The Digital Edge Shepton Mallet Digital Festival

And the winner is, me!

On Saturday I went to the Shepton Mallet 2012 Digi Fest as I had been shortlisted for photography and digital innovation. Before my wife and I drove over to the ceremony I had a good look at the other finalists and was pretty certain who I would choose to be winner, (which wasn't me!) So you can imagine how brilliant it feels to be chosen over works which you admire, respect and rate considerably higher than your own.

Now I am not one to bang my own drum, as I would rather be humble than showy, but every now and then I get pulled up short and this is one of those occasions. I am really pleased with the story walks works I have created, and feel they are new and progressive in my own way, but to get high calibre names reinforcing that is just wonderful. 

On the night, before the awards were given one of the judges Angela Williams (below) came up and said some really positive and encouraging words to me, which I took as 'you've got some great work so don't be too despondent when you don't win!' So you can imagine how chuffed I was to be stepping up onto the stage receiving the award for Fine Art Photography a short time later.

But then came the award for the overall best in show for 'photography and digital innovation', and I was called up again! So I now have book ends, and lets just say that there are not many trophy's in my history (none) though I do remember winning a ribbon for speed walking at my primary school though I'm not sure if I can put my hands on it just now.

But the real key part of the night, wasn't the award, but the people, those who you respect and admire have just turned around to me to say they like what I am doing. So thanks to every one, I am keen to stay in touch and do some work with this storywalk player. No point in leaving it idle now, that would be criminal! 

Where shall we lie Timber Toes?

What shall I do with you? I have been beavering away with my storywalks over the last month or so and have three new tales which are yet to be christened for public consumption, (it won't be too long, but more of that on another blog.) But the most recent, has yet to be linked to place. 

I must explain to those who are less familiar with my story walks, that the place where the tale is located is an integral part of the writing process. My most recent, and currently unavailable stories are 'The Twins Tale' at Nutcombe Bottom (fabulous name of a place if every there was one), and 'The Green Thief' at Holford, on the north side of the Quantock hills. Both tales respond to place in some way, and all though I can extract these stories and put them in a book, somehow that's not what the Storywalks were ever about.

When I walk in a place, the story evolves, the pacing changes, the interactions of reader and walker become one, and this tale 'Timber Toes' has just started and I need a home to place it, a bed for it to lie in.

So the question is dear reader, where would you like this tale to be placed?

Timber Toes

There once lived a young boy and his mother in a broken thatch hut which was little more than a bramble covered lean to. But it was dry and they kept each other warm through the winter months and shared the work the best they could. When she had been a child she would run bare foot through the forest and some how it had lodged there for now in later years her feet were turning to wood. 

Every night he would massage them and rub life back into them, but they seemed to get harder and stiffer as the days progressed, until she could hardly leave the cottage at all. The boy was a different matter though for he could catch sounds in his hands, and though this seemed like magic or impossible it was neither. 

He would bring her the lace work which she was so poorly paid for, and run errands about the home to keep their ship from sinking, and when she was bed ridden he would go out into the forest and catch the sounds of birds singing, or the trickle of the stream for her. He could only catch one sound at a time, and would run, and run, and run with clasped hands until he came home to share it with her. Her eyes would twinkle, and her toes twitch at these fresh sounds from the forest, and so he called her timber toes.

The boys father had been lost to a war which had forgotten it's reason for ever having started. He believed he had a heart made of feathers, but this was not true for one frosty morning as snow flakes landed on his broken body, he looked to see and there was nothing but flesh, bones and blood. The low paper sky and the trees about him felt like ghost parts, and as the sound of the battle rolled away over the ridge he remembered running barefoot with his wife in a forest just like this one. He wished that he had had a chance for his toes to turn to timber too but that was not to be.

What's the story?

Well Saturday was a great success, we had a great group and the sun shone, which for this summer was a surprise! 

But what was it we were doing? Well all the current walks are tricky to install and have flummoxed the minds of scientists and would be walkers alike. So there has been diligent work behind the scenes on developing a browser based walker, sounds easy but in fact rather a tricky job. If it were easy then the player would have been live long ago and tweeked to run all the stories for Art Week.

 

Well the best minds rose to the task, and the player was built, tested, then rebuilt, and on Saturday we did a full live test with eager kids and inquisitive adults. But there had been so many technical obstacles that this became the first full field test (yikes) but with some confidence in the smaller tests we had done, it was all systems go.

