Tag: Point of Ayre

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.

There’s a reason my nickname was dumb-Beck

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

My favourite uncle coined the name, not to be mean, but simply to describe what he saw in front of him – a little girl who regularly failed to comprehend the bleedin’ obvious. It was an affectionate nickname that also happened to be true, and now and then, continues to be so. Case in point, this week it finally dawned on me that if I want to paint bigger, I’ve got to draw bigger. Instead of doing this, I’ve been scratching out wee drawings in my wee sketchbook, hoping that when it comes time to paint on a big canvas I’ll magically be able to paint bigger.

Armed with this realisation, I gessoed (applied base paint that makes it easier to draw on) some A4 sheets of paper this morning, and rather than squishing multiple things onto a small page in my sketch book, I drew one thing on one sheet of paper. Currently, I am drawing hares, and I’m pleased to say, that drawing them 4 sizes bigger was no trouble at all.

I also decided to apply the same reasoning to the painting experiments. However, instead of painting a whole picture on big pieces of paper, I thought I would concentrate on painting particular elements on medium-ish pieces of paper (such as the eye below). The hope is to get better at the individual elements and eventually start piecing them together on ever bigger canvases. The great thing about drawing and painting larger things is, you can add more detail.

The weather on the Isle of Man this past week has been absolutely glorious, which has made being at Anam Cara nothing short of heavenly. My fella and I have been taking long evening walks to the Point of Ayre lighthouse, naming all the landmarks on the way, such as:

  • Speckled-ridge Highway (the pebbly beach leading to the lighthouse).
  • Smugglers Cove (a suspiciously abandoned jerrycan and buoy near the cliff edge).
  • Last Chance Rise (the last place you can leave the beach and ascend the cliff to the lighthouse).
  • Lovers Lookout (a discarded set on concrete steps that lead nowhere but provide a glorious vista looking back to the hills surrounding Ramsey).
  • Little Rock Cafe (a patch of ground between the heather that is scattered with little pebbles)
  • The Corryvreckan (a spiral like feature in the landscape that you have to circumnavigate, named after the Corryvreckan whirlpool off the west coast of Scotland, which, incidentally, George Orwell nearly drowned in 3 months before he finished 1984).
  • The Devil’s Garage (an abandoned concrete structure that looks like a car mechanic’s pit).
  • The Badlands (a wide, barren area with no vegetation but plenty of donut marks, of the car-wheel variety).

There’s other features too, but those are the main ones (or at least the ones I can remember). Naming them has made the walk a lot of fun, and it also makes me feel safer when I do the walk on my own, because if I come-a-croppa, I’ll be able to call my fella and he’ll know exactly where to find me. Though I don’t suppose telling emergency services that I’ve taken a tumble at the Devil’s Garage, between the Corryvreckan and the Badlands is going to be very helpful.

Walking in the Ayres is very inspiring, and I always have lots of painting ideas (most of which outstrip my current abilities, but I’m working on it). Having the walk right on my doorstep is, apart from meeting my fella, the most fortunate thing ever to happen to me.