Category: Holidays

Over hills and dales

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Holidays, Week in Review

For my birthday, my fella took me to the Yorkshire Dales. We stayed in a beautiful hotel on the Bolton Abbey Estate, a place I chose because it is near the Strid, which is relevant to a future painting I have in mind.

This wasn’t our hotel but the remains of Bolton Abbey

The Strid is a section of the River Wharfe which is considered the most dangerous stretch of river in the world. It is said to have a 100% fatality rate for those poor souls who end up in it. It is also said to have earned its name from those with a fancy for daredevilry who attempt to leap or “stride” across its banks.

Such striding is possible because, despite the majority of the River Wharfe being 30ft wide, the Strid is a narrow 6ft channel of limestone rock that forces the mighty Wharfe through its stridable gap. Water prefers to stick together and go down, so instead of carving a wide expanse through the limestone, the waters of the Wharfe have carved out a crevasse to a possible depth of 60ft. As the water plummets and churns its way through the Strid, trillions of air bubbles strip away lifesaving buoyancy and cause a tumult so vicious that no tender-skinned, air-breathing creature that breaches its surface can survive.

There are numerous stories of people who have come-a-cropper in the Strid. The most famous being that of William de Romilly whose devouring by the Strid was immortalised by William Wordsworth.

This striding-place is called THE STRID,
A name which it took of yore:
A thousand years hath it borne that name,
And shall a thousand more.
And hither is young Romilly come,
And what may now forbid
That he, perhaps for the hundredth time,
Shall bound across THE STRID?
He sprang in glee,–for what cared he
That the river was strong, and the rocks were steep?–
But the greyhound in the leash hung back,
And checked him in his leap.
The Boy is in the arms of Wharf,
And strangled by a merciless force;
For never more was young Romilly seen
Till he rose a lifeless corpse.

The Strid is terrifying, and approaching it with your wits and the will to live is imperative. My fella and I paid two visits to this kelpie’s abode, and I have say I was mighty pleased when we left. It is a truly ominous place and seeing it will likely be one of those experiences I will never forget.

Another fascinating place we visited was Ingleborough cave. I’d never been in a cave before, so I was completely wowed by the experience. What a fascinating place. The cave, once solid rock, was carved out by water, which eventually found a different route through the limestone, allowing human navigation through the cave. I found being inside it truly inspiring, and will definitely investigate the phenomena of caves further.

We also visited was the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. It’s a massive area, and took us quite a while to walk around. To amuse ourselves we had competition to name the sculptures, from which my fella rose triumphant with this pearler: “Harea 51”.

The rest of our trip was mostly spent tootling around the Yorkshire Dales, stopping wherever took our fancy. It is indiscernibly beautiful, and being very lucky with the weather, we were able to see it to its best advantage.

Oh how the lowly have risen

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Holidays

Back in the day, when on holiday, I used to stay in places like this…

But thanks to my fella, I now stay in places like this…

This gorgeous place is the Fife Arms Hotel in Braemar, Scotland. My wonderful fella took me here for a 3 night stay last week, and they were by far the best 3 nights I have spent on the planet. Not only is the hotel an extravaganza of opulence and art, but the surrounding village and countryside are exceptionally beautiful.

Given that my fella and I are common folk, we were worried that the staff at the Fife Arms would think we were scratch-card winners. But that didn’t stop us lapping up the luxury like we were born to it. And, I have to say, I was surprised how quickly we adapted.

Every aspect of the hotel was sumptuous, from the décor, to the furnishings, to the amazing art on the walls, and in some cases, the ceiling.

My favourite place in the Hotel was the drawing room, which was particularly beautiful in the evening, with a roaring fire, divine cocktails, and the sweet sound of people playing board games.

My fella’s favourite place was by the Burns (as in Robbie) fireplace in the reception room. It was a highly coveted possie, and people often circled round to see if it was vacant. My fella managed to hold-fort there a couple of times, much to his satisfaction.

We were really lucky with the weather while we were there, and were able to roam around the village and the countryside…though not before stopping at the boot room to don our wellingtons…I say!!

Braemar is nestled in the Cairngorm mountains, next to the River Clunie, which runs into the River Dee close by. We took a lovely walk by the rivers on our first day, which was really wonderful. I especially loved the confluence between the Dee and the Clunie, given that a river confluence is at the heart of my research project for my masters.

Braemar is also home to the Highland Games. Although they weren’t on while we were there, we were able to visit the grounds where they are held, and partake in the try-outs for next year.