After a brief chat and intro at the Tantivy Cafe we set out up towards the Church (Chapter 1 of The Watching Way) On the player it showed how many metres we needed to go to trigger the images, text and tale. As we walked up hill the distance numbers reduced - perfect but then they started to rise!!

So quick as a flash, I dipped into the back-end of the system on the iPad, swapped the first two chapter zones around (my mistake) and refreshed. Then straight away we were live, the story revealed and the tale telling began. 

Wow (phew!) and testimony to the strong user interface of my code man Mr Joiner.

The walk progressed with ease, going from zone to zone, making mental notes as to what worked and what needed to be improved, alongside quite a few comments and questions from the children who came. But I kept focused and all was good.

One of the hurdles was that a few of the walkers had come with smart phones which were actually not smart enough, and it was rather disheartening to say, I'm sorry but you're phone just doesn't cut the mustard for this task. But the tech requirements are pretty high as the ask is so big, and some of the HTML5 code used is as pioneer as it comes.

I lead the walk, so I read it out showing the images to the group as we progressed, then deep in the woods we stopped to make clocks out of leaves and twigs. When that was done, we finished the tale on the hill top with a great vista of Dulverton whilst the kids climbed trees and signed the journal.

All in all a fabulous day, and the kind which makes you pleased that you wrote the tales, and made everyone come and step inside your world just for an hour or so. Personally I shy away from the public reading, I created the walks to be enjoyed by you and your family, which make them personal and special in a different way. Everyone invests a story with a different voice, a style and I think that's just what makes them shine.

So keep on shining please.

Testing Testing one two one two Ahem 'Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud....

Tomorrow is the big day, the storywalk player will be tested live in the wilds of Dulverton town, with a group of eager story-walkers who are not truly aware of the challenges crossed to reach this point. 

But surely you already have a storywalk player Mr Jelley? 

Well yes and no, the current formats are really awkward as anyone who has tried will testify. Apple is the easiest of them but still there are several steps and in the case of Android multiple apps required to just put the walk and player in your phone, never mind the walking. So I have been madly working in the background on a browser based player with the smartest coder this side of The Stop Line. (With a little help from Somerset Art Week and LARC funding)

'I can do that through a browser' Martin said after I had explained what my storywalks technically do, just one little URL and you could be away! Wow what a concept, it wouldn't matter if you are Android or Apple, Windows phone or Blackberry, just a single click and magic. But you know when things are easier said than done, well this is one of them, and I know for a fact that Martin didn't realise how tricky this little project was going to be, or whether it was really possible at all.

So what made this so difficult?

Well, firstly my walks take place in hidden valleys and secret locations where there is no mobile reception for miles (literally) wooded valleys and secluded combes in the heart of Exmoor where the walker must work without a connection. But these locations all have sky, they all have satellites and therefore GPS reception, location capabilities. Easy ay, but alas no, every step seemed dogged with technical difficulties, all of which have (hopefully) been solved. But not without a lot of help especially from the Geek community themselves, (Bristol Hack Night where the guys helped shed some light on the dark arts required!)

So this afternoon I will be stepping out in Dulverton, to do the first proper trial run of the storywalks player, I have a fully charged 3G iPad ready to roll. It will have to remain live for about 15 miles of drive before we even get to the first zone, so this is a proper field test.

Wish me luck!

Why don't you join me on the first public testing and launch of the storywalks player tomorrow, meet 10am Tantivy Dulverton. Bring your smart phone or 3G iPad and become part of my test programme.

The SAW point

Up before dawn and the first yellow signs are in place before the golden rays of the new day are upon me. I have a strange apprehension for putting up the Somerset Art Week signs, perhaps it’s just the realisation that the day has truly arrived. Or perhaps it is just show time, the time all the prep has been for, and I am sure all of the Art Week participants feel the same.

But still putting the signs in place feels odd, especially as mine are 'out in the field' so to speak, so I can't just pop one on the window ledge and another down the street.

In some part my walks are easy, I post them and people download - walk - enjoy at their leisure. In other parts thats only the start because my walks are available all year, all the time, and I use SAW to focus the mind and galvanise the will to actually 'do' rather than just talk about doing.

The walks do take some investment of time on the users behalf, I have had people do two walks in a day, and it's possible to do all four (if you're really keen and have good walking thighs!) But they can sandwich in along with regular Art Week venues, and even if you start a walk today you can always return to finish another time. 

