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So today I am in section 3 on day 3. It is just past 10 in the morning and it is a week day. The weather is cloudy but not cold. The cloud covering and gentle breeze make it really pleasant and today there are less people sitting and more dog walkers. This area is quite grassy with just 2 trees and a bin with a bit of path. I quite enjoyed today and had a little chat with two dog walkers that came into my section.

In this section today there are: 2 trees, 2 dog walkers and 3 dogs (ABBA, definitely and maybe Hamish and Buster), 11 bits of rubbish, 1 bin, 1 feather, 1 thistle lots of buttercups and daisies.

some students today but not too many, however they could have been in lessons. ABBA’s owner was a lady with a bit of an accent so I guess it must be Swedish as that would seem the most obvious and the other dog walker was a professional dog walker without a doubt! Hamish and Buster (maybe) couldn’t be walked with any other dogs however so she had to do an extra walk for them. A man with a backpack walked by. I think he is a retired doctor who spends his time walking round Darlington just because he can.

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Today it is a weekday about midday and it is sunny and quite hot. The park is busy, mainly with students from the sixth form college sitting around either in couples or large groups. Often listening to music and just hanging out. There are a couple of dog walkers but it is possibly not the best time on a hot day to be walking your dog. I paced out section 2 and despite it being quite busy, there is no one in this section. We are still next to the wall but there are not many trees in this area.

I wandered round the section as you can see in the video on my YouTube video.

whilst I was there I noted:

No wildlife (that I could see), Two dog poos (one old and one new), A few feathers, 4 pieces of litter, daisies, sycamore keys, blossom and cut grass.

one dog Walker did come into my section but he was in a hurry with his hat pulled down low, so obviously not wanting to be recognised. There was a couple near me on the grass from the college. He fancied her but was too scared to say, as felt she was out of his league. She fancied him but was too scared to say, as she thought he liked her but never said or did anything, so maybe she was wrong. She’d ask her friends later. Another large group are crowded round a bench, some on it but most sitting on the floor. Who gets the bench I wonder? Is there a group hierarchy?

There was a relaxed feeling altogether and it was pleasant to be in the park despite it being busy.

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Section 1 and the ground in this section is mainly grass and path. However there are a lot of trees so there is quite a lot of old fallen leaves especially close to the boundary wall. Tree roots are also visible as well as a small metal lid to something! There are 4 pieces of litter, a dog poo bin, 2 feathers and a blackbird. Also lots of small twigs. It is a sunny day.

I was at the far end of the park as you can see on the chart and it is a sunny Sunday so quite busy. This first corner has quite a few trees so the panoramic view is more challenging. There is a corner entrance here so there were a few people coming in and out, mainly dog walkers but a few interesting ones. Obviously most are regulars and they and their dogs seem to like saying hello to one another, but some were people we had never seen. An Arabian Princess, dressed in a long purple robe and followed by one woman and a man, also dressed in long purple robes, walking in procession around the park, including through this section. I wonder their story as they are dressed and walk in a way you don’t normally see here. Are they royal? I am sure. Why are they here? Maybe in hiding for some reason, after all who would look in this park? Another woman walk through, elderly with her head down talking to herself. Was she a engineer in her younger days, with a husband (now dead) and 2 children who do visit but haven’t done for a while (due to COVID). She misses her grandchildren.

Lots of people are sitting on the grass and benches, looking round. Teenage girls playing Amy Winehouse. Middle aged couple snogging on a bench (they’ve just met on an internet dating site). Kids playing and Chloe of course on her scooter. So many to see from here.

Day 40 – The end – Parklife

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://parklifeart.com/2021/07/24/day-40-the-end/

1. Day 40 – The end 03:52
2. Day 39 – Electrical 01:42
3. Day 38 – Nothing in particular 01:27
4. Day 37 – all a rush 01:35
5. Day 36 – ‘It’s too darn hot’ 01:35

Hi my name is Rachel and this is my Park Life project. It is a project I am doing for an MA in Fine Art and I wanted to share it with you so you can see how a park changes over time and hopefully so you can understand and appreciate my final artworks. It is a step into my mind and how I look at the world around me which is something you might relate to.

The idea behind this project is to look closely, almost forensically at a park I think I know well. A park where my daughter learned to walk when she was 3. A park where we go at least once a week and in lockdown would take her wheelchair there so she could get some exercise. It is a park she loves and where we search for conkers every year. I wanted to represent this park in a series on paintings and artworks using a mix of media such as acrylics, oils, photomontage and digital art as I would like to explore the idea of mixing contemporary and traditional media and their place in the world today.

In order to do this I wanted to examine the park over different days and different times and from different areas in the park and really look at the people and what their stories might be, as more start to go again after restrictions lift as well as the terrain, the views and the trees. Noting things such as rubbish, wildlife and anything else I discover. The park has a side that is unpleasant as well as a place to relax or play.

Watching archeological digs on telly made me think that I would like to dived the park into various areas and study one area on one day. I paced around the park to measure it Luckily it is quite rectangular in shape and it is 216 paces up each long side and 115 on each short end. I divided it into 40 areas each 27×23 paces and have mapped these which you can see on the introduction page. So 40 sections over 40 days in the life of our park.

I hope you enjoy this look at park life and I hope you will like my finished pieces. There will be a virtual and hopefully real life exhibition at the end!