Landscape history and artist practice
After a hedge-hiatus early this year for my Blossom & Thorn project, I’m back to my previous landscape project. I’m slowly walking all of the paths in a 10 square mile-ish area near my home and looking for interesting things like old boundaries, ancient woodlands, good hedges, ridge and furrow and old paths. I’ve loved landscape history for years and have wanted to bring this into my creative practice. Last year I talked a lot to Kathryn Parsons about this and her research about Westings Meadow (currently on show in my exhibition Material Evidence) and she encouraged me to find a place that I love to focus on. It was tempting to try and cover a large area but in the end I decided to start with a smallish area within walking distance of my home which includes some places I’ve known Al my life, some areas I researched for my a-level geography coursework 30 years ago and some places that are new to me.
Today I visited one of those new-to-me spots, the ancient woodland and local nature reserve Sheet Hedges wood and found plenty of boundary ditches, probably very old routes and a lovely meadow with lots of chicory.
I’m hoping to get funding to explore this stuff with local people and co-create some artworks that respond to the land we live and walk on.
This slow research and thinking project is part of Cultures of Care, my long-term umbrella funding for different creative activities that all reflect an element of care. Already I know this work will extend for years and in many more directions and that is a wonderful thing
I’ll be sharing much more about Cultures of Care project in an online talk in September.
Ruth Singer 
Let me know what you think