But for Art Week this year I will be leading just one walk, which is called 'The Watching Way' in Dulverton. Over the winter (and summer) I have be smartening up this little tale which was live last year but in a rather secret manner. I had left little tickets in the boxes which mark the end of each walk, and with three of those the fourth walk was revealed. 

Since then there have been changes, upgrades and edits, firstly the images have been set up for tablet sized devices as well as smart phones, so you can get your iPad/Galaxy out and into the field to stretch it's capabilities beyond Facebook and YouTube! 

Secondly we have been working hard on a web version of the walks, commissioned by Somerset Art Week with county council LARC funding the idea is to make the walks more accessible to all, and less of a headache with installations and downloads. We have the vision, the capabilities but is the tech really capable of doing what we are asking of it?

If all goes to plan then this new browser based version will be the talk of the town, so if you want to join us on Saturday 22nd September, then you are more than welcome. Bring your smart phone (not essential), bring your wellies (good shoes are out, as we're off into the woods!) bring family and friends, we meet at The Tantivy Dulverton at 10.00

First coffee and cake then a little talk about the storywalks and how they are leading towards the new Coleridge Way works I have been commissioned to do.

See you there.

Calling all Artist's, its Art Time!

Somerset Art Week is really close, and the storywalk player which we have been tinkering with behind the scenes will be tested during art week (fingers crossed!)

On the 22nd September I will be leading the storywalk 'The Watching Way' in Dulverton, along side the regular player (as a back up!) The idea is that I gather a group at the Tantivy cafe, talk a little about the walks, what they are, where they come from, and then do a little wifi jiggery pokery putting the walks into peoples iPads and smart phones if required. 

The latter part here can really be a headache so I've created some handouts which are simple walk through guides, but truthfully I will be reading out anyway so every one can follow me.

At 11.00 when there is no more cake in the Tantivy cafe and the coffee pot is fully drained we'll start the walk which actually starts at the Church. The walk then weaves through the town then out into the woods so bring your welly's! The narrative requests you to make things as you go, so by the end of the walk we should have quite a few little sculptural installations in the trees and along the path. 

We will record these to post on the storywalks web and here in the blog, but I love this reader interaction and the legacy it creates beyond memory of the day itself.

This story is all about clocks, and so the inspired art should reflect this, clocks, dials, pendulums, cogs, gears, ratchets, watches. I think you get the idea, here are a few images of some works that have been installed over time. 

Note they are made from the organic materials available along the route, bracken, ivy, nuts leaves, twigs, and because the art is so accessible and simple everyone can have a go, everyone can pop a couple of twigs in the moss and say 'ah ha, 4 o'clock - cake time!' And thankfully nobody has gone crazy overboard with dragging logs across the paths just yet!

So join us if you can, even if it's for only part of the walk, you can always come back and do any of the walks at a later date, as they are available all the time not just during art week. Personally I think this is a great tale to return to and see what has been made by others,  and what has been added to, decayed away, refreshed, its only then that the tale really come to life.

Thanks to Somerset Art Works and LARC for support in authoring the storywalk player, and also Exmoor National Park for allowing me to hide the journal at the end of the walk.

Red Riding Hood Must Die

Red Riding Hood Must Die, I love the title of this card, there are so many books about Red which vary immensely on whether she is good or evil. My personal favourite is where the Wood Cutter comes to the rescue, where both Grandma and Red have been eaten but with a swift heft of the mighty axe the wolf is slain and both Grandma and Red climb out of the wolfs belly unharmed.

In a similar vein, when I was a child there was a folk tale about a fox who eat up a family of pigs. The youngest escaped to return later whilst the fox slept. The young pig slit open the foxes belly and rescue his family, he then filled the foxes belly with rocks and stitched it back up again. When the fox finally awoke he had such a thirst that he ran to the well to drink, fell in and was never seen again!

I was never sure whether I should feel sorry for the Pigs, Red, the Wolf or the Fox, and every time the tales were told I would change my allegiance. Perhaps its the old adage of loving the under dog, or our skewed perception of fairness that is weighed against the perceived oppressor, and who are they in these stories anyway? Well in my experience it depends on the teller and the listener, and as for Grandma in the tale, well if you really want to know, she is the one who wrote this -

Red Riding Hood Must Die

But that's a different tale altogether

PS I have decided to call these cards 'Bleak Fortunes' with a tag line of 'the pessimistic deck' what do you think. Today I pulled the card called 'The Switch Doctor' and I shall leave that story for another day.

