Jenn Layton Annable

#Derbywalks

pixie

·

Boarded wooden building covered with four yellow and black abstract graffiti symbols.

#Derbywalks was how I used to regulate and calm the emotional turmoil when my son was very young.

Walking, at night, was the only time I had to myself – often when I couldn’t sleep anyway.

The streets at night were quiet and dark. A balm after the noise, light and smells of a life with a young child.

Then about six years ago the remaining energy-capacity-resilience I had collapsed, along with my mental health. I spent the time between then and now mainly restricted to my home for various reasons. That status-quo is changing now for many reasons.

Green leafy plant with sprays of tiny reddish-purple flowers growing through woodchip.
Close-up of a yellow graffiti symbol formed from a black spiral on a boarded wall.
Organic sculptural form with black cavities and coloured surface details attached to a metal support.
Young climbing vetch plant with paired green leaves and curling tendrils growing through woodchip.
Oblique view of four yellow and black graffiti symbols across a boarded building.
White textile artwork with looping stitched handwriting reading “and sometimes when I am very still I whisper does it matter?” and small circular fabric forms.
Small sculptural form with a rounded body and multiple reddish disc-like projections displayed on a white plinth.
Layered textile artwork with a small patchwork figure and spiralling stitched text reading “spinning light and time around the smallest grain until it becomes something luminous”.
Illuminated artwork showing clusters of pink oyster-like mushrooms growing from a tall rectangular structure.
Close-up of the green dress in the portrait, showing orange patterned fabric, black buttons and yellow flowers.
Textile shell form outlined in black thread with a red strip, above the stitched words “but I do not make pearls”.
Street view of a large monochrome mural of faces framed by brown floral decoration on a brick building.
Large framed portrait of a woman in a fitted green dress with orange detailing and yellow flowers.
Two yellow and black angular graffiti symbols painted across weathered wooden boards.

I am grateful. I am walking Derby again.