Melissa Wishart
#SOMERSETREACQUAINTED

Seedlings

In the early days of lockdown, like many, I was in shock. My urge to create was stilled. I was drawn to simply planting seeds and watching things grow. I needed that sense of life, light and water and to keep things simple. Nature and spring took its hold. The sap was rising. All over the house on windowsills I had trays of earth. For the first time I had an allotment and this was exciting me. I have been a cameraperson all my life and the seedlings and their wonder became my subject. I made gelli prints of them for Easter cards – yellows, greens and blues. The idea of bringing a smile to anyone’s face was motivating. It all seemed less pointless and handling the seedlings felt real. At the same time I began to write haikus and play with the echo of words. The magic of a less agitated world began to creep into me; nature and spring made me buoyant ….and I learnt to turn off the news and listen to the birds.


This collection of photographic works were submitted to #somersetreacaquainted, a lockdown project orchestrated by Somerset Art Works. Platform - instagram
Exhibition of 63 artists work at Somerset Rural Life Museum
19th September - 21 November 2020
somerset reacquainted

I started playing around with words...haikus. Clear and simple.
Environmental

Plastic in our Oceans

Trolley in a bottle

Playing around with the ship in a bottle idea, I made this sculpture to pinpoint the shopping trolley as the place where a lot of our buying decisions regarding plastic are made. People initially laugh and I like that - on message but humorous too.

Zac Greening of Greening the Earth Gallery, Wincanton is an ongoing inspirational collaborator who works with plastic and light on projects of all scales.

I am always interested to hear from any motivated people who wish to collaborate on environmental projects.