Dartmoor...dimly seen...

We drove across Dartmoor today, straight through the middle, stopping off whenever the sun emerged to try to capture the lovely light and colour. We lost track of exactly where we were... But I remember the names Two Bridges and Princetown.

Anyway, it was bitterly cold.

But the colours were straw, burnt heather, slate, pewter, sage, powder blue...

Worth it I think.

'Mysterious Dartmoor, dimly seen and prized for being distant and untrod...' Carrington, the Dartmoor Poet

 

'Behold the Sea'

Had an all too brief day by the sea today... Constantine, Trevone and Polzeath. Here are the waves....

Behold the Sea,

The opaline, the plentiful and strong,

Yet beautiful as is the rose in June,

Fresh as the trickling rainbow of July;

Sea full of food, the nourisher of kinds,

Purger of earth, and medicine of men;

Creating a sweet climate by my breath,

Washing out harms and griefs from memory,

And, in my mathematic ebb and flow,

Giving a hint of that which changes not.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Leaf

I am reading Wildwood by Roger Deakin... Lovely book. It prompted me to look back over my photos, lifting out all the leaves.

He describes how the canopy of leaves filter the light and are like little windows in themselves. I can remember that sort of feeling, looking up at the thousands of lime green droplets, different shapes and sizes, each one a window, letting in a kind of vivid living light.

I love leaves. Just starting to see new ones emerging.

'Once inside a wood, you walk on something very like the seabed, looking up at the canopy of leaves as if it were the surface of the water, filtering the descending shafts of sunlight and dappling everything.'

Roger Deakin, Wildwood

 

Galmpton Quay

Enjoyed painting this afternoon...

We walked last week from Greenway to a little place called Galmpton Quay, and the view over the water was very quiet, cold and calm. The colours were January colours, with that after-rain thin, sharp tone.

As always, I prefer the up close marks rather than the whole finished piece... Might have to let it grow on me.

Details are always more interesting in life.

 

The Great Door...

These are some close ups of pieces of glass that are Dart inspired.

Just finished reading 'The Wild Places' by Robert Macfarlane. What a great book, I read the last chapter slowly, didn't want to finish it! If you ever long for a reconnect with nature, the wild... Or just love reading about trees or the beach or birds.... This is the book for you.

It made me think about why I want to be in quiet places. What is it about solitude and the earth itself that is restorative? Where does it take me? Who am I connecting with? Where does the 'great door' lead?

'As you sit on the hillside, or lie prone under the leaves of the forest, or sprawl by a mountain stream, the great door, that does not look like a door, opens...' (Stephen Graham, quoted by Robert Macfarlane)

Part of the out working of being in beautiful places where nature still has the upper hand, is the work... A small thing.