The Story behind Thoughts on Walks

Alongside my chatty and exuberant personality, I'd always valued walking throughout my life and was oft known amongst peers as 'The Taxi Driver of London' (on legs) for my pursuits. But Thoughts on Walks only really started 6 years ago and was triggered by a combination of grief, poor health and COVID.

I initially started walking uphill on short walks of 15 minutes a day. I thought that if I could climb that hill without losing my breath, I would have achieved my goal. But 15 minutes soon became 30, then one hour, and eventually one and a half hours.

All of the hidden sights and gems of urban nature began to unfurl before my eyes and, as they did so, I noticed nature's colours. It was these colours which inspired me to pick up kids' colour packs from a £1 store. Here began the creation of my visual practice, Contemporary Patternism, and alongside it, the written and spoken reflections that began on my walks—the thoughts about my practice, which soon shifted to the unspoken parts we don't often see expressed visually.

At some point, words took over as I processed my recovery, and throughout, the words and visuals interwove as I regained myself.

From Walks to Talks

But it was not until I really started to find a renewed sense of my roots after loss, through engaging with the Cypriot diaspora, being prompted to start Thoughts on Walks by other community members, and an unplanned journey around Southern Croatia, that I started to revisit this chapter.

During my trip, I was again inspired to reintroduce and emotionally release through a series of filmed and written thoughts along my walks around the islands. At some point, I unexpectedly found myself in an isolated fishing shelter in Soline, Mljet National Park, totally alone with my thoughts. It came to me: What if the thoughts became a collaboration? What if they became Thoughts on Talks? That was the start.

Become Part of the Archive

I am seeking individuals who enjoy reflecting and speaking about those reflections openly, who are less concerned with the camera and more with a moment of shared experience—a universal one. I welcome those from all walks of life.

A Living Archive of Human Experience

In a day and age where we have it all—the information, the politics and the opportunity — I would be honoured to invite you to take part in a living archive, a chorus of individual voices which promote universal understanding for just a moment in time.