New paintings and regular art updates.
It looks like a coastline with crumpled cliffs and a sandy, rocky beach below. But is that a tall building above the cliff? The scale is wrong. And why is the left side of the sky paler than the right hand side? Because this is actually a close up of an old window, the paint has come off the frame and the wood is dry and brittle. Photo taken a few years ago at Spode Works, Elanora street, Stoke upon Trent.
Well pretend. I was sitting in a freezing warehouse where an art group meets and it struck me that their theatrical group had constructed these trees for one production or another. About three meters high, they must have taken some building. The green leaves spread out as a canopy above visitors heads. It made me think of warm sand and gently lapping waves. Or benches and tables laden with cool fruit juices and melon, papaya or mango. That helped me feel a little warmer despite the cold of a freezing February evening.
Last year I had a day trip
Went to the coast
Of Wales
It rained on the way
And it was blustery
By the beach.
I went on a coach
Can’t drive that far
Anymore
One day away
My holiday
……
Someone asked a question on Facebook about posts sticking up through a beach in lines.
I have a relative at the coast and had wondered the same thing myself. I asked and found out that they were used to slow something called longshore drift. It’s where over time tides moving along the coast shift sands sideways. Groynes (boards) between the posts held the sand back and stopped the beach being washed away.
For years I drew seahorses on the sand
A holiday tradition.
He would watch while I drew
Happy in admiration
Sunny, bright days,
Soft sand
Holding hands.
I started doing this
30 years ago
Seahorses gallop into the waves
Dragging my memories
In the undertow
Last week I walked towards a beach
Did not step onto it
Did not pick up a stick and draw
Did not depict this watery creature
I don’t know if I ever will
Again….
Sand particles washed and blown
Away…
Has my tide turned?
I don’t know…
Describe one of your favorite moments.
It doesn’t have to be a tropical beach. Just a warm, sunny day. Sandals off, toes sinking slowly into damp sand. Little ripples in the sand mirroring the way the sea has moved over it’s surface. A flat beach, not steeply tipped, but shallow enough that the sea goes out a reasonable distance. Not too much seaweed on the beach, but enough to indicate the sea is healthy. Interesting seashells to collect, starfish and barnacles on the rocks or in rock pools.
I stand there, breathing in the ozone of the clear air. Thinking of all the other times I’ve visited. Memories of childhood eating ice-cream and paddling in the shallow sea. Looking back at the houses behind the coast road. Stalls to buy candyfloss or sticks of rock, and fish and chips that seagulls clamour for. Remembering the view of the hills in the distance. Thinking of having to catch a train home and wanting to stay forever, come rain or shine. Bright days, sunshine, coastal views, holidays, Heaven.
Sitting on a blow up bed, with a trowel for a paddle, my hubby a few years ago decided to paddle across a bay in Devon. I was standing on the beach wondering whether to jump in the sea and drag him home to shore!
Always adventurous, he managed to get back after twenty minutes. He did slide off the bed and kicked for shore. I admired his strength, as the off shore breeze had started to tug him out to sea for a while.
He was grinning happily when he came back up to me on the beach. He enjoyed being adventurous and I was just glad I hadn’t had to call out the coast guard!
I tried painting Jupiter’s pole in 2020 I think, from a photo taken by the Juno space probe. I was amazed at the colours that we saw. Not the oranges, whites and reds seen by the previous missions, but wonderful blue black and white swirls that are so difficult to capture. I saw this in my studio today and memories flooded back.
Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why?
Only because I’m not good at climbing. The worst walk I ever went on was a steep hill in the pennines. First the sole of one of my boots came unglued and started flapping around. We were only halfway up the hill. I solved it by tying it back on with my laces, but that made the bit round my ankle loose!
Then when we got to the top it was raining sideways and foggy. We sheltered behind the trig point at the top. This was two walls in a cross shape, so whatever direction the wind was blowing you could get out of it. When we decided to walk down we walked over the plateau at the top, only to find it was another side of the hill with a twenty foot drop and no path down!
Luckily we managed to find our way back across the top. By the time we started down the rain was making puddles on my glasses, the water was seeping through my coat, I was freezing cold and my boot sole was flapping about again….
That’s why I prefer beaches. Not lying on them, but exploring rock pools and caves. Visiting seaside cafes, and walking along coastal paths, as long as they aren’t at the top of cliffs!
On beach holidays I draw seahorses like this on the sand. I will use a stick to draw it out and sometimes use pebbles to decorate it. These drawings are ephemeral, disappearing on the high tide, tracked over by footsteps, lost in windblown sand. Seahorse is a half horse, half fish. I just draw, them for fun.
Mallaband-Brown