Beacons Way Art Trail

Cymdeithas Parc Bannau Brycheiniog
Brecon Beacons Park Society
www.breconbeaconsparksociety.org

The Beacons Way Art Trail has been developed by Brecknock Museum Art Trust and the Brecon Beacons Park Society. It is linked to The Beacons Way, a long-distance footpath inaugurated in May 2005. This walk, which is divided into eight sections, passes through some of the most dramatic countryside in Wales.
The 161km (100 mile) east-west route starts at Abergavenny and runs westwards to Llangadog. A detailed guide to the walk, written by Arwel Michael and the late John Sansom, has been produced by Brecon Beacons Park Society.
The upland and relatively wild landscapes of the region designated in 1957 as Brecon Beacons National Park have appealed to visual artists since the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Distinctive mountains and valleys, geological curiosities, dramatic waterfalls, picturesque towns, bridges and medieval ruins attracted artists such as Joseph Mallord William Turner, Michael ‘Angelo’ Rooker, Sir Richard Colt-Hoare, John Sell Cotman, Thomas Hornor, David Cox, Penry Williams and Joseph Murray Ince. Yet, up to the present day, the overall response of artists to these remarkable landscapes has received surprisingly little attention.

Along the route of each of the eight sections of The Beacons Way may be discovered a block of locally quarried stone into which has been set a relief image (A4 size) created by one of eight artists working in the National Park. Some of these stones are set into banks and others into walls.
Two sculptors have worked in relief preparing plaster casts ready for bronze casting, and one artist has worked directly into a zinc etching plate. Bronze castings of the images by the other five artists have been made using digital imaging software and computer-aided technology. The works display a variety of responses to the landscape, its ecology and mythology.

The published guide '8 Carreg, 8 Arlunydd, 8 Stones, 8 Artists' includes information about the life and work of the eight featured artists. They have each been photographed by Bernard Mitchell, who specialises in recording artists from Wales in their working environment. For comparative purposes another work by each artist, mostly selected from the collection of Brecknock Museum & Art Gallery, is illustrated. Sketch maps of the Beacons Way show the location of the eight stone blocks and artworks. There is also guidance on how to make a record of the images by taking rubbings of them with a wax crayon or soft pencil on tracing paper. Equipment to enable the production of rubbings is included with the guide.

Shown below are some examples of works by the artists whose installations are featured along 'The Beacons Way'

Desmond Harrison Day One: Abergavenny to Llanthony at: SO 318235 Desmond Harrison's Art Trail lino-print of meandering river forms has a strong organic quality suggesting a sinuous, yet contained, evolutionary course. Shown above is 'Worm' (2005), in steel, from the Artist's collection.	Sue Hiley Harris Day Two: Llanthony to Crickhowell at: SO 282240 Sue Hiley Harris has chosen to spin and weave wool gathered from along the footpath. Landscape features have been suggested by cutting images out of a plaster cast of the fabric before casting the whole work in bronze.
Richard Renshaw Day Three: Crickhowell to Llangynidr at: SO 205217 For the Art trail installation, Richard Renshaw has pressed found objects from the locality into clay, made a plaster version of it and cast this in bronze. Shown above is 'Untitled' (2002) in Portland stone, from the Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery collection.	Marcelle Davies Day Four: Llangynidr to Craig Cerrig-gleisiad at: SO 036205 A figurative study by Marcelle Davies has been cast in bronze using digital imaging software and computer-aided technology.
Megan Jones Day Five: Craig Cerrig-gleisiad to Craig-y-nos at: SN 861157 A landscape by Megan Jones has been cast in bronze using digital imaging software and computer-aided technology.	Robert Macdonald Day Six: Craig-y-nos to Llanddeusant at: SN 796218 Robert Macdonald has made a linocut which has been cast in bronze. The image records the legend of the lady of the lake at Llyn y Fan Fach.
Sally Matthews Day Seven: Llanddeusant to Carreg Cennen at: SN 670192 Sally Matthews has made a sheep linocut and the image has been cast in bronze using computer-controlled technology.	Shirley Jones Day Eight: Carreg Cennen to Llangadog at: SN 683245 Shirley Jones has etched her Art Trail image on a zinc plate. The image is from the Iron Age hill Fort at Y Gaer fach, from which the larger fort Y Gaer fawr can be seen. Shown above is 'The Physicians of Myddfai' (2005), mezzotint with gilding, from the Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery collection.

The Beacons Way Art Trail and Guide are funded by Spirit 2 Ysbryd, Brecknock Museum Art Trust, The Brecon Beacons Park Society, The Sustainability Challenge Fund, The Contemporary Art Society for Wales, The Usk Valley Trust and The Morel Trust.
Stones were selected, prepared and installed by Perfect Pitch. Castings of artworks were mostly prepared and executed by Sebastien Boyesen. Richard Renshaw’s work was cast by Castle Fine Arts, Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant.