A beautiful day out, and some drawings

After my week in Scotland, I spent another 10 days in beautiful Dorset. We didn't do much, we were both tired and wanted to just simply relax and take it easy.

We did go on one long day out, though, to one of our most favourite places - Brownsea Island.

 Like last time we went, it was a glorious day, and there are many places, where you feel that you are somewhere completely different, somewhere in the Mediterranean instead of the English Channel.

Brownsea Island is the only place in Britain, apart from Scotland, where there are red squirrels, and they are one of the main attractions for people to visit.

It's easy to understand why, as they are such adorable little creatures.

We didn't see as many as last time, but we still got a few good shots.

The two that came to say hello were very obliging, and remained sitting on the branch and eating nuts long enough for us to take photos.

There are also lots of peacocks on the island, and they were very friendly too. A mum and her young even followed us all across a big meadow when they realised that we were having a picnic on the other side, to keep us company, and even followed us for a while when we finally wandered off.

The pheasant we saw later in the afternoon seemed a lot shier. He kept walking away and hiding when I tried to snap a photo. Until N, who was a about 50 meters away, got out a bag of nuts - and suddenly all shyness forgotten, the pheasant ran across the grass towards him, and even picked N's treats right out of his hand!

There are lots of chicken too. I was busy picking up feathers all day, and when I got my plastic bag out to put some more away, I suddenly found myself surrounded but dozens of chickens and peacock, running from all directions toward me, expecting a treat.

When leaving the island, instead of going straight back, the the boat takes a little longer tour all around Brownsea and between islands and back to Pool harbour. Another special treat after a great day on the island. Especially with an evening sky like this.

I haven't really gotten back into my studio since I got home from my holiday. I'm in a tidying up and getting rid of stuff mood at the moment, rearranging and reorganising things. Things tend to accumulate far too easily over the years and I find that it gets in the way of using what I actually want to use, and can end up not doing much at all. So the stuff that I don't use anymore has to go so that the materials I do use and want to use are ready and at hand. Some creatives work well in a chaotic studio, but personally, I prefer it if it's reasonably tidy. Which more often than not mine isn't. But I'm working on it...

I have done some drawing, though, and after the art week in Scotland, I'm especially drawn to the good old pencil again. I just love pencils - and I have far too many of them. Although, can one really have too many pencils?

An inspiring art retreat in Scotland, and a relaxing holiday in Dorset

I am back from a 2 1/2 week holiday, which included an inspiring one week art retreat in Scotland, a relaxing 10 days at the opposite end of the isle, in Dorset, and my so far worst journey ever. 

So to get the moaning out of the way, first: another unpleasant "joy of travelling by air" episode, the worst ever so far, even worse than the "June episode". After an inspiring week in Scotland, I was to fly back from Aberdeen to London on Saturday noon, and from there travel on to Dorset. I had booked my flight and my train ticket, and was looking forward to arrive in Dorchester by 8pm. At the check-in counter, I was then informed that the plane was full, and that since I hadn't checked in online earlier, there was no seat available anymore. What??? What about having booked my seat for that particular flight a good 4 months earlier, and having paid about £150 for that leg of the journey alone?? Didn't that count for something? Apparently not. Unfortunately, it seems that it is common practice for airlines to overbook flights and count on a quite substantial number of people not showing up. As it so happened, it was holiday season for many people, and pretty much every one showed up. As it turned out, the whole disaster had already started the night before. From Friday evening to Saturday afternoon, all flights were overbooked. The practice adopted by British Airways in this a case was come first serve first, and dozens of people, who, like me, hadn't been able to check in online the day before, found themselves stuck and unable to travel as planned. Long queues of people, their nerves frayed to pieces, stressed out, shaking, close to tears, their holidays ruined by this whole experience, gobsmacked that something like this could happen with what they had believed to be a "proper, decent" airline... At least I only had a train to catch in London, but there were many people with connecting flights on to the States, to Australia and other far away destinations, who didn't know if and when they were able to get to their destinations.