Each of the rooms at the Fife Arms is themed, and we stayed in one of the Poetry and Nature rooms – ours being dedicated to the Scottish poet and writer Nan Shepherd. Nan loved the Cairngorm mountains and wrote many poems about them. She also wrote a prose book about them, called The Living Mountain, for which she is best known. Not only did I buy her book (which is evocative and beautifully written), my fella and I also visited the little house (known locally as a bothy) she used to write in. That day, we had the choice of going to Balmoral Castle (which was nearby), or take a walk in the hills to Nan’s bothy. I am so glad we chose the latter.

Everything about our stay at the Fife Arms was wonderful. Naturally the best part was being with my beautiful fella. A close second was drinking White Russians in the drawing room, then eating dinner in a pleasantly drunken state, like all posh people do.

Yes, that is a Picasso on the far wall.

Everything seemed very dowdy and unspectacular when we got home, and we have been pining for the Highlands (and the Highlife) ever since. To console myself, I have been reading Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain book, and even made a video about her for The Wisdom Daily this week. To be honest, as beautiful as the Fife Arms was, I think I would be just as happy holed up with my fella in Nan’s bothy, provided there was a roaring fire, a steady supply of White Russians, and a turn-down service.

He did the deed!

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Drawing, Holidays, Week in Review

My fella has exceptional taste. Although my brother would argue this does not include women, it is most certainly true when it comes to jewellery. So much so, that when he popped the question last week, while proffering a bedazzling spectacle in a little grey box, instead of answering the question, I replied with a wide-eyed gasp “Is that for me?!”

So it is that me and my true love are now engaged, and I am the proud wearer of an exquisite sapphire and diamond ring that is like toting around the sea and stars on my finger. To be honest, he could’ve given me a ring made out of a pewter spoon (as his will likely be if I don’t start selling my paintings to someone other than him), because he is the smartest, funniest, kindest man I ever did meet. Plus, he knows all my secrets, so I better keep him close.

The past two weeks in the studio have been very productive. I am still attending my self-imposed drawing school, and am turning out illustrations by the many 10s. My favourite thing to draw are people I know (mostly my fella and my mum and dad). I like the naturalness of the poses and capturing little moments.

They aren’t portraits as such, and don’t always look like the person I am drawing. This is especially true when I began drawing them with bird heads. I really like the results and had a lot of fun drawing them.

Next weekend I have a Open Studio here at Anam Cara as part of the Isle of Man Art Festival. I’ll be showing old work and new, including the large Ann painting. I am really looking forward to it, especially spending time with the folk that venture all this way out in the woop woops. There’ll be cups of tea and my fella’s scones for those who make the trek.

Geoff Chooseday

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Drawing, Experiments, Holidays

After going out for 41/2 years, it suddenly dawned on my fella and I that in all that time we haven’t spent a day together where he’s chosen the day’s activities. This isn’t by fiat, rather a default position that goes something like this.

Me: What do you fancy doing today?

Fella: Whatever you fancy.

Me: Ok, lets go to a cemetery, stop off at a bog (as in sodden peat-rich ground, not loo), and visit a magic well.

Fella: Sure thing Kiwi Fruit (note how he separates the words).

This meant only one thing. It was high time for Geoff Chooseday. And what, with his new found power, did he choose? Not being waited on hand and foot and a Star Wars marathon (as I suspected). No, he chose making me breakfast (a nomelette to be precise, which is an extra tasty omelette), trimming the hedge (with me helping), and hosting a barbeque for our respective parents. He made a lot of people happy with his choosing, not just himself, cause that’s the kind of fella he is. Sure, it was no well visit, but our hedge looks amazing!

I had another enjoyable and productive week in the studio. This week I focused on drawing people sitting (a few examples below). I also bought some new watercolour paints (I use a Japanese brand called Kuretake), so was able to change the palette. The new paints are a range of blacks, which give the various colours a lovely muted tone, as seen the last 5 images. The paper I am using at this stage is just cartridge, hence why the paint looks a bit streaky. Still, it’s a lovely treat to add a bit of colour to the drawings, and it gives me my painting fix.

I have a new passion…bogs!

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Holidays, Painting, Week in Review

Not only have I developed a passion for bogs, I have also discovered the limit of my fella’s ability to enthusiastically support the things I love. That limit is bogs. That’s not to say he wasn’t prepared to watch an hour long documentary about them or drive me round the north looking for one I had read about, rather, there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm in doing so.

Having said that, there was one bog-related thing I showed him that he thought was pretty cool, and that is the Irish tradition of bog-jumping.

