Craigellachie: walking above Thunder in the Glens

The Cairngorms in Scotland is my holiday destination for my final week before the start of the school year, and today I decided to visit Aviemore to get some walking ideas.  I had been wondering about the large number of motorbikes on the road up here, and it turns out that Aviemore has been hosting a huge Harley Davidson bash - Thunder in the Glens - over the past few days.  So my walk around Craigellachie was accompanied by the sounds of engines revving, and several different covers bands. Not the usual sounds you associate with a walk around a nature reserve!

I was taken by the heather covering the forest floor: purple in the green. 

Ferns add fire to the purple in the green.

   

Nearly at the summit.

My descent was marked by a swarm of midges, which attacked me at the summit and a mass exodus of tiny frogs, which were making a dash from the forest.

Sharing the path with tiny frogs.

After spotting a deer in the ferns, there was a moment to pause by the water.

Clouds reflected in the water.

Wall Studies at Restormel Castle

Back in June I ventured out to Cornwall for a week's camping and also to visit the Eden Project to see PJ Harvey perform her new album.  I stayed in Lostwithiel, a wonderful little Cornish town, nestled in amongst hills within the River Fowey valley.  Just outside the town is Restormel Castle, a 12th century castle commanding views across the River Fowey and beyond.

While at the castle I was reminded about a quote from Leonardo daVinci  about studying walls and stones a while ago, and then found this article expanding on the idea.  So I decided to photograph my own little studies.  It's amazing the colours, textures, and tiny worlds that exist in such a small space!

Wall Study 1

Wall Study 2

From Minehead to Simonsbath

My spirit lifted as I entered Minehead, Pip and I pleased to see Stuart and Michelle.  It didn't matter that it was my birthday, those days of celebration have passed me by. I worked out that last year I was unceremoniously dumped on the eve of my birthday, and the two years before that conned into ending my celebrations early for the sake of a lie. Birthdays are really just another day.

On Tuesday Pip and I made our way to Simonsbath; the vivid colours of Exmoor in the Autumn taking my breath away. I drove slowly and let the full tilt Range Rovers pass. 

Simonsbath was awash with colour and new life under the beech leaves.

Every now and again I'd catch the scent of the greening moss, eventually through exploring, the perfume covered my hands.  Pip was in his element, taking the lead on the leaf strewn path.

Over the moor I caught a glimpse of a stag, but too far away to take a photo.  We ended  our walk with a view of the River Barle. 

Spring in October

Spring in October

The October rain
Transforms the browning moss
Into a carpet of veridian.
Draped over twigs and branches
And dripping, moisture soaked,
Releasing a sweet, earthy scent
I carried throught the forest.

The October rain
Wakens the browning moss,
Which yawns and stretches
Over twigs and branches,
Blanketing the trees with veridian.
The spring, collecting mossy drops,
Trickles over clay soaked stones,
Weaving through the ferns and moss,
Releasing a sweet, earthy scent
I carried through the forest.

Haiku from Simonsbath

The October rain

Transforming the browning moss

To veridian 

Tick, Rocked

Half term and I'm embarking on a journey. My starting point was London and spending the night at my Grandfathers where the resonating sound is the ticking of a small clock next to my bed.  

Re-aligning through the mediums of water and paint

Here's the thing, I haven't been able to carve for over two years now - carvers block.  There are personal reasons for this, too personal to air in public, but also I'm living away from the sea, and the sea and the flotsam and jetsam that rolls up on the shore, are my inspiration. It may be a while before I find myself living in the right place for me to start carving again, and this is something that I've not fought, just accepted, that for the time being I won't be producing any carvings.  At some point this will change, but I'm not going to force that, it just is the way it is.

But there has to be an instead right?! 

For over a year I haven't once picked up my camera, plugged in my printer, checked my website.  I've been in a kind of stasis.  Shocked at the loss of the sea, shocked at the grey, drab, muddy mess that the Cotswolds become during Autumn and Winter. A year ago, I picked up the Christmas present my parents gave me from a few years back, a set of Chinese paintbrushes, books and inks, and this started a shift in my creativity, it lasted for a while, but the cold of the winter took hold and I stopped.  

Then this new year, I finally got my camera out, dusted it down, plugged in the battery, and even downloaded the few photos I had on there onto my laptop.  I went to Cornwall for New Years with Pip, and the beauty of that landscape caught me. My camera, however continued to disappoint, I just couldn't capture the views I wanted to.  

Fast forward to this summer, and a trip up to Scotland, Anstruther.  I took up with me a small sketchbook and pencils, a sketchbook I hadn't opened for over three years.  It was a bit of a revelation to see sketches I had forgotten, some pretty good.  So while in Scotland, with my annoying camera, I started to think about capturing the beauty in a different way. And I came across this amazing bookshop in St Andrews.  A bookshop where they offer you free coffee, a bookshop so rammed full of books, I thought I'd never leave. And there I found a book which made me feel excited, it made me feel something again about being creative, it made me plan for setting up.