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This is a large (paper size 61cm x 43cm) mixed media
painting based on the view looking towards Arundel and the Castle from the
south, walking along the footpath on the west side of the River Arun from Ford. This is the very view which is threatened by the government's grand plans for the A27 announced early last month - see Mixed news from Sussex and the Downs. The storm brewing up the valley behind the Castle, then is a storm of protest.
I've tried to depict the storm clouds hanging over the
valley, emanating from London, where all the key decisions are made, more often
than not favouring vested interests. In this case, the road lobby at the
expense of the Sussex countryside.
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This is one of the folded art books I've been working on during January. There's a bit about roads here, too, together with mixed messages on climate change, fossil fuels - shale gas extraction fracking) and oil; economic growth at the expense of all else. During January, too, scientist at the Met. Office, Nasa and Noaa confirmed that 2014 was the hottest year on record, both in the UK and globally:.jpg)
Such reports should be all more reason for a balanced investment in Britain's future infrastructure, benefiting the whole British population, rather than costly damaging road building schemes such as the Arundel bypass just to keep the road lobby happy.
The book also features a cutting about the infrastructure bill going through the Commons, to be voted on next week (26th January), I gather. Here, roads are just part of the problem. If it becomes law, it will have very worrying implications for land use, public access and development. Damaging road schemes will be being only part of the problem.
More about my artwork on my http://www.joanleeart.com/my website, Joan Lee Artist Facebook page and my Water and Art blog.
My new years resolution for 2015 is to keep it arty. As well as committing time to the creative process, preparing and promoting my work, it's about preferring to leave out news and politics, particularly on social networking sites. During this general election year, there's every danger of serious info' overload, of various persuasions. Though we all need to be aware of what's going on and should be free to express our views online, too much of it too often can leave people feeling more down than a river during a long drought.
As with the above examples, though I may have the news and recent weather events in mind when producing artwork. It's also a better for my sanity. Invariably, I use newspaper cuttings as part of a the background collage in a mixed media painting, though it needs to be subtle instead of an in-your-face-distraction.
A walk in the Winchester area recently brought home just how road / car dominated this country already is, particularly the busy, densely populated southeast. To the north of Winchester, the River Itchen - a chalk stream prized by anglers for its salmon and trout - is shunted under the M3, A34 and A33. We had to walk under three subways to get into the city from the upper Itchen valley: although safe from the traffic, it wasn't pleasant. I'd have felt insecure walking here alone. The noise of the traffic was oppressive, especially where the footpaths ran parallel to the roads. The roads around Winchester are a prime example of what not to do, particularly Twyford Down, where the M3 passes through a gash in the chalk downland. Here, there was a very strong case for improving the M3 and A31. Until the 1990s, walking from the city centre up to St. Catherine's Hill and the countryside to the east would have involved a dangerous road crossing. The road was narrow for the amount of traffic it carried. There were certainly road protests and calls to minimise the damage to the surrounding countryside by building a tunnel. However, this was deemed too expensive, purely on first costs. Compare and contrast with the Hindhead Tunnel (A3) opened in 2011. Not only does the traffic flow more smoothly here than it did before (though not the case everywhere along the A3), it's now possible to walk from the Devil's Punch Bowl to Gibbet Hill without having to cross a trunk road. Northwards along the A34, is the Newbury bypass, another controversial scheme from the 1990s. This pre-dates the bypass, but the Wayferer's Walk along the ridge of the Wessex Downs (an area I visited last autumn with the Wessex Branch of the Open University Geological Society) appears from the OS Landranger map to either involve a dangerous trunk road crossing, or a diversion of about three miles between Ladle Hill and Beacon Hill.
Throughout history, throughout the world, rivers have been lines of communication. If not navigation, their valleys have been natural gaps through which to route roads and railways. What's not so good is when roads / cars / lorries are allowed to dominate to the detriment of everyone else. Thankfully, unlike the Mole valley through the North Downs (A24, M25 nearby too), the Arun valley through the South Downs does not have a major A'road running along it. Nonetheless, there are already several busy roads in its vicinity which impinge on it (A27, A283, A29). It would hurt me to see the road scenarios I've described around Winchester and Newbury repeated at the expense of the Sussex countryside.
Throughout history, throughout the world, rivers have been lines of communication. If not navigation, their valleys have been natural gaps through which to route roads and railways. What's not so good is when roads / cars / lorries are allowed to dominate to the detriment of everyone else. Thankfully, unlike the Mole valley through the North Downs (A24, M25 nearby too), the Arun valley through the South Downs does not have a major A'road running along it. Nonetheless, there are already several busy roads in its vicinity which impinge on it (A27, A283, A29). It would hurt me to see the road scenarios I've described around Winchester and Newbury repeated at the expense of the Sussex countryside.
