Perthshire May 2012 sketches - Woods

Sketches of woods / during woodland walks during our fortnight in Perthshire 12th - 25th May 2012. Mainly pencils / pens / water soluble pastels; sometimes watercolour washes; usually an A4 sketchbook, working across two pages for the larger ones.

The steep sided gorge of Glen Garry below Killiecrankie, 15/05/12. Circular walk from Pitlochry, taking in the  Rivers Tummel and Garry, Loch Faskally. I was struck by the inky dark water of the river Garry here.

Rocks at St.David's Well, Weem Rock, 21/05/12. Our second visit to Weem Wood, near Aberfeldy and Castle Menzies. Rock mainly low-grade metamorphic psammites etc. Here, I was taken with the line of darker rock cutting across the bedding planes. It looked like a dyke (igneous intrusion). It was acting as a conduit for water to percolate through the rock, down to the pool at the bottom. Views from the well of the Tay and Aberfeldy. Some lovely trees in the wood, as well as stone carvings of dragons and gruffalo-like creatures.

Weem Wood near Aberfeldy and Castle Menzies, 21/05/12. Our second visit. Weather warming up and beginning to feel sticky, so shade from the trees very welcome. Spring was later here than down south, so the greenery of the leaves / plantlife was very fresh; bluebells still flowering. 

Birnam Wood along the River Tay below Dunkeld, 23/05/12 - my other half as foreground. A very pleasant, shady walk on a very hot day, with highs of about 27C. Not far from here, the Tay cuts through the Highland Boundary Fault; other than the countryside becoming tamer / hilly rather than mountainous, I couldn't see any obvious sign of it along the river.

Another view of the River Tay from Birnam Wood, carving names in  tree trunks apparently popular here - some dating back to at least 1982.

Yellow poppies in the Birks of Aberfeldy woodland. A short woodland walk on the last day of our holiday. Again welcome shade from the heat in the woods. Bluebells still flowering.

Stone carving, Weem Wood - the eye of a graffalo-like head, a griffin a bit further along the path.

 

York and Berwick-upon-Tweed, May 2012

Sketches of the River Ouse, York and along the River Tweed in and around Berwick-upon-Tweed, May 2012. During a four day YHA-based trip on the way to Scotland. Very changeable weather: Sunny and fairly warm in York. Chilly in Berwick. A wet day on the Thursday, but better on the Friday. Media - pencils, pens, water soluble pastel in A4 cartridge paper sketchbook.

The reflective River Ouse, sketched just above the Lendal Bridge on the morning of 9th May, while walking from the YHA at Clifton into the city centre,  before catching the train north to Berwick-upon-Tweed. Though the river was calm during my overnight stopover in York at the beginning of the our holiday, it had been in flood the week before, following heavy rain. After more rain on Thursday 10th, it was on flood warning again. This went to show how quickly the river can rise after heavy rain in the Pennines. Upstream, the Ouse river system is called the Ure, with the Nidd and the Swale being tributaries.

View through the window on the top floor of the Granary, Berwick-upon-Tweed, looking east towards the sea.  As well as the recently opened YHA, it houses an art gallery and a cafe. 

The Royal Border Bridge, Berwick-upon-Tweed, 09/05/12. Sketched on my arrival at Berwick-upon-Tweed, viewed from the town wall. Earlier in the day, I crossed the viaduct on the train, a landmark on the London-Edinburgh line.

View of the River Tweed through a window at the Granary, Berwick-upon-Tweed, 10/05/12.

Another view of the Tweed from the Granary, looking across the river to Tweedmouth. Sketched on a very wet Thursday (10th May). After a short walk along the river in the morning and lunch in a cafe in the town, I returned to the YHA in the afternoon, just as the rain  was getting heavier. It was great to have access to the YHA during the day, with plenty of space in the top floor self-catering dining area to knuckle down to artwork and chill out.

River Tweed above the Royal Border Bridge on Friday morning (11th).  A big improvement on the day before weatherwise; though it was still and cloudy and showery. The River Tweed was very fast flowing and rough, particularly around the bridges, following rapid run-off of the rain in its catchment in southern Scotland. Saw some herons, comorants and oyster catchers along the banks of boulders and wooden debris washed down the river.

Woodland on a hillside along the Tweed above Berwick, 11/05/12.