The Web Walker

At last I have been able to transform my storywalks into a more user friendly format, or nearly!

I have often struggled (and users aswell) with the process of using apps to read my walks. So the new works are all browser based, and everyone knows how to click a URL?! Well click a link anyway (same thing if you were wondering!)

From my point of view I want users to have as few hurdles between them and the experience as possible, nobody wants a headache, it must be simple, intuitive and work. The builder is made, which is the back end bit for me to populate with images and stories. The pictures here are from the first to be tested which is the Dulverton walk 'The Watching Way'.

But there is still a long way to go, the main problem is I like my walks off the beaten track, I like to take people to beautiful places and then put a tale inside that tapestry. In hidden valleys and secret locations, places where the 3G reception is zero, and is likely always remain so. That makes for some serious know how about HTML5 and super magical coding, of which I know little, but I do know a man who does! 

So this has all come about because of Somerset Art Works who have kind of put me under their wing, and then chased me a little, and pushed and prodded me (nicely) to do what I know I need to do. Works that enable my practice to go to the next level, and connect with a larger audience. This kind of web work doesn't come cheap, but with SAW putting a little application in for LARC funding we have got to this stage.

We are still a way from having a product to shout about, and at the time of posting have hardly field tested at all. So watch this space, and keep your fingers crossed that we can get the tech to jump through these wild hoops. The riches and possibilities are fabulous, and it's theoretically possible, but then . . . . . . .

tell tales - the hidden history of the readers.

A girl once collected flowers on her way to school.

She took them from flower beds and hanging baskets, from the path side and front gardens, with out consideration of others. On she went picking and singing until the poesy was full, she then galloped of to school where she presented them to her teacher to say thank you.

The Coming of the Scar

Choose a card, I say, holding the pack out face down, and as she reaches forward I whisk them away saying, but not before you have a pure thought! Do you have a pure thought? After a moment she draws 'The Coming of the Scar', OK, I will tell you my story of the scar, then it is your turn, and this is how the story telling begins.

Last night I went to The Creatives Club and decided to take along these cards I have made, they are inspired by Edward Gorey's 'The Fantod Pack' which are macabre and quirky in equal measure. I knocked out 48 in all (8 up on A3) and was surprised to get past 20, in fact I have more in mind and can't seem to stop.

So off I trot to the Creatives Club with the cards in my bag, and great intentions about divinating deep truths through using them in a Tarot style affair but when I arrive I found it easier to just ask 'do you have a pure thought? Followed by, 'then please choose a card'

Firstly people are curious, then a little apprehensive (especially when I say the cards are a little dark!) then intrigued. Confusion quickly follows as they draw and read the card, but then the cards trigger some memory and thats where the storytelling begins.

Would you like to choose a card?

of fish, flowers and flesh

These are two pictures I took this morning on Dunster Beach, I love the contrast of both light, colour and mood. When writing my tales I feel this is often the dilemma that I face, on the one hand hyper real, sickly sweet, then on the other gritty, stark and immediate. Separating the two into elements which co-exist and compliment is tricky and is possibly the test of any author when looking for a voice to tell their tale. But without contrast how can you illustrate?

For me it is easy to fall into the darkness, and avoid pinks and peppermints, but then I pull myself short and try and flip it around. These pictures are the same place, the same time, the same weather, but the narrative is totally different, and I love that. Its a reminder to me that everyone sees differently, hears differently, responds differently, and finding a narrative and place which can resonate with the viewer across these islands is the test and the fun.

Coleridge Way Projects

So here we are, the proposals are in and gaining approval, so thought that I should post here to let you all know what it is I am exactly planning!

The main work of prep will be over the winter, ready for elements to go live at Easter 2013. There are three elements in all, the first is called 'fly catchers' where I take extracts from Coleridges journals written in the Nether Stowey era. I place these in a GPS sensitive browser so I can control where the images can be viewed. The aim is to put his work back into the landscape which inspired him. This is a letter which is at Coleridge Cottage in Nether Stowey, Somerset. Well worth a visit.

Part two and three are more creative and require user input. Storyboxes will be hidden (with full permissions) both at Nether Stowey end and Porlock end of the Coleridge way. Inside will be the beginning of a poem or  three, people will be encouraged to hunt these out, add a line or more, then re hide for the next. Number of boxes and locations are yet to be decided. These will be live from Easter 2013 over the summer to come out ready for Exhibition at the Porlock festival, and Somerset Art Week.

