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A slow way to connect with wild places and attend to the wildness in you
Into the Deep Woods is a place to explore and celebrate the wild — both the creature-filled woods and hills, and the ever-creative, ever-transforming life within us. We’ll come face to face with bears, kingfishers, swifts, and foxes, but mostly we’ll learn how to slow down and attend to the land around us. We live in an age of distraction, of exploitative demands on our time, and constant pressures that pull us away from the things that feed us — literally and metaphorically. This is a space to reconnect.
Have you ever visited a place humming with life — with birdsong, ancient trees, the scent of the ocean or wildflowers; a place overarched by whirling clouds or stars — and somehow not been able to feel it? I have, hundreds of times. The demands of the day-to-day, the constant inner chatter, the pinging smartphone — all interrupt us and take us away from where we really are.
I’ve learned, over decades, how to quiet these distractions and reconnect with the land around me. Not wilderness — you don’t have to go to a national park. You can retrain your attention in your own backyard. My way is an artist’s way, but it’s not exclusive to artists. It’s simply a way of attending to what’s really there, everywhere.
What you’ll find here are short meditations on the wild community we’re all a part of, and simple practices to help deepen your connection to it (and to yourself). You’ll be wandering into the deep woods, finding a little peace.
Paid subscribers receive a free e-book of essays, a printable artwork and a discount on my prints and publications.
About Me
I was born in a busy city in England, into a mining family. My bedroom overlooked the pithead of a large colliery. My people weren’t too interested in woods or words — they were in the business of survival.
It took me 35 years to find my own connection to the wild, and I’ve been practicing it ever since (I’m 60 now).
I’m a writer and artist, a teacher, and a lover of wild things. My writing has been published in literary journals and magazines, as well as mainstream publications like National Geographic and The Scotsman. My paintings have featured in exhibitions, on book and magazine covers, and as stage sets. I’ve been interviewed on radio and podcasts, and by academic institutions. I’m a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. I’ve given talks, readings, and workshops at universities, bookshops, and galleries. I’ve made films, been nominated for — and won — awards.
But that doesn’t tell you who I am . . .
I’m a father, a son, a husband, a brother, and a friend. I love dogs, horses, slow boats, blueberries, clotted cream, Staffordshire oatcakes, hibiscus flowers, the colour teal, crackle glazes, and Indian ink. I walk a lot and spend as much time as I can staring at stars, rivers, seas, and trees.
I can’t imagine living in a world without kingfishers and robins, salmon and lionfish, red admiral butterflies and luna moths. This is who I am. It’s a pleasure to meet you.
About This Community
Into the Deep Woods began as a weekly slow story for a few friends. Since then, nearly 200 pieces have settled in the archive, and the community has grown to over 3,000 readers. Each week, I publish a post exploring wonder, wildness, and deep places, written from the borderlands of Wales and the quieter edges of the British Isles.
This is a gathering place for those who seek a slower way, who are drawn to mystery, and who want their lives to be nourished by giving deeper attention to their surroundings.
If you choose to become a paid subscriber, you’ll be stepping a little further into the woods. You’ll receive deeper practices, more personal reflections, and guided ways of reconnecting with place — not as an idea, but as a lived relationship.
Your support sustains this work. It allows me to keep tending this space with care, and to keep the door open for others who are just beginning to wonder.