Bogs were important ritual sites in pagan Europe, and there’s many examples of sacrificial victims being deposited in them, to propitiate the gods in some sort of Spring ritual. Over 2,000 bog-bodies have been found to date, that’s because bogs are anaerobic (lacking oxygen), so the bodies are preserved, some remarkably so. I hope you’re not eating breakfast…

This poor fellow, known as the Tullond Man, suffered a triple death. A ritualised way of killing a person 3 times, which, if nothing else, would ensure the job was done. Personally, I’d rather end up a skeleton, than a shrivelled piece of old leather, so I won’t be opting for a bog interment. There’s many other fascinating things about bogs, but I’ll take the glazed look in my fella’s eyes when I mention them as a cue not to subject anyone else to my bog-trivia.

I continued drawing this week, mostly people, and although I’m not having the best fun in the studio, it is getting slightly easier each day.

I also painted here and there, though mostly just testing different techniques, rather than painting a whole picture. As with the previous week, I have been developing a lace-like water technique, with varying degrees of success. Here’s a couple from this week that I quite like. I particularly like the see-through effect.

Also, inspired by the bogs, I have added brown to my palette. Although I haven’t done much with it so far (as I have been concentrating on drawing), I really like it and think it will be a great addition.

It’s official, I’m a bird-bore with a rock collection!

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Holidays

That’s the conclusion my fella reached after I sent him the 5th video of my family of choughs (Kylie & Jason and their kids, Harold and Izzy) sitting on the foghorn. To be fair, they are freaking adorable – just look at Harold and Izzy peeping over the edge!

I also sent him several photos depicting different angles of my latest beach-rock find, which, according to a local expert (that expert being our friend Debbie, who likes a rock or two), is actually a fossil.

Isn’t it a beauty! I was beyond thrilled when I found it. I absolutely love spirals, and this one is glorious. The fact that it came from the sea makes it even more special. The spiral is the Celtic symbol for the sea, and I can’t help thinking if a local Celt had been walking on Cranstal beach 3000 years ago, and found this same rock, they would’ve been just as thrilled as me, and probably would’ve picked it up and taken it home too. And who knows, they may have even thought it held special meaning (as I also do), if not magical powers (a bridge to far for me, though you never know).

It had to happen sooner or later, I’m back on the Weight Watchers. Rock bottom this time was yesterday’s breakfast.

I spent most of my studio hours this week drawing. I don’t enjoy drawing as much as a I do painting, but not drawing limits what you can paint, so I am trusting the effort will be worth it. I mostly drew people, my favourite of which were a bunch of old ladies, a man-baby, and some buxom women who are perhaps not averse to cake and ice cream for breakfast either.

As a treat, I resumed painting this weekend, developing the lace-like technique I want to use in the paintings for my course project. I was happy with the results, and really enjoyed the process.

It’s a renter’s life for me!

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Experiments, Holidays, research paper

I have called some unique places home – a Kombi van, a disused ugg boot factory, a broom closet in a rundown theatre – but nothing compares to the one-of-kind magnificence of Anam Cara. I am utterly in love with this place and would gladly sell my soul for it. Unfortunately, no one’s in the market for a slightly jaded, long in the tooth ephemeral essence, so I won’t be possessing it anytime soon. Not that anyone can really possess a place like Anam Cara, it belongs to the sea, and the sea is coming for it. That’s what makes it such a beguiling place to live, its fragility in the face of the big blue wobbly thing.

Although I’d dearly like to stay here until I’m a little old-biddy without a tooth or sensible thought in my head (or until the wobbly thing is lapping at the front door, whichever comes first), it doesn’t belong to me, so I have to content myself with my apportioned time, which I’m thrilled to report has been extended for another year. That my apportioned time has coincided with doing my masters is a remarkable confluence of my heart’s desire, and I can’t ask for better than that!

It’s been a productive week in the studio. I finally started drawing figures, and discovered that the best time to draw them is when I am talking to my dearest friend, Lauren, in Australia.

These little figure-drawing exercises are very handy to do, as they get you used to human proportions and where to put everything to convey a given stance. It’s only now that I’ve uploaded them that I’ve realised that the middle picture looks a little risqué, that was completely unintentional…honest.

I also managed a figure painting this week. I particularly like the stance, which was referenced from a fashion model picture I found. It’s not perfect, but I like most of it enough to not meddle with it. It’s a good start, and gives me hope that if I keep practicing my figures over the summer, I’ll likely have some really good paintings at the end of it.

The perils of having a domestic goddess for a fella

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Experiments, Green, Holidays

I won’t have to pluck up the courage to ask my fella to extend my Weight Watchers subscription for another 3 months, he’s got eyes! I’d like to blame stress, but my fella’s Victoria sponge making ability and the jelly bean dispensing machine I have learned to break into are the real culprits. As always, sugar is my downfall, and when it comes with cream, light-as-air cake, and a knob-turning contraption, I can’t get enough! But when I bent down the other day and the button on my shorts went flying, I knew it was time to dust off my WW app once again – that time being next week of course.