Part three is about creating Quick Reader codes of poetry (Square bar code) There will be school workshops and a picnic walk to create content and read content. Basically I am asking people to respond to location (along the Coleridge way ish) and write a couple of sentences in that place. These can then be encoded into the QR barcodes and placed on a map (online) and some in situ. People can then decode the poetry through the camera in their mobile phone on the street or alternatively use the mobile browser (on their iPad, or smart phone) which is again GPS sensitive to unlock the special words. Takes a little more explaining this one but I hope you get the gist.

Anyway, so there are plans afoot, with work happening this winter, all will link into the Coleridge Way Website, so if you feel you can add or plug in to these then let me know. I hope to create some really interesting works which a range of people and families (not just Coleridge fans) can become part of. Get in touch if you feel you can add, and spread the word, I will need promotion a plenty ready for next year!

The Art Train

Yesterday the Art Train steamed along the West Somerset Railway and Toy Ahoy was involved in it's own way. For a while now I have been creating Digital Storywalks which you download and put in your phone. The Art Train organisers had workshops and artisits on every platform and thought I should be involved too. Well rather than authoring a new tale (quite a lot of work) I pointed out that Dunster already has a great digital walk called 'the Winding Charm' 

So with a fresh set of posters and an A board at Dunster station I was kitted out as much as needed, and although I am always telling people about the walks I didn't want to be tethered to Duster station all day, so instead I got on the train with my youngest son and went on an adventure. 

When eventually back home my son had a willow dragonfly, a driftwood wind chime, and a clay tile, all done through workshops provided on the day, fabulous.

When I returned to Dunster, leaflets had gone and there had been interest in the walks. I have no idea if anyone did them yesterday but my walks do need preparation which is easier to do at home (with wifi) ready for the day.

 

But the days promotion was the first step in a charm offensive getting the message across that my Storywalks are free, open all year, child friendly, interactive and lots of fun. If you don't believe me then take a look at the testimonials on my web captured through the Geocaching portal as there is a box hidden at the end of the walks which is registered as a Geocache.

My day was great and my son is still beaming, well done all.

Cold hands, warm heart

Yesterday I ran to the hills with my number one son and snatched a few shots between the showers, when I had caught the pictures of his beautiful pixie hands I asked him to take a few of me. He is no sly when it comes to taking good pictures and I love this one above with my dirty fingers. The inside of the tree was red with dusty timber and this hollow tree was open above aswell so you felt you were at the foot of a tube. 

When I ask my children or anyone I am taking pictures of I think it's essential to step in front of the lens and see how it feels. For this one it was possibly easier for him being a little smaller and far more subtle than me.

I have already posted my favourite image for the Somerset Art Works web and open studios booklet, lets hope they do their thing and entice the walkers into the heart of the tales. For as the saying goes, those with cold hands always have warm hearts, though it doesn't say anything about dirty hands!

Walking with a purpose

 

I have been pacing back and forth today across Minehead beach, trying to get my phone to see it's own GPS co ordinates. Which if it works will take the storywalks in to the next phase, the concept is simple, use the browser in the mobile phone, with a little php coding along side the geolocation API then it all should come together. Now did you follow that? humm me neither, I kind of understand it but I can't write it so Mr Joiner has put his magic code jockey head into it and created a little page for me to test.

It works on his phone, and I shall try the iPad tomorrow, but my android which is only 16 months old or so is not up to the task. Apparently in mobile phone terms that puts it in the Paleocene era around the time that sea weed appeared (guessing there so don't correct me there is no need!)

The iPad is a bit newer and we'll see if it can cut the mustard, so if you see a lost soul on the sands staring mournfully into the sky searching for satellites! then its only me, testing again. But if the concept works then it will release the storywalks and make them accessible to many more people in a far easier way. With just one URL link I should be able to get people ready to walk, and no apps with files inside (what a headache that's been)

Anyway, I'll keep you posted if I haven't walked over the channel to Wales!

Have you taken your Tablets?

The next walks I will be authoring will 'go large' to coin a phrase, the images have always been important to the journey of a storywalk but I find it is only the narrator (the one reading it out to the group) who gets to see these. Having been the narrator quite a few times I am always very focused on the text and working the words to flow and not really paying that much attention to the pictures. I expect all of those reading the stories are focused in much the same way and so the images kind of fall by the way side, so to counter act this I have been working at up-ing the image size. How better to do this than with an iPad, big images for all to see as the narrator reads on.