I was eventually booked to a much later flight than my original midday flight, spending 6 hours at Aberdeen airport. Wen I finally arrived in Heathrow, a member of staff at the bus information insisted that it was not possible to buy a combined coach and train ticket, and then, after I told him that I had indeed bought said combined ticket many times before at the central bus station in terminal 1-3, suggested I might want to go there to get one. I did not, as the central bus station is a good 5-10 minutes bus or train journey from terminal 5, where I was. Eventually I found my way to the National Express office at the very end of the terminal, where I obtained my combined bus and train ticket, pretty exactly at the time when the bus was due at 7.50. So another hour of hanging around and waiting at an airport. When I finally got on the 9pm train at Woking, it was packed with people of all ages, many of whom, it seemed, coming from a football match. It was not really a very pleasant journey after an already utterly unpleasant day of travel, and after changing coaches twice, I eventually found a seat where I felt comfortable enough for the remaining 40 minutes. I have never been gladder to arrive at Dorchester. At about 11.30pm, I finally dropped by bags ton the floor at Ns, utterly exhausted after a good 15 hours of travel. What a day.
This was my first time flying with British Airways, and most probably my last. I have absolutely no intention of every using them again, if I can help it. I am well aware that they are not the only airline that overbooks flights, but there are other ways of dealing with such a situation.
Thankfully, the other three journeys all went smooth, including my flight back from London City Airport on Tuesday evening, which was a pleasant surprise. Seriously, I cannot remember the last time my flight back from London to Zürich wasn't delayed or even cancelled, such a rare occurrence this seems to have become be these days...

But on to more pleasant things now. Apart from that one day, I spent a fantastic, inspiring holiday. The first week was an art retreat in the northeast of Scotland with Gillian Lee Smith, in the charming coastal village of Gardenstown. Surrounded by stunning views of the cliffs and the sea, and with no mobile phone signal and limited internet access, it was the perfect place to spend a week of making art. I had been a little apprehensive about spending an entire week with more or less complete strangers - and sharing a cottage with some of them - but my fears were soon gone. It was a fantastic group of women, and it was a great pleasure to spend so much time with them, learning their stories and getting to know them. We arrived on Saturday evening, and had Sunday off to explore the surrounding and rest. As happens so often when I travel, the sky was blue and the temperatures comparatively mild. Indeed, it was sun and blue sky, and not even the tiniest drop of rain, the entire week I spent there. There are some lovely walks either side of Gardenstown, one to the old St John's Kirkyard, with fantastic views over the bay, the other to the old fishing village of Crovie.

On Monday, we started working. Drawing, with charcoal and pencil, landscapes, portraits, oil bars, painting, acrylics, pastels... I had two sketchbooks I worked in, along with the bigger sheets of paper, an A5 Moleskine and an A4 Seawhite travel journal. Here's a few pages from my Moleskine, that I managed to scan so far. The A4 is too big for my scanner, and I haven't yet any good pictures of the bigger works I've done. On Monday, we went outside to he harbour for some sketching.

There was a jar full of sea shells and other treasures from nature and the sea in the studio, and I did a quick sketch of this lobster or crab claw. 

Spending a little time mixing colours. I liked those mixing palettes they had in the studio. A good mixing palette is something that's been on my to get list for ages.

I'll write some more about my week in Scotland soon, and I've got some more photos to share from my 10 days in Dorset too - we spent another fabulous day  at one of my favourite places there, Brownsea Island - but I've only been home 3 days now, and straight back to work, and I still have many photos, journal pages and thoughts to go and sort through.

Dorset cream tea, and other delicacies

There are any things I'm looking forward to when going to England, and one of the is the food. My favourites are not always necessarily the most healthy and nutritiously valuable choices. But they are certainly delicious. And after all, when I'm there, I'm on holiday...

We hadn't had a cream tea in ages, the last time was well over a year ago, so we decided that it was definitely time for one. And we knew exactly where to go. Our all time favourite place for the best Dorset cream tea - Downhouse Farm café. It's not exactly easy to reach, but well worth the journey, both by car, and even by foot (it is quite a bit of a walk up there). It is high up on a hill, not far from the cliffs, a beautiful, peaceful garden to sit and relax - and enjoy a rich cream tea (and draw it). Homemade scones, a big pot of locally made clotted cream, and an equally big pot of delicious homemade strawberry jam. It's so rich, that it makes a full meal, so we always go there for lunch. 

The last bit of the way is one of those very narrow country lanes, with bushes on both sides, and there's been an argument between the locals and the council about who's responsible to look after a certain stretch of it for quite a while. As a result, it is in a very sorry state, and getting worse and worse every year. The first time N had taken me there, it had already been bad, with big holes everywhere. By now, the holes have become so deep, that someone has put bricks into them, to make the road passable at all. The result is that you not only have to drive at about 10 mph max, but that even then, all those holes make the car shake thoroughly, that you just can't stop laughing, it's so funny. It's like being on a funfair rides. We had aching bellies and tears streaming down our cheeks by the time we made it to the end of the stretch. I wonder what the state of the road will be like next time we go there.

Another classic, and guilty pleasure - N made cheese on toast for breakfast on many mornings during our holiday. Well, we were out and about all day, so we needed something substantial to start the day with...

