The Global Village exhibition's home at Backlit Gallery has now moved to City Arts, Hockley, Nottm for the Markmaking Exhibition as part of Nottingham Refugee Week during June 15th to 22nd. Private view  takes place on 15th June 7 -9pm,. I'm looking forward to see all the other artists work involved in this exhibition. I do hope folk can come along and support the hard work that has been happening towards Refugee Week. 
Huge thank you to all those who came along and supported my photography during the ABC Art Trail weekend.. the event was fantastic and it was great to get  feedback from visitors and supporters alike. 
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I'm looking very forward to create new work in collaboration with Elena Boto from Nottingham University for the annual Creative Reactions SciArt event, in Nottingham
More information about the event here and I'll update more about the creative process as it happens, I'm looking very forward to meet the Scientist ...
https://pintofscience.co.uk/events/nottingham

A great night at ACT event Art Culture Crossing whereby I was asked to give a brief presentation about my creative process, which I think was well received. Lovely to get asked a range of questions about my photography and share thoughts with the audience. Below is a small slideshow of the presentation. 
Friday 8th March, our exhibition Global Village private view opens 6pm amongst open studios and Familiar Machines Exhibition.. it's going to be an awesome night of art!

• Join us from 6pm to celebrate the launch of Global Village. Global Village explores the changing roles, rituals and responsibilities of women from around the world. Global Sistaz United have worked with photographer Sara Gaynor to capture their histories through a body of portrait and still life photographic works. Global Sistaz United have worked in residence at BACKLIT Gallery to curate this exhibition with support from the Learning & Community Coordinator. During this process the group have connected with women who live and work within the local neighbourhood of St. Ann’s to identify the differences and commonalities that run between them

Tuesday was another Global Sistaz United photo shoot in the projection space at Backlit.. Nigerian customs, food, traditions were today's focus. It's been amazing creating work around these themes from all of the countries involved, so far Malawi, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sri Lanka.. I can't wait to share the images eventually at our exhibition.. I'm very pleased with the work this far for now, a little sample of specific objects. from Nigeria - the colours, objects, clothing, vitality and inspiration the women have brought to the shoots has been fantastic. 
We will be bringing all of the work together for our exhibition open and celebration on International Women's Day - Friday 8th March 6pm - 9pm at Backlit Gallery, all welcome.. I look forward to our selection day next week when all have an input into which images we will exhibit, film footage from the different project activities and archival material - I'm excited to see all of the work together in the gallery space.
Do check out the line up for the UKYA Exhibitions around Nottingham and at Backlit,,, it looks to be an exciting lineup of work...
I also want to share this inspirational short film from Terry Waite about the importance of art in our life and the elusivity of happiness....
​https://www.facebook.com/bbctwo/videos/2342073242688778/UzpfSTczOTU2MDU1MToxMDE1NjcwOTc1ODAxMDU1Mg/
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It's been a fair while since I updated my blog, lots has been happening since my last post including the fabulous Tim Andrews Exhibition -  Over Hills and Seas in Brighton and the fabulous December news of being selected as the photographer for the Global Sistaz United Project for Backlit Gallery.  I am currently creating a body and documentation of work towards this fantastic project, working alongside Asylum seeker/Refugee women from Nottingham.. We are having an open event to coincide with International Women's Day which I will post more info as and when the finer details are available.  Thus far, I have completed  the first photo shoot towards this project which went brilliantly. and look forward to create more work for exhibition, watch this space but for now, keep warm and cosy in this lovely winter weather 

 After a fabulous time in Spain, resting, walking , swimming and of course photographing, I'm now prepping for my autumn events.  September 28th to October 30th I will have work exhibited as part a group exhibition 'Over Land and Seas' at the Regency Rooms,Brighton,  via the Tim Andrews Art Project, as wider part of the Brighton Photo Fringe. I head down to stay over in Brighton for the Private view on 4th October until the 5th.  I'm looking forward to seeing other photographers' work towards this exhibition and also enjoy some time in Brighton.. it's been a few years since my last visit there. I also look forward to catch up with Tim again since our last photo shoot in Autumn 2016. 
Link to the event  http://photofringe.org/

I will also be selling a range of  cards and prints, including my spirit of winter series of works at the Bartons, Not The Camden Market NG9 on Nov 4th and Dec 2nd - All welcome. 

Im also looking forward to a new project that I can't talk about just yet as I need to finalise the details, but more info will follow shortly. Until then, enjoy the autumnal weather and fee of nature right now l!

There is a place I love to return to, to photograph the trees, the lush trees and the more dense area of trees.  I haven't been to the denser part of the forest for a while because it's not been the chosen path as such, but this weekend it was. This is a space where you never really see anyone and because in the past, I've spent lots of time exploring the area, I know my way around the uniformal trees of darkness, no paths as such exist but you weave your own path in and out the endless trees. As i wandered through, deeper and deeper into the forest, heading to the clearing of an area that forces light to beam down onto the trees surrounding, I was struck by the absolute parched appearance of this area, tinder dry, bone dry. I was compelled to photograph this area, i was drawn to the beauty here, the spindly, dry. cracking branches, the haze forming from the thin branches..they are most definitely in need of water.. For me, the forest is the place to be to cool down under the awe inspiring canopies.