My outdoor Anam Cara School of Drawing got off to a good start, but then the gazebo blew over and it started to rain, so I had to move operations indoors, which, for some reason, bought it all to a grinding halt. Instead, I painted cats all week.

When cats pop up in my paintings, it is usually a sign I am stressed about something. True to form, I did have an external stressor this week. Not that I mind painting cats, I love those fluffy little menaces, and painting them is a real pleasure, hence why I do it when I’m stressed. Here’s my favourite from this week.

As relaxing as painting cats is, I have a paper to research and write, and an indoor drawing school to attend, so I better start carving out some real time for these two must-dos, or I will have whittled myself to a nub by the end of summer with only stack of cat paintings to show for it – not the worst outcome in the world, but doing my masters is a one time deal and I want to make the most of it.

Let the good times roll!

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Holidays, Week in Review, Workshops

This week I reached the significant milestone of completing the first year of my masters. It is hard to believe how fast it has gone, but I have definitely made the most of every minute. I now have 3 whole months for summer break. That I get to spend the summer at Anam Cara is a gift beyond measure. Though it won’t be all lolling about, as I have my research paper to write, paintings to paint, massages to do, and sandwiches to make for my fella.

When we were first considering renting Anam Cara (aka paradise by the sea), I regaled said fella with visions of romantic strolls on the beach, and sandwiches. We’ve managed a few strolls, but he’s yet to see a sandwich. It’s time.

Speaking of walking on the beach. I made a few trips to the Point of Ayre this week, to visit Kyle, Jason, and baby Harold, and guess what, Harold has a sibling, Izzy. I wasn’t able to get a photo of all four of them together, but I did get this lovely shot of Harold.

On one of my treks to the Ayres, one of my jandals broke, but some good old Kiwi ingenuity soon fixed that. As good as my repair job is, their days of getting me to the foghorn and back are sadly over, so they shall now spend their retirement as my studio boots.

I’ve been painting my little heart out this week, and have made further progress. My favourite thing I painted was of Colin the long-legged guinea pig.

My last workshop for the year consisted of listening to Spanish poetry and drawing. I’d actually done the course in the first term, but it was so good, I decided to repeat it. I’m glad I did, as it was the perfect end to what has been a wonderful first year.

I’ve loved all the workshops I’ve attended this year, especially the drawing ones. They have helped me both loosen up and grow in confidence. So I don’t loose the momentum of the course over the summer, I shall be attending the Anam Cara School of Drawing. My idea is to spend my afternoons drawing en plein air (fancy for outside).

To aid me in my endeavour, my sweet-hearted fella bought me a gazebo, so I can sit outside to my heart’s content, even in the rain. Naturally, the gazebo will double as a drinking den in the evenings.

Home sweet home

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A bird sang me awake this morning. It was a lovely song and a lovely way to wake up. It made me think of how our lives intersect with other living things. How we witness each other’s existence. Whether momentarily or for long periods of time, we become part of each other’s story. It’s like Fonzi, he might not comprehend what I am, but, nevertheless, when he bobs past my house, he often sees a strange, upright creature standing on the beach looking at him. I don’t know what he makes of me, but I do know he’s curious about me, because whenever I turn around and make my way back towards the house, he comes in for a closer look. He responds to my presence, and I most definitely respond to his. We share time and space to together. It’s a beautiful thing.

As soon as I arrived back at Anam Cara and breathed the fresh sea air, I felt immediately better. Never has it felt so good to be home from London. There’s lots I love about the city, but even all those things together pale in comparison to this sweet corner of the world.

Spring arrived in my absence, and flowers and flying things abound. My favourite are the big fat bumblebees. I found one motionless on the doorstep the other evening. Darkness was descending and the rain was on its way, so I brought it inside and gave it some sugar-water, which it happily drank. I then played it some Miles Davis, which made it spring into life and start cleaning itself. Next I played The Who, but it went careening about the place, and seemed at risk of doing itself an injury, so we went back to Miles. Sadly, after our lovely evening together, the weight of living got the better of my little buddy, and it passed away during the night.

As well as enjoying all the creatures out here, including the horses that live next-door, and a pair of dolphins that swam idly by the other day (filling my heart with joy), I have been painting. During the Easter break, my primary artistic goal is to finish the Ann painting, which means working on it 8-9 hours per day. It’s an utter pleasure, and I couldn’t be happier. I have also begun drawing for 20 minutes each morning. The aim is not to draw realistically, but to draw expressively, in the hopes I will find my own style. This week I have been drawing horses, inspired by my beautiful neighbours.