I’ve been to Paradise
But I’ve never been to meee. God I hate that song!
But I do love Paradise, and I have been - in fact I have just come back from a whole week walking the Pembrokeshire Coast with my friend Karen Sillar (fantastic Printmaker and self confessed birder). Staying in the Farmhouse Retreat just outside St Davids we planned a week of exploring and sketching the coastal paths that we missed last year and booked a day trip to the Island of Skomer where we were promised a Puffin fix. Without wanting to miss anything out in my ‘review’, I can honestly say that the day on Skomer was the most magical time I have ever experienced. The island was covered in a carpet of Bluebells, and Pink Campion and the pathways that take you around and through the different areas each had their own species of bird to spot and flora to enjoy. With the weather having been so warm the display was spectacular and judging by the size of the lenses attached to the cameras on keen photographers on the boat there will be some amazing photos appearing on various Instagram accounts!
The aim of the trip was to both wind down AND recharge the creative batteries and I wanted to try some new techniques after taking the Sam Boughton abstract landscape sketching course. The idea is to react to what is in front of of you, not just by recording what you see, but also what you feel, using the energy of the marks to give your sketch vitality. I started by timing each sketch staying no more than a minute in each place and ended up sketching and walking. Obviously I made it back home to write this post so didn’t fall off the cliff edge whilst practicing this technique! Admittedly though it is wise to make sure the ground is good and hazard free when practicing this! We picked one of the lanes up to the path at St Justinians and only had the odd passing car to contend with. I sketched using an A5 sketchbook and a Lyra graphite stick and ended up with some really interesting sketches which I hope to use as a starting point for future paintings.
Having averaged 17,000 a day it meant that our intended art activity was mostly contained to our sketchbooks, but we did manage to get the paints out and play, and although nothing of note was produced that will ever see the scrutiny of the public gaze, it did give me some ideas and colour palettes for new work! Hoorah to that!
Have you been somewhere that left you inspired? Let me know in the comments…I need recommendations for next years trip! :)
