David Nash - Force of Nature

David Nash - seen here

If you haven't caught it yet, do take an hour to watch this beautiful documentary, Force of Nature about North Wales sculptor David Nash screened on BBC Four this week (only available to view until Wednesday 2 March) . The work of Culture Colony's Pete Telfer, the documentary is the result of the long working relationship Pete has had with Nash, and the lovely direction of the piece reflects that deep affinity and knowledge of the processes, the work and the man himself.

David Nash - Oculus - Image Courtesy of YSP - photographer Jonty Wilde

© Jonty Wilde

Nash's work has such authority, such enviable focus and continuity. There is nothing artificial, nothing pretentious about it. Straightforward and poetic, the curator of work for his current show at The Yorkshire Sculpture Park talks about the monumental piece Oculus as 'calligraphic', Zen-like in it's way of being, and I feel that is a feature of so much of Nash's work. It is - it is meant to be - it could not be anything other than that which it is.

White Shift - an installation

Kathryn Campbell Dodd and Louise Bird - White Shift - more images

On Tuesday, I spent the day at Aberystwyth Arts Centre at the launch of Culture Colony. A day of events had been organised by the man behind the venture, Pete Telfer. With a new website, Culture Colony is set to become a great place to bookmark for Welsh art - an active space where artists can show their work, blog and communicate with each other. It is also a place to view cultural content about the arts in Wales. It is responding to the dirth of cultural programming on TV, and with his television background, Pete brings a fantastic ethos to the project. He aims to keep the editing to a minimum, allowing the artists and practitioners involved to tell their own truth.

From the left: Kim Fielding, Ann Jordan, Nazma Ali, Mari Beynon Owen, Michael Cousin

I showed a collaborative piece of work with fellow Carmarthen artist, Louise Bird in the Round Studio space. Serendipitously, we we sharing the space with composer and sound artist Ed Wright from North Wales. We met for the first time in the morning and within an hour the work was installed and we had negotiated a really nice working relationship. Ed's sound pieces worked really well with our installation which also included a video projection of Louise's crochet and added all sorts of layers to the experience.

Michelle Collins - Documentation is My Downfall - photo: Michelle Collins

Other artists' involved included Kim Fielding from tactileBOSCH studios and gallery in Cardiff who installed two photographic flat light box works in the entrance to the Round Studio - I was delighted that our work was reached via Kim's. Carmarthenshire artist Michelle Collins was also showing her work in one of the amazing silver artist units on the site, Documentation is My Downfall comprised of a series of archive boxes filled with Michelle's reference materials. The visitor is asked to browse through the boxes and curate scraps, articles and images onto a pin board alongside other people's choices. There was also tea and cake to be shared - excellent!

Thanks to Culture Colony for a great day - please visit the site and join in!