly behind me. I walked straight to the little wooded area I had visited before. The ground was soden in places, but in general firmer than my first visit. I worked in the middle of the little wood, in between a Beech and a Poplar tree. After completing the work I decided to explore a little further. I edged around the side of the little wood, heading around the back of a fenced off, over grown pond. As soon as I made a step down the bank a hare came bolting out of no where running as fast as it could until it felt safe I was not going to catch him. A wonderful sight. The composition worked as a response to the positioning of the trees and the four sides of the gallery space.
Longden Lane. Buxton Old Road, Unnamed road, Eddisbury Park Field, Unnamed road, Buxton Old Road, Longden Lane.
19/1/09
Fifth work with the frames
Drove from Boden Street up to Blakelow Road, frames still loaded in the car from the previous Friday. Managed to park in the field I planned to work in. I stepped out of the car, walked over to the wall and surveyed the field with slight trepidation. That feeling is always there when accessing private land. "Sod it!" I thought, got eight frames out of the car, threw them in the field and jumped straight in to follow. My path was straight down the valley. I lay the frames down and got to work. The composition was made in response to the valley, echoing it's slight twist and turn. Chris rang while I was photographing the frames. I arranged to pick him up once I had completed this work and the next one in the field round the corner. I thought I might walk across the fields, but I abandoned the idea due to there being a lot of sheep and that it would have been more hassle really. Finished the work and went back to the car.
Boden Street, Queen Victoria Street, Waters Green, Buxton Road, Buxton Old Road, Blakelow Road.
19/1/09
Sixth work with the frames
Set off to the next site on Blakelow Road. Tried to park opposite the field, but the road was too narrow. Turned round, drove up the road and parked on the corner. Took four frames from the car and walked the pavement to the field. I waited a few minutes mulling over where to enter the field. I thought of using the gate, but the NO TRESPASSING sign spooked me a bit, so I thought it better to just jump in and get on with it. So I did. The composition of the work took its form from the crumbled dry stone wall that lay through the expanse of the field. I worked quickly with the sound of a tractor rumbling away in another field that put me on edge. Once back over the wall and on the pavement I realised how channelled our movements are by roads and pavements and tracks, and that to jump free of those restrictions is incredibly liberating. I then got back in the car and set off to pick up Chris.
Blakelow Road.
19/1/09
Seventh work with the frames
Picked Chris up and headed to the Hollins. Together we took all sixteen frames, eight each. The weather remained dry, but the wind was icy; we talked about how we liked the fresh feeling, even thriving off it. We got to the site, the undercover reservoir. No body around. I had planned the work here from my first visit to the site, so got straight to it. The composition of the work took its form from the concrete and steel (?) towers that poked up from the grass. It is a strange sight seeing grass take on such a man-made, geometric shape. We gathered up the frames, taking all sixteen, ready to move to the next and final site.
Blakelow Road, Buxton Old Road, Buxton Road, Cranford Avenue, Brookfield Lane, Black Road, Black Street, Gunco Lane, Byron Street, London Road, Cross Street, Mill Lane, Park Street, Park Lane, Ivy Lane, Box Tree Meuss, Ivy Lane, Park Lane, Sunderland Street, Brook Street, Sweetenham Street, Bank Street, Black Road, Windmill Street, Hollins Road, The Hollins.
19/1/09
Eighth work with the frames
We walked up from the covered reservoir with the sixteen frames. We decided to take a very slight detour along the golf course path to avoid a very muddy area of the public footpath. To get back to the public footpath we had to work our way through a small wood that divided the two. Once back on the path we headed immediately through a metal gate into the expanse of the next field, the final site. By now the wind had picked up, but it remained dry. We made our way to the brow of the hill, and lay the frames down. Visibility was poor, which scuppered my initial compositional idea of a response to the telecommunications tower, however the hills were still visible, and the houses also; the hills in particular shouting out their importance. The composition became a response to them. Once the work was done, we gathered up the frames and headed back to the car. Once back in the car, the skies opened with sleet and rain. We remained dry.
The Hollins (not far from Birch Knoll)
All drawings pencil on paper