River Tweed above Berwick, 11/05/12. A low lying, very damp field, with small creek, by the tidal estuary. 

View of the Royal Border Bridge, looking the opposite way along the river to the above view, 11/05/12.

View of the breakwater at the mouth of the River Tweed, 11/05/12, after LS Lowry. The noticeboard on the left, is one of several around the town for the Lowry train, showing the paintings and sketches he did around the town in the twentieth century. Unfortunately, the breakwater (pier) was closed for maintenance work, restricting the coastal perspective I had during my stay at Berwick-upon-Tweed.

North Norfolk - some artwork

Here are some images of paintings I have been working on during the second half of October 2011, following holiday in North Norfolk.

They are all mixed media.

Top - North Norfolk Landscape - Saltmarshes, near Burnham Overy Staithe. 36cm x 16cm. Acrylic on collaged mountboard.

Centre - Holkham Sands - Acrylic paper, 39cm x 20cm. Painted on collaged mountboard.

Bottom - Hunstanton cliffs - 42cm x 29cm. Reusing acrylic paper primed with gesso. Cliff line taken from another painting of and stuck down with acrylic matt gel medium.

North Norfolk - October 2011

8th - 15th October 2011

Based just inland from Cromer and Sherringham.

On the Sunday afternoon, went into Cromer, to see the Geology gallery at the museum, then the cliffs. Nearer the town, soft, unconsolidated Pliocene and early Pleistocene deposits (Crag Deposit) overlain with boulder clay, leftover from the Anglian Glaciation, about 480,000 years ago. A bit further west along the beach, the Chalk appeared. This underlies the whole of Norfolk, an extension of the Chalk line from the Chiltern Hills. Inland Norfolk, away from the saltmarshes along the coast, wasn't flat, though the hills were diminutive, all under 100m. This was probably due to ice action during the Anglian Glaciation.

On Monday - walked along the coast between Cley-next-the-Sea and Blakeney. Views of Cley windmill. Three art galleries: The Flint and Quay galleries in Blakeney. Then, on the way back, the Birdscapes Gallery at Glandford: Society of Wildlife Artists Printmakers.

Tuesday - Bus from Holkham to Burnham Deepdale. First half of the walk good, interesting view of saltmarsh and, where the land had been drained and cultivated on the other side of the embankment path, fields and drainage ditches lined with bullrushes. Flocks of birds taking periodically from the fields added interest. Grey cloud coming in over the sea / from the NW. Made for striking lighting as we walked to Burnham Overy Staithes. But then, as we left B-O-S in the early afternoon, it turned to drizzly, but persistent rain. This spoilt the second half of the walk along the estuary, over the sand dunes and along the Holkham Sands.

Thursday - Hunstanton - some unusual Chalk cliffs.

Friday - Walked from Wells-next-the-Sea to Burnham Overy Staithes. Dry and bright, best day weatherwise. Good to see the Holkham Sands in the sunshine.

Weather very mixed; better towards the end, though the wet day during the middle of the week was useful for doing some more thorough artwork at the cottage, after lunch in Holt. Downer was, when it was cloudy, there was that Novemberish feeling of the light going and things generally winding down in the afternoon.

A very birdy area. Certainly added interest to the coast, and the artwork we saw. Not so sure about the pheasants near the cottage: scared one in the garden one morning and CC.Eng narrowly avoided hitting one as we began heading home on the Saturday.

Yorkshire Dales May 2011

Saturday 21st May – Cloudy, dry

Bus from Arnside to Kendal where met CC.Eng. Drove to Hawes and Simonstone.

Sunday 22nd May – Some brief spells of sunshine and interesting lighting on the fells etc, but frequent, inconvenient heavy showers.

Hawes, rising rivers and becks.

Monday 23rd May – Mainly very wet, particularly AM.

Farfield Mill arts and crafts, Sedburgh bookshops

Tuesday 24th May – Drier than yesterday but still very showery. One very heavy, thundery shower.

Walk in upper Swaledale near Muker and Keld. Waterfalls. Swale living up to its reputation as the fastest flowing river in England.

Wednesday 25th May

Broken cloud, brightest day of Yorkshire week.

