Hi, Clare here again. Since February we have been looking at different aspects of the farm and of photography. During this time the volunteers have been recording their personal responses to the farm landscape and keeping a selection of their images in a personal journal. We’ve also been starting to explore how to use text with photographs.

Trees have been a subject that has resonated with us all and sparked off lots of ideas and images about their form and role. One person saw the branches as neural pathways and another as arms entwined.

We have been blessed with some bright sunny days filled with strong contrasts of light and shade. This has been ideal for really bringing out the sculptural qualities of the trees and learning how different qualities of light affect the photographic image.

Photo: Caroline

Photo: Rhys

Photo: Val

Photo: Val

Photo: Caroline

A few weeks on and bare branches are turning green.

Photo : Rhys Willow Tree

Photo: Val

Clare   3/4/’12

Our visit to Organic Arts.

Chloe, Becca and Bex form Inventmore Theatre: an Exeter-based Theatre company developing work around the themes of sustainability and community living.
The day started with us meeting and trying to figure out how we were going to fit a Pantomime Cow costume on our bikes. Wearing it was out of the questions as we would get far too hot, not to mention the impracticality of not being able to see where we were going!  We left an hour to get West Town Farm from Exeter, which we soon found out was more than enough time! Christine met us and showed us around the farm which has so many beautiful (potential) performance spaces.  We started to see the show being played out among apple trees, around camp fires, spread out between imitate barn spaces and wide open hill sides. Seeing “pregnant belly” hill pop up on our walk-around was a great moment for us all, and started to conjure up stories of how it came to be… Our day at the farm has got our imaginations going to say the least, and we are excited to be going into rehearsals with the prospect of coming and sharing our work at the Barn Dance in July..!  Organic Arts are doing such important work, not only for local artists but also the wider community and we are thrilled to be working with them.

Welcome to the participatory photography blog. My name is Clare Henry and I started the photography project a few weeks ago. I will be working with some of the volunteers who are involved with the Ecominds community garden. They  are doing gardening work and other valuable activities around the farm. There is a wide age range among the volunteer group and differing life situations. Some of them are dealing with mental and physical health issues.   I’ve started  with 3 volunteers and I will be teaching and sharing camera and photographic skills and facilitating participants to make personal photo journals/albums around the general theme  ‘The Farm Through My Eyes’.  There may be an exhibition of work and I hope to involve more of the volunteers at a later point.

This is a participatory photography project where other final outcomes, apart from the personal journals will be fully negotiated with participants. It is the process which is important.The healing potential of the arts and their value in supporting mental and physical wellbeing has been recognised and photography has a valuable role. As well as developing photographic skills I see this project as therapeutic photography. Offering an invitation to play, explore, and  discuss - photography can also be a way of creating order and taking control. When taking pictures we need to think about what to photograph, why and how things or people and places relate to each other. It provides a contained framework for ideas. I trained with Photovoice last year and have a lengthy background in social/community work. Photovoice sees some of the strengths of therapeutic photography as encouraging storytelling, sharing, making sense of our world and our place in it or simply distracting us from worries.

During the first weeks we have been learning about focusing, framing, composition and experimenting with portraits as well as having lots of fun.

self portrait_ Caroline

assisted self portrait_Rhys

self portraits -Rhys

'I love the animals at the farm' _Caroline

Ice sculpture _ Val

Winter Pansies val

'It's water off a duck's back' photo Rhys

Winston the farm dog photo_ caroline

More soon…..Clare

It’s time to prepare for Devon Open Studios again – why not join us and make some work to exhibit?

We are running a series of farm walks for artists who are interested in creating and exhibiting at West Town Farm during Devon Open Studios.

The walks will be on Sundays 26^th Feb; 6^th May and 15^th July meeting in the farmyard at 10.30am for a 2 hour walk which is followed by a home-made local lunch (£5) for those who would like it and then a discussion about work and the exhibition. West Town Farm is in Ide on the south-west outskirts of Exeter, it is well signed from the village and the postcode is EX2 9TG

The theme for organicARTS’ exhibition this year is ‘Every Picture Tells a Story’ which can be interpreted in any way the artists wish and is not limited to 2 dimensional or visual arts, but should relate to the farm in some way. We have limited indoor space and encourage creativity which can be exhibited or performed on a farm trail. We are happy for artists of any age and at any stage in their development, including beginners! We are also keen to work with artists who have a yearning to try something different and be experimental.

If you are interested in any or all of the walks (we encourage people to come to all three as they then get an idea of how a farm changes over time) please contact christine@organicarts.org.uk

Great family event!!