Main Areas of Focus

My interests are wide-ranging, primarily in how human beings affect and are affected by the natural world of which we are part, and the related theology and psychology of connectedness.

Artist

Creating beautiful and thought-provoking art as a means of supporting care for planet and people, nurturing a sense of place, and building community

Writer

Articles and blogs on economics, environment, nature, attentiveness, applied theology, arts, and anything that interests me

Consultant

» Website development and training
» Energy efficiency and renewable energy consultancy
» Research and reporting

Latest News and Produce

What I’ve recently produced. What I’m working on. What’s in the pipeline.

News

"Minecraft Climate Quest" is STEAMMing ahead

I'm looking forward to piloting "Minecraft Climate Quest" at the ExIST STEAMM Show, an interactive exhibition of commercial, research and creative projects from the south west which combine arts, sciences and technology.

Blog

A Christmas message

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, with love and hope for 2020.

Performance/Event

West Barok Singers & Players

A concert of Handel "Dixit Dominus" and other baroque gems, held in the Music Room at Powderham Castle.

Exhibition/Installation

"2x2"

Studies of form and pattern, inside and out, natural and artifical, found and artefact.

Academia

“Live the questions now: control, connectedness and making conceptual art”

Giving fourth year students at Exeter Medical School an introduction to conceptual and environmental art, looking at meaning-making and how we turn ideas into art, making art.

Article

What can I do about the Climate Emergency? Part 3

I'm writing a series of articles for Exeter Cathedral's monthly news, on the changes we can make in our own lives, and how we can encourage governments and business to make necessary structural changes. 12 months and counting now to 'save the planet'.

Talk/Workshop

Workshop on "Slow Bible Reading"

workshop was on the ancient monastic practice of Lectio Divina, part of a Prayer & Spirituality Day at Exeter Cathedral.

Recording

"...and the Greatest of these is Love"

In their second album, Antiphon presents world premiere recordings of three choral works by Michael Walsh: an unaccompanied Mass of the Holy Trinity; a full-scale Requiem Mass; and The Way of Love, a setting of five love poems by Rupert Brooke. We recorded it in July 2017 in the crossing and Lady Chapel in Exeter Cathedral.

Random Work Generator

There are a number of threads running through all my work. Here’s a random sample from each.

Attentiveness

"Knitting and other revolutionary acts"

Clare Bryden. Knitting and other revolutionary acts. Third Way Magazine, May 2015.
As competing political voices reach election crescendo, could it be that artistic, home-spun forms of activism are more positive and quietly persuasive? Clare Bryden hails the rise of ‘Craftivism’ and explains how knitting can change the world.

Environment

Knit your own bee

You are welcome to download my instructions for making "Ghost Bees", which includes a knitting pattern for the body, a size guide for cutting out the wings from milk cartons, and instructions for assembly.

Making

Knit your own bee

You are welcome to download my instructions for making "Ghost Bees", which includes a knitting pattern for the body, a size guide for cutting out the wings from milk cartons, and instructions for assembly.

Place

Hanging out in Ludwell

It was late afternoon when I walked down to Ludwell Valley Park to pick blackberries. I'd just started, around a kink in the hedge and mostly hidden from the gate, when I heard lads' voices.

Play

"Particulart: Greenhouse Effect" at Low Carbon Oxford Week

The overall aim of Particulart is to engage people with environmental and social issues and challenge the status quo through the power of knitting, science, and public art. In addition, “Greenhouse Effect” aimed to promote public awareness and provoke reflection on climate change and the underlying science, through appealing to different ways of accessing information – words and numbers, sight and touch – and enabling playful interaction.

Public Engagement

"Particulart: Exhausted" at Oxford Festival of Arts

The overall aim of Particulart is to engage people with environmental and social issues and challenge the status quo through the power of knitting, science, and public art. In addition, “Exhausted” aimed to promote public awareness and provoke reflection on urban air quality, through a quirky display enabling playful interaction. It appeared at “Test Drive the Future”, an exhibition of electric vehicles, that will help solve the problem of air pollution.

Science and Data

Who has the wisdom?

Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,
or given understanding to the mind?
Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
-- Job 38:36-37

Social Justice

No response from Hugo Swire MP

I've not yet received a direct response from Hugo Swire MP to my letter about the family from Clyst St George needing to walk 11 miles to Exeter Foodbank and back.