Ribblesdale and Pen-y-ghent – quarries, geology / unconformity. Lenticular clouds. Views from top. Horton-in-Ribblesdale – Pen-y-ghent Cafe – pint size tea. Post-glaciation change in course of River Ribble.

Thursday 26th May

Increasingly wet through the day. Got the River Swale walk in, but once again found ourselves sheltering from the rain near the river.

Friday 27th May

Cloudy, mainly dry, but cold in wind, especially for late May, therefore good walk, but disappointingly couldn't linger long to sketch and take in the views.

Buckden Pike and upper Wharfedale. Views of Three Peaks.

Saturday 28th May – Travel home by car, journey along M6 somewhat an anticlimax and shock on the system after quiet second week in the Dales.

Arnside and the Kent Estuary - 19th / 20th May 2011

Train to Arnside from Liverpool Lime Street on the Thursday, Kent viaduct, though closed for engineering work, the men in orange hi-vis jackets, along with their digger stood out when viewed from the village waterside. Tide when I arrived racing out. Two nights at Arnside YHA. Friday cloudy but mainly dry. Short walk south along the estuary sketching. Didn't go too far, given the timing of the tides, path being close to, or bit below the high water mark. Knew the tides here and all round Morecambe Bay need big respect. A tide table, thankfully by the pier at Arnside. Just after noon, the coastguard siren sounded, "nobody sleeps here". Then again about half an hour later. Within minutes of the second one, the flood tide was racing in. In the afternoon, took to higher ground on Arnside Knott. Superb view from there along the estuary to Morecambe Bay and west to the Lake District Fells as far as Skiddaw.

Chester and the Dee - 17th May 2011

Travelled to Chester by train from Liverpool. My first visit for more than twenty years. Recognised the clock tower and Roman Amphitheatre when I came to them. Walked the Medieval city wall and by the Dee.

Liverpool and the Mersey - 16th - 19th May 2011

Travelled to Liverpool Lime Street by train from Southampton, changing at Birmingham New Street, on the Monday. Three nights at YHA Liverpool, situated near the redeveloped Albert Dock. Monday and Tuesday a bit damp / wet - Mersey drizzle = Mizzle, but fulfilling afternoon on the Tuesday looking round the Walker Art Gallery.

On the Wednesday, I took the train to Chester, more about that city in a separate entry. On the way back, diverted to New Brighton and came back on the Mersey Ferry.

Northwest England - May 2011

The following set of entries are about our holiday last month (May 2011).

The CC.Eng headed off to Scotland for a week during mid-May. Climbed 11 Munros, despite some wet, sometimes wintery weather. I meanwhile, had a fulfilling yha based few days for in northwest England. Visited Liverpool and the Mersey for the first time; Chester after a gap of more than twenty years. During three days in Liverpool I looked round the developed docks, visited the Maritime Museum, Tate Liverpool and the Walker art galleries. Took the train to Chester where I walked the city wall. By the Dee, strong incoming tidal current, where I hadn't been expecting it (on the Mersey, yes). Afterwards, I took to the train to New Brighton, on the north side of the Wirral, at the mouth of the Mersey. Walked from there to Seacombe, enjoying the views across the river to Liverpool during a fine sunny evening. Took the famous ferry across the Mersey to Pier Head.

After the urbanised, industrial Mersey, the Arnside, with the Kent estuary, was a pleasant contrast, albiet with the Morecambe Bay tidal regime which needs big respect. Superb views over the estuary and Lake District Fells from Arnside Knott.

On the Saturday (21st May) took a bus from Arnside to Kendal to meet up with my other half coming down from Scotland. Then had a week in the Yorkshire Dales together, based near Hawes. There exchanged rapid tidal estuaries for temperamental Pennine Rivers.

Weather – overall very mixed. Wet at times, particularly in Yorkshire, but cooler, therefore more comfortable than it has been down south lately. Unsettled weather made for dynamic skies. Refreshingly high and lively rivers.

Southern Cornwall March 2011

A week at Penwarne Lodge, a very comfortable cottage near Falmouth, 25th - 31st March 2011. Booked for the week of the Chief Chartered Engineer's big birthday. Walks along the coast into Falmouth; Rosemullion Head and the Helford River area; Mullion and Kynance Coves, The Lizard.

Photos of Falmouth Dock, Lizard Lighthouse, Mullion Cove and waves crashing on rocks offshore near The Lizard.