Hello - Clare Bryden

Silent Spring at Mikrofest 2019. Photo credit Lily Holman. — HELLO
I am a freelance artist, writer, and consultant.
Please come on in!

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

Almost one year...

...since the beginning of Lockdown 1

Blog

#DIYLent #poetry #light #prayer

In this year of quarantine, I have been observing a DIY Lent. I thought it would be wonderful to get together (via Zoom of course) with one or two different friends each week. Both of us bring a poem, or piece of poetic prose, or art, or music to share and reflect on.

Talk/Workshop

Lectio Divina on Zoom

Initially a step into the unknown, group Lectio Divina over Zoom has proved to work extremely well; its very structured format holds open a space for deep encounters with both God and each other.

Article

What can I do about the Climate Emergency? Part 9

One of a series of articles for Exeter Cathedral’s monthly news. It's the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi, and I'm looking at the emotive issue of food.

Exhibition/Installation

Experimenting for "Moths to a Flame"

The amazingly creative Chloe Uden from Art and Energy has made oak gall ink, so I attempted watercolour for the first time, and a Great Oak Beauty moth.

Academia

Working title: “The application of weather forecasting techniques to health forecasting”

In a past working life I conducted a thought experiment, looking at the different aspects of numerical weather prediction and weather forecasting at the Met Office, and asking whether these techniques might have an analogue in health forecasting. At the time, I thought there might be a paper in it. It never came to be written, so this is how I am keeping the idea alive.

Performance/Event

West Barok Singers & Players

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

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

Christmas Day

Evening meal; lunchtime walk around the Exminster Marshes, and the Exe Canal and Estuary around the Turf Hotel and Topsham

Environment

Analysing progress on Shrinking the Footprint in Exeter Diocese

This was a follow-up project to my consultancy work in 2009/10 on energy and climate change work in Exeter Diocese, to analyse progress based on evidence from Archdeacons' Articles of Enquiry, and write a report for presentation at Diocesan Synod.

Making

Press Release - "Campaigners’ knitting exhibition reveals incinerator is not a woolly issue"

An innovative community art installation goes on show this week to bring alive the impacts of Exeter’s new ‘Energy from Waste’ incineration facility. Members of the community have been knitting larger than life versions of the particles that will be emitted from the new facility. The exhibition which will be on display at the Real Food Café in Paris Street, is designed to tell people about the incinerator, encourage Devon County Council to ensure it is operated properly over its 25 years contract and think harder about their future waste management strategy.

Place

In the 'burbs

I found this marvellous book from 1892 in the Westcountry Studies Library, now Devon Archives and Local Studies.

Play

"Particulart: Up in the Air" pop-up at TEDxExeter

Clare was honoured to be able to show Particulart at TEDxExeter 2016, in between a nice lot of Particulart-relevant talks(!) such as Danny Dorling on different ways of mapping the world, Alan Smith on how statistics are about Us, and the video of Al Gore's latest TED talk on climate change.

Public Engagement

Peer-reviewed Abstracts - Health

Abstracts written as part of my work at the Met Office during 2005-07 on health forecasting and anticipatory care, and accepted by peer-review for conference posters or talks.

Science and Data

Playing with data: FITs

An interactive map of renewables capacity registered under the Feed-in Tariffs scheme between 1 April 2010 and 30 September 2011, aggregated over Local Authority area.