Leeds-based visual artist and photographer Lydia Chouler-Tissier walked a route and produced creative work in response to her journey
“I chose a walk through an area of Leeds I wasn’t familiar with. I was able to pass through Leeds unnoticed on a quiet, bright Sunday morning. I wanted to look for new spaces and follow a path that took me from the city to the countryside.
Even though I’ve driven out into the countryside around Leeds countless times, I was surprised at how quickly I reached the green fields on foot, they had felt much further away.
Route: LeeBar (nine miles)
From: Leeds
To: Barwick in Elmet
Date: 27th March 2022
Walked by: Lydia Chouler–Tissier
On foot, the border between the urban and rural settings felt less sharp and the countryside felt more real for it.
I didn’t give myself too much of an agenda before I set off to Barwick in Elmet. I documented my walk with my camera, drawn to the colours on buildings and the cherry blossom that seemed to be everywhere. I noted down thoughts and descriptions of my surroundings, as I love returning back to information like this after the date written. Here is one I wrote at
9.05am
Stopped at a roundabout
The birds are the main sounds that fill the air
I’ve just entered a new-build estate.
The air smells warm but quite chilly.
I’m at a good temperature with layers.
A woman’s heels clip-clop into my sounds before leaving again
Cars move around me.
Two coming from opposite ends
Tension
I’m alone again
Birds calling to each other
Silence.
This walk fitted in nicely with my current thinking and art practice. It was the spark I needed to set myself off on a new way of working, layering up ink and wax pastels, taking myself and paper on a journey.
Creating the video came from the idea of following the map to my destination, showing the journey of the walk and the paper.
Creating this painting gave me space and time to think, much like the walk did. This walk was a lovely start to the day and will be the first of many more around my city and beyond!”
Photographs Lydia took on her early morning Slow Ways walk from Leeds to Barwick in Elmet
Lydia Chouler – Tissier Lydia is a painter, visual artist and photographer with a love for performance and process of piece, connected to the space and place in nature and seeking time to paint and tell stories.
