As I’m not having an exhibition this year it’s been really nice just to play, and see where the mood takes me. Sometimes I have a notebook full of ideas and no time to do anything with them. So, with no particular aim in mind, I just really wanted to paint these!
My family has been going to Northumberland for Autumn half term for years now – it’s a tradition. Another tradition is the hat! I bought all three children a new hat the first year we went, expecting windy walks along the beach. Daisy chose the monster hat and christened it ‘Death’. It was a good hat for stomping and sulking in. Death has been with us every time since, even though he’s a little small now. And she doesn’t stomp and sulk anymore – in fact she did her very best to humour me when I woke her for the sunrise last Autumn.
I find the short days very difficult and go into a bit of a panic when the clocks go back. I feel the need to get all the daylight I possibly can, which annoys the teenagers who’d prefer a lie in. Every morning in Norhumberland I got up to watch the sunrise on Beadnell Bay, and then run to either Football Hole Beach, or on to Embleton Bay. Running on the wet sand is like running in the sky and I look forward to it every year. I mean – just look at it!
Some days I’d end up on Embleton Beach twice in a day. Once alone in the morning, and again with flasks of tea for treasure collecting with everyone. Robin called in ‘Treasuring’ when he was small, and the name stuck. He’s like me in that he’s always on the lookout for something. Daniel laughs at Robin and I on the beach. As soon as we’re on the sand we’re both heads down and searching. ‘You’ve assumed the position’ he laughs. This year the new treasure was seaweed!
Previous years have been colourful string and shells with holes in (to thread as we walk) and beach glass. And one year a perfect seabird skull. For my birthday last year a friend bought me a seaweed press and it opened up a new world of pattern possibilities.
In the early morning I liked the way the windows on the beach huts shone gold in the sun, with the massive Dunstanburgh Castle appearing ethereal in the distance. From visiting in previous years I know it’s like that scene with the knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail; you walk and you walk and you never get any closer.
Another favourite spot in the other direction is the Monks House, which lies between Seahouses and Bamburgh. On another bright day (we were spoiled for bright days last year) we drove to Bamburgh and walked back to Seahouses for Fish and Chips so we could walk them off on our way back to the car. The shorter day and the incoming tide meant a bit of a race with the incoming tide and sun going down.
As we approached the houses I thought I saw a murmeration. There were two flocks of birds swirling around each other. The light caught the wing tips though and they appeared silver, so they can’t have been starlings (therefore not a murmeration, which is a pity as it’s such a beautiful word). Some kind of seabird I think, but smaller than gulls. I didn’t photograph it as I though it better to just watch. But I planned my picture as soon as I got back to the house.
My drawings are always rough and a bit wobbly. Usually I’m drawing fast because of the cold or because I’m being left behind! I like to draw the movement of the waves and often end up with wet feet. I’ve been developing some of the waves drawings this week. Some Cleveland Way waves, and some Northumberland waves!
This one is in need of a title because I can’t call it Murmeration. Let me know if you’ve any ideas! I’m proofing them tomorrow with Rob the printmaker and then they’ll be all ready for Hebden Bridge Open Studios in a couple of weeks! I’m opening my Linden Mill Studio on July 4th, 5th and 6th.
Leave a Reply