Natasha O’Connor

Before setting out on my Made in Roath adventure on Thursday, I made a small itinerary that listed the things I wanted to cover. Unfortunately, my phone is not high tech, I forgot to pack a GPS device or compass and I have approximately zero sense of direction. I am pretty familiar with Roath, having lived there for near on four years, but obviously not familiar enough. But JRR Tolkien wrote “not all those who wander are lost,” so, uh, yeah… I wandered around a bit.

But something really cool happened during my wanderings. I saw things! For a start, I saw lots of nice street art. Check out some examples below:

A long and rather hirsute man in a wizard hat/dunce cap acting all shifty, aided by a white rat.

Sort sort of mythical tryst (they gave their permission for the photograph to be taken).

A rather impressive heron.

I also stumbled onto Pen-y-Lan Road and The Bottle Shop. Seeing the welcome Made in Roath poster in the window (number 60 on your maps for those of you wondering), I headed inside to find the shop owner halfway up a step ladder and Natasha O’Connor overseeing the hanging of her work.

Recently graduated from Cardiff’s Metropolitan University, Natasha specialises in digital art which illuminates the unseen beauty in everyday places. You can find out more about her work here. Again, my photography is frankly insulting to the pieces, so get yourself to The Bottle Shop and see for yourself.

The only problem with The Bottle Shop is choosing something to drink…   

And this is only one wall. The apparently carry over 800 lines of beers, wines and spirits.

The moral of the story is to wander instead of being lost but, if you are truly lost, there are worse places than Roath during the MiR festival. Place your trust in serendipity.

- Jon