First Visit

Last Tuesday [24/6/2008] was my first actual visit to the garden, after a horrifically long bus journey finding the garden wasn't hard at all. It felt narrower than I expected, resulting in turning back half way through to check I was heading in the right direction [the offices and garden work area are at the opposite end to The Playhut, which is the end I started at].

It wasn't what I expected, although I'm not entirely sure what I expected. New places always feel a little weird to begin with but after chatting with Phil [head gardener] I felt at ease and quite excited - although I'm not sure I'm very good at showing it in person!

A short guided tour let me in on the plans for the gardens, particularly the pond, which is being completely overhauled with the People's Millions grant. The 'stream' connecting the larger pond and the smaller pond has been leaking, and some makeshift dams were in place. Over the next few months this 'stream' is going to be relined and split into two smaller ponds which will have particular 'themes' or purposes. The large pond is currently home to the fish [apparently a heron is a regular there, but I didn't get to see him] and the smaller pond is used by breeding frogs and newts - who are happy to have the fish kept separate. We briefly discussed maybe approaching the theme of food chains, which ties in well with what I was already considering; life cycles.

New viewing platforms are being constructed on both of the existing ponds, mostly fenced around the edge but with an opening for pond-dipping. Various schools use the gardens for learning about the wildlife here, and the focus is to make it an even better resource [junior school and secondary school ages]. The major areas that information boards will be concentrated at are these two viewing platforms, but also along a short 'trail' around the side of the gardens. There is a huge amount of potential work for me to undertake, but the main concentration will be the wildlife in and around the pond area.

Within the Play Hut area, which is an outdoor play area for under 6s, there are hands on growing activities for the children, so if any visual information was to be used there it would be more to do with fruits. A smaller area [as I will indicate on the map in a separate post] adjacent to the play hut may possibly be joined up, to create a wildlife trail for the younger children, most probably focusing on creepy crawlies - but this hasn't been confirmed.

Volunteering work happens Monday - Wednesday, so the best time for me to visit to do on-site observational drawing will be Thursday's and Friday's. Also, if I work on the play hut area further down the line, it may be useful to visit the hands on growing session on a Friday [2-5pm] to see what the kids are interested in and get out of it.

My initial feeling about the project is that the garden will undergo quite a transformation, so I've come into this at quite an interesting point. Phil is going to send me a list of the key things he thinks should be covered by the signage, and in the meantime I am going to make some initial enquiries as to the cost of implementing any signage I create.I am also keen on looking into existing public art so that I can make informed decisions, I want my work to be successful in its functionality as well as its aesthetics.

Labels: notes, photographs

Introduction

The purpose of this blog is to document and share my progress on a project I am currently working on involving Meanwhile Gardens, a community garden North of Kensington, London. Last year the garden received a grant from the People's Millions Lottery fund for their Building Biodiversity Project. With this the garden is going to be improved with new planting, viewing platforms and major improvements to the ponds. As as part of this I am going to be producing illustrations and information material about the various wildlife that inhabits the garden, with the intention of enriching the visitor experience.

A little about myself... I am a twenty year old female living in Camberwell, South-east London. I am currently studying BA(Hons) Illustration at Camberwell College of Arts - and the work here will form part of my degree, hence the importance of documenting the process more formally. My work is largely figurative and for the most part my interest lies in sequential narratives, but my nagging interest in the natural world constantly finds its way in. As much as I love London, I miss the countryside, and have surprised myself by just how important the parks and wildlife we have here in the city have been to me. There is quite a contrast to how we use these open spaces within the urban environment as opposed to those in more rural areas, and I can't quite put it into words. Whatever it is, they bring a great amount of enjoyment and enrich many peoples lives - and they really are worth preserving.

Over the coming months I will be using this blog to document all my notes, visuals and other research in relation to this work. It is more for my own benefit - but if it is of any interest to anyone else out there feel free to leave comments and feedback, I hope you enjoy it.

- A'moi (a.k.a. Amy Beaumont)

Labels: Introduction

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