Notes for today's work schedule for Avalon

June 22, 2022

Well, I only gone and did it!

 Well, I only gone and did it! Avalon ~ The Glastonbury Zine is published! And you Glastonbury lovers out there can buy your copy here :)

Thinking of Glastonbury from the back garden

 June 23, 2022

Avalon ~ The Glastonbury Zine

May 04, 2022

Probably the best bench in Glastonbury

"Whenever my mind turns to Glastonbury, I always remember the times I spent there atop Wearyall Hill. Once I spent hours on its summit in the freezing snow of a Winter’s solstice, having mistimed the sunrise! Sat there in the complete darkness, I still remember the chill and the shuffling and munching noises of the local sheep, made mysterious in the blackness of the night, who came to keep me company. It was as though it had happened only yesterday..."

- snippet from the upcoming issue 1 of Avalon -The Glastonbury zine

Despite the nagging of The Soosh,  I managed to get the new Avalon zine website up and running today :) 

I have also sorted the imagery that will accompany the article I am writing for the physical Avalon zine, some of which you can see below:

I like the images above as I think they illustrate the stark polarities that characterise the human condition. In this instance, people who go out of their way to wantonly kill something as innocent as a tree and those who cherished and actually loved the now sadly demised Glastonbury Thorn. I count myself lucky to have had the opportunity of both witnessing and recording the ceremony. Sadly, even the trunk of the tree has now been removed from the hill :(

Anyway, I think that's enough work done for today...

100 Day Project - Day 3

May 03, 2022

I have to admit to being a bit lazy yesterday as I did absolutely zero work on Avalon ~ The Glastonbury Zine. I made up for lost time today though with a solid 4 hours work sorting out imagery and doing a bit of writing too for the zine. 97 days to go....

May Day 100 Day Project

 May 1, 2021

Well, day 1 of my #100dayschallenge went smoothly and productively. I have titled the project Avalon - the Glastonbury zine. I've worked out what articles and features will appear in the zine, and have decided if I can find any other writers or artists who would like to contribute to the zine. I have also registered a domain name avalonzine.co.uk to document the  progress of the zine, to advertise its presence in the market, to hopefully attract contributors and, ultimately, to get some advertisers on board. It's  not online just yet but here is an early preview of its first page:

I think I will call it a day now and get on with stuff. See ya.

Sweyne's Eye - Swansea Sunsets

Ahead of schedule, you can now get your mits on this beast of a fotozine 🙂

Swansea City Sunsets - Introduction Time

With 28 days left of my deadline to finish and publish the latest edition of Sweyne's Eye, it's time for me to turn my attention to writing the introduction to the collection of sunset photographs featured in the zine. I have a feeling that this zine might be completed a good few weeks ahead of schedule...

Writing the introduction to the latest Sweyne's Eye zine

Swansea City Sunsets Zine Update

 March 01, 2022

I have just 29 days left until the latest edition of my fotography zine Sweyne's Eye goes to press. All the photographic content is now in place and just needs fine-tuning in situ on the page. Gotta say, I am a little bit happy with this special edition zine :

To continue whetting your appetite, here are x3 more images from the forthcoming zine, featuring Swansea's picturesque Cockett Church: 

Swansea Bus Stop Sunsets

x2 more images from the next issue of my fotozine Sweyne's Eye. Swansea sunsets viewed through bus stops:

Swansea City Sunsets - Cracking On

T - 33 days...

Working on Sweyne's Eye ~ Swansea City Sunsets

Swansea City Sunsets

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

With the publication date of the latest edition of Sweyne's Eye rapidly looming (T-35 days), I thought it best I at least got the cover of the zine sorted. And here it is:

 

There may still be a few tweaks that need addressing before the zine goes on the market, but I am happy with today's progress :)

Swansea Maritime Quarter

I am continuing to make decent progress on the latest Sweyne's Eye fotozine. This issue will be devoted to some of the sunset images I have captured of Swansea City. Whilst the zine will feature its fair share of silhouetted cityscapes against blazing orange skies, I will also try to share some more unusual sunset shots, such a these two pics, taken in Swansea's maritime quarter.

Sweyne's Eye - Swansea City Sunsets

Sunday, February 13, 2022

Feeling a little brighter health-wise this past weekend, I finally made a good bit of progress on my next publishing project - the latest Sweyne's Eye photography zine, this next edition being titled Swansea City Sunsets. With just 45 days left to meet its deadline, this sudden headway came as a bit of a relief. My sight is now positively focussed on this target date.

The following set of of two images, taken from the upcoming zine, details the cobbled lane at Swansea Marina:

Late Morning with the Furry Girls

Friday, October 22, 2021

Having a late morning in bed, working on my new Some Place Different zine.

Someplace Different

I am having fun working on this new impromptu project, brought on from my recent walk around Twmbarlwm. I have a title for the project now- Some Place Different and will be psycho geographical guides to interest places I have visited. I am still working on specifics on the project so, if you are interested in the progress of this work, watch this space and follow this tag [Some Place Different].

Farewell Twmbarlwm, (well, kinda...)

My imagination literally amok during the few hours I spent exploring Twmbarlm. It's a place I had not even heard of until the morning I decided to look for somewhere new in South Wales to explore. But its a place that will linger in my mind for a long time to come...

Locally known as 'Twmp', this mystic tumulus is also more widely nicknamed 'The Nipple' given the hill's appearance to a breast, and is, in fact, an Iron Age hillfort, constructed by the Celtic Silues tribe [more info here].

Twmbarlwm Summit, aka 'The Nipple'

It would have been amiss of me not to climb Twmbarlwm's 419m summit and share a few images from its height, so here they are: 

One of the defensive ditches on Twmbarlwm

The place is stepped in folklore, much of which I still haven't ha the opportunity to study (I will leave a few links here if you are thirsty for this info right now.

http://www.twmbarlwm.co.uk/category/legend/

https://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/2986/twmbarlwm.html#folklore

I will leave Twmbarlwm there, for now. But I will be returning to the place - maybe not physically, but creatively very, very soon :)

Twmbarlwm ~ Into the Woods

The woodland looked more than enticing from the summit of Twmbarlwm. So much so that it would have been impolite to ignore the invite:

Twmbarlwm Summit, view from the woodland

A growing carpet of shamrocks

My walk through the wood was dominated by a solitary tree, which lay uprooted by some previous gale. The tree appeared like a fallen leviathan of the beast and my hungry camera devoured the scene with real gusto:

I spent quite a while investigating the fallen beast, and completed my exploration with a look at it large root system, which had been upended in whatever foe of a gale had toppled the large tree. There, snuggled in the gloom of the earth and tangled roots, I found this beauty of a fungi had found itself a new home:

I ran into a bit of trouble leaving Twmbarlwm Woods - a bit of a tricky situation with locals filling the entrance/exit to the woodland with dozens of bin bags, which they ceremoniously set alight. I luckily made my escape at the onset of the fire, squeezing past the growing flames into the entrance clearing, where I found myself amongst some youth mass gathering. They had obviously decided to make this their meeting place for their evening enjoyment, and they seemed genuinely shocked to see me emerging from their humungous camp fire and appearing amongst their midst. There was no further trouble and they were all apologetic and I moved swiftly on...