Making connections & something about the #Thames!

It's astonishing how art makes you make connections. I'm not just referring to the networking kind that is a fundamental requirement for artists.

I thought it would be a good idea to start a 'conversation' about Hadleigh Art Trail 2013 not just through this blog but via Twitter. So I created @HATrail on Twitter last week - I liked that it has 'HAT' and the word 'Trail' but it's also somewhere to hang your hat (a hat rail!) but in hindsight it does sound a bit like a travel company - oh well. Tentatively I tweeted a few 'hashtags' #HadleighArtTrail #EssexSummerofArt and then #HAT2013 - almost by return I had my first 'follower'.

'Henley Arts Trail' is now following you, I returned the favour of course! Immediately followed up with a "thanks for following" and offers of sources of help for our Trail. It turns out Henley Arts Trail 2013 is also using #HAT2013 which is where the connection was made.

Then it struck me - it is not just a # or the Trail format or even the art (or Arts) that connect us but also the River Thames! Here we are in Hadleigh overlooking the mouth of this mighty river but follow the thread of the snaking Thames on a map toward its source and you will arrive at Henley, near Twyford and beyond Marlow.

So art connects us, art trails are a common denominator and the mighty Thames, as it turns out is our thread. All because of a little #.

Sue Willis
Hadleigh Art Trail Co-ordinator