A 'RED' day

I have lacked focus during my walks and there hasn't seemed any connection to the images I have come home with - so yesterday I decided to give myself a challenge - a word to focus on - I saw 'RED' (so to speak) !! As soon as I left the gate!

And then saw these!

The beautiful camellias just outside my front gate are quickly fading but other plants are just beginning!

Red really does SHOUT out in contrast to surrounding colours!
Can you see it? A faint blur in the sky - I just wasn't quick enough to capture the RED helicopter above!
Then a soft red!
And red in the most unexpected places!

Leaves turning a glorious red.......

Yes - I've finally seen the light

I wonder what tomorrow's word or colour will be!

Getting closer!

A couple of close ups of the etchings in my last post - click on the image to enlarge it further!

Aquatint tomorrow!

A new medium

My printmaking class started a couple of weeks ago and I have been learning etching. These are some of my first attempts based on some drawings of trees in Australia.............. and a dream!

First print was on cream heavyweight paper of a good quality - subsequent prints were made on proofing paper
I experimented with hard and soft grounds
The final print after 4 different grounds and now ready to add aquatint! Watch for the next post!

A long walk home

In this part of the world we have 100 inches of rain a year so when we have bright sunny days like today it is best to take advantage of it! I feel very privileged to be able to do this – I neglected the sorting, unpacking and general admin of moving into a new home  to start exploring my locality! I took a local bus to Tavistock my nearest town and then walked home……….

7 miles  (11 kms)

I started here in the park where lots of families were enjoying the sunshine  and catkins and spring blossom were showing their splendor

I felt buoyant and full of the joys of spring!! 

Once out of town I arrived on Roborough Downs

these ponies roam wild in this area and on nearby Dartmoor – I love the stocky ones with short stubby legs, gentle eyes and shaggy manes!

and the elegant white ponies (maybe this is a unicorn!)

 

there were some perfect stones where I could sit and eat my cheese and pickle sandwiches!

A day of long shadows

 

Maybe a lunch time stopping place next time!

Or maybe here……………………….!

or at the aptly named ‘Double Waters’ where the Rivers Tavy and Walkham meet……………….

Across the old bridge…………….

And up another Devon county lane …..

I’m still fixated by trees! This time an English one!

And guess what else?

I fear I am repeating myself!

A perfect final resting point just 20minutes from home!

3 and a half hours and I was home to a well earned glass of wine and hot bath!

See you on my next ramble!

Celebration of LIFE…………

Last week a former colleague and friend died suddenly in his early sixties of a heart attack – it was a shock as he was seemingly healthy and robust! Bryce Taylor a Co-Director at the Oasis School of Human Relations was one of those people you are glad to have known in your life. He was full of life, a bear hugging man who always had time for you – he played a significant part in my own personal development and was forever working on his own! He helped and supported me (and many many others) through several of life’s crisis’s.

Today was his funeral – 1 April and April Fool’s Day – and I feel sure he was laughing as he always knew the importance of THE JOKER!!! I could not attend the funeral 300 miles north of my new home in Devon so I went to one of my favorite beaches at Wembury.

and of course Bryce  being Bryce and having a special spiritual connection ordered SPECIAL weather – in a week of wintery cold, wet rainy days the SUN shone, the birds sang and I felt blessed to be alive! It was truly a beautiful and peaceful way to remember what Bryce had given me and to indulge in my memories of him

 

I built a cairn of stones (each one a memory added to the next) where the tide would take it away later in the day!

 

I collected some heart shaped stones and placed them around the base along with a cross of 2 stones.

Some seaweed for writing – again to be washed away by the tide

 

A pinkish heart stone placed on some black burnt charcoal found on the beach…………

It felt good, right and even joyful to say goodbye to Bryce in this way………

I then walked on along the beach and rocks looking for something as a memory of the day and Bryce himself – this is what I found

the markings on this driftwood are beautiful and I remembered the time in a group facilitation session with Bryce using a Native American talking stick (whoever holds the stick cannot be interrupted while they are talking to the group!) - so guess what I will be using it for?

GOODBYE BRYCE – R.I.P.

Tomorrow I move into my new home – SO - a beginning and an ending!