B10 Event. Fiona Bates & Jan Sears Exhibition at St Anne’s Arts Centre in Barnstaple

Fiona Bates and Jan Sears will be celebrating 10 years of North Devon's Biosphere Reserve by focusing on our beautiful coastline and what the tide reveals. Fiona Bates has been working with clay for over 25 years and is recognised for her unique and unusual designs. She works from her ceramics studio in North Devon where her work is influenced by the sea and the chance objects that it offers up. Each of her unique pieces is hand built using pure white earthenware or porcelain clays. Pieces are finished in a range of dry glazes, slips and sumptuous gloss glazes. Fiona's work ranges in size and complexity and includes: fireplace surrounds; a variety of species of fish; boats; tiny children’s shoes; wedding shoes; tins of sardines; horses; rams, dogs and cats heads. Her work has been featured in Design Magazine, Votre Maison, The Sunday Times and Homes and Gardens. She has exhibited in many galleries including; the V&A and Crafts Council Gallery London. Jan Sears is looking forward to showing her new work for the first time in this show at St Anne’s "I am happiest when painting, mixing colours and choosing which part of our beautiful coastline to inspire me each day. I have a small studio in my garden with glimpses of the sea; it’s the ideal lifestyle really. Since moving to North Devon seven years ago I have been captivated by the changing seascapes and huge skies. The rushing clouds and tides give me all the inspiration I need.”, “Over the years I have experimented with various art forms, including textiles, drawing, painting and pottery. These skills are incorporated in my latest pictures. I have started to work in a more abstract way and my work feels less constrained as a result. This is the first time this collection has been shown so I’m looking forward to hearing visitor’s comments.”

Work by Jan Sears

Work by Fiona Bates

A mixed media art exhibition of work by Fiona Bates and Jan Sears inspired by the North Devon Biosphere coast and sea.  Open to the public from Tuesday 13 August  to Saturday 24 August  2013. 10am - 4pm Monday to Saturday at St Anne’s Arts Centre, Paternoster Row, Barnstaple.

Free  admission.

Mystery wildlife object catches experts 'on the fly'

Great balls of fire, yes, but great balls of flies? Yet, this was the scene that confronted Louise Davis on a recent walk alongside the picturesque River Torridge in north Devon. Louise, who works as the Water Resources Advisory Officer on Devon Wildlife Trust's Northern Devon Nature Improvement Area project, was busy conducting a survey of a stretch of the river near Torrington when she spotted something hanging over the water from a tree. Louise takes up the story: 'It was about the size of my fist, dangling from a branch. Then I saw several other similar shaped balls all hanging from the same tree. At first I thought they were just debris that had got stuck, but on taking a closer look I discovered that each was a tightly-packed dome consisting of hundreds of flies. I'd never seen anything like it before.' Louise took photos of the balls and showed them to colleagues, but they got no closer to identifying the strange phenomenon. It was only when she passed the images on to Martin Harvey, a leading fly expert, that the answer was revealed. The fly concerned turned out to be Atherix ibis, part of ibis fly family. Martin explained that the flies are known to adopt this strange behaviour, but that it was 'not often seen'. Martin explained that the behaviour takes place when the flies are preparing to lay their eggs. Females come together to form dense balls on branches overhanging rivers. Often these balls can consist of several hundred flies and are frequently formed where flood refuse has been caught in a branch, giving a good base on which the flies can cling. The females then lay their eggs in a glutinous goo and then die, leaving a suspended mass of dead flies and eggs. When the eggs hatch the fly larvae drop into the river's water to begin the next stage of their life cycle. The explanation solved a mystery for Louise: 'My role for the Northern Devon Nature Improvement Area is about working with local landowners to improve the water quality of the River Torridge for the benefit of local people and wildlife. This means I'm out doors a lot amongst the beautiful countryside of north Devon. I also get to see a lot of wonderful wildlife at close quarters, but I'd never seen anything like this. Nature really is full of surprises!' 

Photos copyright Devon Wildlife Trust

Nappies in the Park for B10. A special Nappuccino event in Rock Park,

DUE TO HEAVY RAIN THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED
B10 wouldn’t be a proper celebration without thinking of the littlest members of our community here in North Devon. On Tuesday 6 August Nappies of North Devon will celebrate ten years of North Devon’s Biosphere Reserve with a special B10 Nappuccino event in Rock Park, Barnstaple. A Nappuccino is a relaxed and informal get together for Mums & Dads, babies and parents in waiting. It is an opportunity to find out the benefits, both to your pocket and the environment, of using reusable nappies in place of disposables. As well as running Nappies of North Devon and organising regular Nappuccino events in Barnstaple, Hannah Ashford is a Devon Real Nappy Project (DRNP) Advisor. Hannah supplies a wide range of beautiful cloth nappies as well as providing a wealth of experience gained with her own two little ‘real nappy’ girls. As a DRNP Advisor Hannah can offer free trial kits containing a range of different reusable nappy brands and styles. The kits are available for one month and give parents the chance to try a selection of nappies in the comfort of their own home before making any decisions. As a Devon Real Nappy Project Advisor, Hannah goes through how to use, wash and care for the nappies and will be on hand to answer any queries throughout the trial. Using cloth nappies can save you £500 on average compared to disposables over the time your child is in nappies. Choosing real nappies is also great news for the North Devon Biosphere, reducing your carbon footprint and cutting down on the 28 million disposable nappies buried in Devon’s landfill sites each year. Real nappies don’t contain any chemicals or gels associated with disposable nappies so choosing real nappies puts you in control of caring for your baby’s skin.