There are those who deny climate change but the science is proving opposite, there are those who have been fighting it since the 60s and beyond, My own campaigning started in the 80s, after watching a play about Nuclear War.  Since then, I have tried to limit my own carbon consumption, my own footprint. It isn't easy in a country that isn't wholly committed to lowering its carbon footprint, finding new ways of becoming carbon neutral. The latest heatwaves, tragic loss of wildlife, moorland and forests , glaciers melting is a reminder about the heating up of our planet.. These thoughts reminded me about an article I read recently 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/31/climate-change-denial-oil-companies-fossil-fuels
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Following the nordic countries especially Sweden and Denmark would be a turn in the right direction, I hope sometime soon, governments see sense. in the true sense of the word. I hope we really begin to appreciate the finite resources we have on the planet and work towards saving and maintaining these….

I have been a fan of film director Lynne Ramsay for a long time with favourites being 'Morvern Callar' and her black and white short film  'Swimmer'. Absolutely stunningly shot under water bringing myth, legend, courage, narrative to the subject. I love water, I love immersing myself in water, fresh water is preferable to the senses.. As a lover of outdoor swimming, the weather has recently opened more chances to swim in fresh water and this has meant more experimenting with photography, for me, technically everything has to be right, the lighting - sun direction, colours, movement of water, mood, atmosphere. Chancing on a new, private and secret space to swim in Derbyshire, quiet, calm and in the early evening, 'Fluildity i' was born, of which since, I have had a request to repeat a similar photograph toward the Tim Andrews Project.

This brings me to my next exhibition, after my travel and holiday in Spain... as part of Brighton Photo Fringe Festival, Sept/Oct, I will be part of a group exhibition, exhibiting work from the Tim Andrews Project. I'm really looking forward to spending time in Brighton around other photographers and a creative vibe.  Hopefully I can also spend some time at the South Downs photographing in the fabulous space..


Space. I love space. I crave space; wide open space, mental space, physical space, vast forest wilderness space. Peace calm. There is so much human made  'noise'  around us now, mobile phones, traffic, shouting in streets. One thing is for sure, since having my natural setting studio space in 2 different spaces, I have most definitely become very aware of noise and of space. I remember when the shops on Sundays first opened all day, I was a teen but very much against it for the reasons of solitude and slowing down. Yes, Sundays back then, in my teen mind were boring, Sundays now in urban spaces and rural are full of noise, traffic. We are losing something very important to us as humans, the birdsong, the nothingness. The only day a year that here in the UK we don't have much noise is Xmas Day, unless of course, you live in the middle of nowhere  Imagine every week,a day with quiet, calm,solitude? 

The last forest walk I did recently, I saw not a soul for 3 hours,  given that this was an area where many folk walk, this was refreshingly liberating! It was raining, it wasn't a weekend.  The only company was cows, sheep in an access field and the sound of birds in the forest - the only sign of human presence? a wheel barrow waiting to be moved in readiness for its master. A forester somewhere doing their work, ensuring we, the people, benefit from these fantastic natural spaces. The lungs of our planet. 

It's been a fabulous few weeks in the UK with the sort of weather that we seldom are subject to, I love the long summer days in all their glory but for photography, I prefer autumn and the bleak winter time of the year, with this in mind, it's no surprise that I am enjoying creating some further still life photographs from wildflowers and different plants in their state of decay. The colours speak to me more as they lose their vibrancy, the changes in structure, form, and texture interest greatly. 

 In Preservation
July 2018
Nottingham 

ABC Art Trail Thanks

I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all who attended and or bought photographs at the ABC Art Trail event, it was a fabulous weekend with many visitors and supporters returning from last year, some as far as Scotland and newcomers recently moved to the area. It was lovely to talk about photography and the fine art experimental aspect of my work.

For the next few months, things are quiet on the exhibiting front but I am awaiting confirmation about a possible exhibition in Brighton, October, as part of the Tim Andrews Project, as and when I know I will post up here. 

Mid August I am taking a complete 'work' break and heading south to the mountains of south Spain, staying a night at the Cuava del Gato
http://www.andalucia.com/adventure/cuevadelgato.htm to photograph in the evening and early morning when all is quiet, I then head to one of my small favourite villages in Andalusia for rest, respite and of course some more photography. Next year I am looking forward to house sitting for a friend in the very same village for 2 - 3 weeks, a mountainside eco structure surrounded by olive trees. This will be a great opportunity for some documentation photography but also still life, experimentation and many other artistic endeavours. It will also give me the chance to live out my dream of heading south to experience certain areas of Morrocco.. More about that nearer the time and for now, enjoy the long days of summer and the wild nature all around...