This is where you pray that your fairy godmother will weave a little magic, or that those allotment runner beans really are magic and can provide all the tools you'll need, but when does that ever happen! Well in a way it has, as I've received a little help in this respect for my creative development from Somerset Art Works and their Creative Pathways Project. My walks are free, open and accessible to all who make the effort, and I even loan my precious Garmin to families to do the walks on trust.

Thankfully the worst that has happened is that it comes back a little chocolaty from kids fingers! I receive no revenue at all from the walks, nor did I receive any for their creation, they are there, because I had to make them for me. The sharing with family, then friends, then everyone came in steps, but still they are free. So when I kind of get some recognition for them in this way I am bowled over and a little a loss for words. 

So thanks to 'Creative Pathways' I can now take the next step in the evolution of my storywalks, pepping them up into a larger mobile format. Their funding has helped me invest in an iPad, which is fabulous, next step is to prise it away from my children who think it's theirs! 

So I must knuckle down and get some delicious images to marry with a new tale along side a location that delights, but here in Somerset I have so many choices. Pass me the sketch pad I need to make a few notes.

Easter walkers of the Winding Charm

The Dunster walk the Winding Charm is always popular over the Easter break especially with the spring harvest at Butlins. Here are a few of the walkers comments.

ChillyPenguine -
Our very first Whereigo cache. Camping at Blue Anchor for the week, so would be rude to not at least try this out. We have visited Dunster before but nothing more than the castle and main street, so it was lovely to be taken to such interesting places. A lovely, well thoughtout story, though our 4 year old did look at us a bit oddly with some of the things we asked him to do! Cache was a nice easy find, though on Easter Sunday we didn't exactly pick a quiet day to retrieve it!

 Dingdongmerrily -
 I hadn't tried one of these before........but oh what fun and it was a shame the weather changed over the next few days as Inglis3 and myself had hoped to get out and do some others in the area. THanks for the effort to create this and showing us some lovely places in this lovely village. Great fun!!

Inglis3 -
This is the first of these wherigo caches I have done. Out with Dingdongmerrily to do it, she had the gps so I did the actions.......... A very enjoyable walk around the village on a sunny day, whilst we escaped from Butlins - attending Spring Harvest

Dunster has been very busy this Easter which is great to see but it does make it difficult retrieving and then re hiding the little book to sign. Thankfully people are usually so busy with the village they don't notice some one fiddling in the flower beds as if looking in their bag. But for me the best bit is heading out on a cold stormy night, checking the hidey hole and retrieving the log book. I then head inside, prop my feet up by a log fire and read the notes with a pint. Looks like with such a recent amount of activity I should head out sooner than later for that pint!

Storywalks on the rails!

Will the ArtTrain have storywalks on the rails? of course they will! On May the 19th Somerset Steam Railway will be having an ArtTrain travelling from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead, artisits and performers will litter the stations selling their wares and workshops left right and centre! But one thing will be free, my storywalks, and the Dunster tale The Winding Charm is just the ticket. And it's not just a single train but half a dozen of them, all day long so folk can come to Dunster, walk up into the village, storywalk themselves into the ground, then back down the hill for a train home.

So far there seems to be lots going on (as far as I can tell) with each station themed subtly though I suppose my storywalks would be better linked to Stogumber (but that's a long walk to Dunster village!)

Minehead – Music and showcase
Dunster – Wood
Blue Anchor – Driftwood
Washford – Metalwork (blacksmiths and jewellery makers)
Watchet – Boats and the sea
Williton – Sculpture
Stogumber – Performance
Crowcombe – Glass and ceramics
Bishops Lydeard – Textiles

So for anyone who isn't familiar with the process this is what you need to do, and best do it even before you leave home as you don't want to fiddle in the field!

It is important to put the walk and app in your device, and more importantly my walk (the file ending .gwc) needs to be inside the app. For apple this is simple, you just drag and drop it on to the app icon and you're away. For other platforms you need to dig through a few folders till you find the app you are looking for and then put the file there. Start it straight away and you will see the walk to be opened, it will welcome you and then navigate to the start point. Pretty nifty ay!

The picture above is of Dunster Dove Cote with some willing walkers during Somerset Art Week in September gone. Below are some of the Charms made on their journey around the village, I seem to remember quite a wet day but that put a little more humph into the river (part of the story) so cup half full in my mind.

Anyway will keep you posted about the Art Train as things progress, and perhaps a blog from the day itself.