Cycle tour.

An artist in residence…..where the journey is the residency

Cycling has always been the beginning of my creative process, It is how I go to work, carrying sketchbooks watercolours even small oil paintings into the landscape to begin or continue an artwork.

In January 2010, I gave up car ownership completely, and since then I have cycled over 38000 miles exploring the coastline, cove’s and landscapes of Cornwall. The simple act of taking a sketchbook and cycling, clears my mind, it is a form of meditation allowing the tones, colours, the texture of the land, sea and sky, it’s ever changing weather to become a part of my consciousness,  stopping to draw whenever it occurs. These cycling journeys are a fundamental part of the artwork….. in fact they are artworks in there own right, my creative response to nature, a choice to be as close to nature as possible.

On my eleventh birthday I was given my first road touring bicycle on that day I planned to cycle around the world. A dream that has been with me ever since. Rather than an artist in residence….I like to call this project an artist in transience, or more properly the journey itself is the residency, producing artworks along the way. This is an ongoing and self sustained journey with no destination. Fully loaded cycle touring.

The start of the tour St Just town center 9th July 2017

Starting in the Summer of 2017 the first part of this world cycle tour will be a 4 month cycle tour of Wales, Ireland, Scotland including the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland after which we pause to produce a new series of paintings on canvas. Following on from this in 2018 we will be heading South into Europe and finally concluding this part of our world cycle tour journey through Scandinavia, Iceland and Greenland. During the tour I will as always have sketchbooks, drawing and watercolour materials to record the journey and at various stages pause to create new paintings on route. We will be documenting the journey through my website and through my social media websites,  facebook, twitter, youtube and vimeo.

The reason…..

I decided a long time ago that I would not be raising funds for any particular cause. I did not want this journey to use the raising of funds to justify this journey, I wanted no distractions from the idea of…. ‘The Journey’…. call it a journey with no destination….except the journey itself. It is quite simply something I am not only drawn to do but need to do as part of my creative practice. The ride itself, the philosophy of this activity, every ride….. every day is it’s own artwork.

It is also fundamentally to promote a sustainable lifestyle, to live simply and in such a way as to minimise the impact I have as an individual on nature, to be as close to nature as possible. Traveling by bicycle is very agreeable, it’s a great way to travel slow and to be surrounded by nature, to meet people and to draw and paint this experience. 

This is the first test ride with fully loaded panniers in preparation for the 4 month cycle tour starting at the end of June.I will go ito what and how I pack over the next few weeks. The only things missing from this set up is the top rear rack pannier which will contain the art materials I will be taking with me.

I cannot express properly the excitement I feel with the planning and the preparations for this tour. The Bike felt absolutely wonderful and I could not stop smiling at how stable, smooth and easy to ride The Bike is to ride with  all the gear. I will be going into why I chose this bike in a later post.

Out cycling with sketchbooks…..stopped here at Boscawen Un stone circle for some sketching

Taking the new bike out for a ride and took this panorama on the Cliff’s at Carn Gloose just outside St Just Cornwall. The bike is the Trek T920 adventure touring bike…….and it is fab, really looking forward to some long cycle tours on this

And this is a close up…….

Cycling past hedgerow’s near St Just…..and on my way to Tregeseal stone circle…….

Hedgerow near St Just