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As part of the Constable Ambisonic project I want to understand how we perceive the landscape, and what did Constable and his contemporaries bring to our understanding of the natural world, and who else has contributed to the language used and ideals we hold in regard to perception of landscape. Here I talk to my mum, Terri Bowditch to try to understand how we came to live in the semi-rural town Essex market town, and how that affected my life growing up in the 1970's and 80's, in comparison to North West London where they had moved from.
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After a full on week and a hectic week end it was good to finally sit by the Stour under a huge Oak tree and relax for a while. I was also looking forward to testing out the new Reynolds A-Type 4 ambisonic microphone that I had received. Jack hand builds his microphones and they are thoroughly tested in the field by Axel Drioli as he chases migratory birds across Europe and Africa. Jack had sent me one to test earlier in the year and after getting used to its unique character (I’ve been using DPA 4060’s since for nearly ten years) I realised it was going to be just what I needed for this project. I’m a keen supporter of small and independent businesses too so it was a good match all round. Jack kindly housed it in a Rycote Windjammer for me as I like to go out in all weathers, and indeed might have to for the Constable Ambisonic project. I’ll have a listen beck to the recording and hopefully share one with you this week. YouTube Short below X
I have a new Short up on YouTube. In it I ask: How is the landscape beautiful? How does it have such a positive impact on us? Why do we revere it so much? And how much did Constable, and his contemporaries, have an influence how we see it now? As I discussed with David Stone in our conversation (see previous post) it wasn't always this way. Can you join in the conversation?
I also have shared Cloud Study #03 which you can stream below. X
I'm pleased to announce that my interview with David Stone on the Perception of Landscape is now available to listen to on my Podcast channel, and via Soundcloud using the link below. We cover a variety of topics including the Romanticism, Capability Brown, Helen Allingham, Turner, JS Lowry and of course, Constable. A transcription of the conversation is available as a pdf below.
Back in 2018 I was lucky enough to be asked to record a fascinating and insightful talk by John E Thornes at The Boat House Gallery at Flatford.
Professor John Thornes is a professional academic meteorologist, that has written extensively on John Constable's skies and in this talk discusses ways of reading the paintings based upon Constable's depiction of clouds and other weather phenomenon. To Constable the sky was "the keynote", the "standard of scale" and the "chief organ of sentiment" in landscape painting but how much meteorology did Constable understand? John discusses why the sky plays such an important part in Constable's most famous representation of British landscape, The Hay Wain. Tune in below. As part of my interest in how we perceive the landscape I have started to have conversations with people that work in or make work about the landscape.
The first of such was with artist David Stone, a painter and PhD student from Colchester. We discussed the role of artists in depicting the landscape, the role of the Romantic Movement, Capability Brown and his blurring of the lines between garden and landscape, Luke Turner’s ‘Out of the Woods’ and much more. For the second conversation I revisited my childhood landscape, and although I didn’t call it that when I was younger, I spent a lot of time outside playing with my friends, building dens and setting fire to stuff. I also spoke to my mum for an hour about how our family members have always moved to new places in search of work and a better life, my parents decision to move from inner city London to a semi-rural dead end road to bring up their family and a variety of lifestyle choices that shaped how I could navigate my local environment. These interviews will be released soon so please keep an ear to the ground for announcements.  A still from Cloud Study #01 After what seems like an age, the project has an online presence. We've set up on Instagram, Blue Sky and Facebook. This website and blog is also now live! Please feel free to join in the discussions. I know a lot of people have a vast amount of knowledge and information about Constable, his paintings and the locations he frequented, and this project is my way of learning about it all, so I'm all ears.
I'm so pleased to be working with a great groups of talented people on the project, and you can find out more about them on the Partners page. New ideas are springing up all the time so to explore some of these, and to generate some content, I've started a YouTube channel. The first thread I will be investigating is 'Cloud Studies', which is a response to the fact that Constable spent several summers just painting clouds in order to perfect his techniques. So in the coming months I'll be making some audio/visual versions of my own in the Dedham Vale so please keep an eye out for them. The first one is up now featuring the tower of St.Mary The Virgin, Dedham, which featured in many of Constable's paintings.  My family at Flatford Mill in the late 1970's. After many years of planning and organising I'm very pleased to announce that Constable Ambisonic will be supported using public funding by the National Lottery through an Arts Council Project Grant. I'm over the moon that I can start work on the project in earnest and work towards its goals and activities. We've got some great project partners and I'll be sharing more information about them soon. In the mean time follow us on socials @constableambisonic X
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AuthorField notes from Stuart Bowditch, an independent field recordist working on Constable Ambisonic. Archives
July 2025
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