Custard tarts always make me think of one of my favourite, classic tv series - As Time Goes By. One of the characters, Lionel, is very fond of them and always gets very, very grumpy if someone else in the household dares to eat this custard tarts. I can understand him :)

But of course there's more than food. A late afternoon, when the sun suddenly comes out, spent on the beach in West Bay.

And I always enjoy visiting the lighthouse on Portland Bill, on the Isle of Portland, and spending some time wandering around there. It's a special place, somehow. And of course, lighthouses are always fascinating.

The joys of travelling by air, and how not to get overwhelmed but keep on sketching

I'm back from a wonderful holiday, which, as usual, went far too quickly. The journeys were rather less enjoyable, though. My very early morning flight to London City Airport got cancelled due to technical problems, and I had to travel to Heathrow instead, which meant that I didn't catch my £14 pre-booked train from Waterloo but had to by a new ticket for £58. My suitcase wasn't on the same plane either, and I didn't receive it until after 8pm the following day.
My return flight was cancelled again, this time due to the heavy thunderstorms over Europe. That, of course, is nobody's fault, but I was beginning to get rather fed up. Luckily, I had arrived at the airport very early, and was re-booked to an earlier flight. Like all the other flights, it was much delayed, and while we waited for another 45 minutes on the plane to finally be able to leave, three passengers were asked to leave the plane again because it turned out that it was too heavy. I've never heard of anything like that. But I was very glad that they hadn't asked me...!

I decided to contact the airline, since this was not the first time I've had problems. Cancellations and and delays seem to have become the norm in the past couple of years, and I'm happy to say that they have agreed to reimburse the extra costs I had as well as giving me a generous voucher for my next flight. So all is well again, and I just hope that my next upcoming journeys in September and October will go a bit smoother for a change.

But anyway. On to more pleasant things. I took my drawing tools, watercolours and two sketchbooks with me on holiday for some outside sketching. It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but I have always found it very intimidating and overwhelming. But this time I was determined. I had even treated myself to not only a new box of watercolours, but also some new watercolour brushes, including two beautiful travel brushes. One of our first day trips was to Tintinhull Garden, a charming little house and garden, and when we arrived there, the sun had come out and it was warm and bright blue sky. So no excuses. I got my gear out, switched off my brain and started sketching. I always find it difficult to get the proportions right. My drawings usually tend to get far too big. So instead of trying to capture the whole house, I just focused on a detail, starting with with the bird statue and then added whatever fitted in.

I love visiting those old stately homes and gardens. It's a perfect day out for me. Some interesting history, furniture and art work in the houses, gorgeous flower gardens (with lots of opportunities to photograph bees on flowers), park and woodland walks, and a restaurant to enjoy a lovely lunch and tea breaks in between all the strolling. And the parks are filled with trees. Beautiful, ancient trees.

On Sunday, we drove to Salisbury. Again, after a grey start of the day, the sun came out, and it got hotter and hotter. I never thought that I would ever say the words "it's too hot to sit outside in the sun!" in England! But it certainly was. Thankfully, inside the cathedral and cloister, it was nice and cool, and there were plenty of seats to sit in the cloister to sketch one of its arches.

Glastonbury was a new place to discover for both of us, and a fun place to spend a day. It has a lovely town centre, with almost every shop specialising in some branch of the esoteric. A bit weird, but very charming. We spent most of the time in the grounds of the abbey, though, and much of it sitting on benches in the shade. Another hot and sunny day. The two watercolour sketches were made in different journals, the one on the left in a Seawhite sketchbook, the one on the right in a Moleskine watercolour journal.

Forde Abbey was probably my favourite of the stately homes we visited. The house itself is a 800 year old former abbey, and the park and gardens are just gorgeous. Again I took some time to sketch while N wandered around taking some more photos. The hedges caught my eyes, and of course the trees.

Montacute House was another place we spent a lovely day at. Apparently, it's where Wolf Hall was filmed. I never watched the series. I tried but struggled with it as much after five minutes as I had struggled with the book after the first 30 pages, and eventually gave up, as I had with the book. Again, I was fascinated by the trees in the grounds. So much variety, so much character.

I'm so glad I finally got over my fear of sketching outside. It's not as hard as you think, and most people leave you in peace. Of course Ns comment of "Oh that's good!" on every sketch I did was also very encouraging :)
What helped me most, though, was to approach it with no expectations, and to do what was possible. Of course I would have liked to capture more complex scenes. The entire house. A corner of the garden. But that's still a bit too challenging for me. So instead I keep focusing on the details for the moment. A part of the house or ruin, an arch, trees. Instead of getting frustrated by what I can't do, I enjoy capturing what I can do, knowing that every drawing, every sketch is valuable practice. I'm sure one day I will be able to do those "bigger" sketches I'm dreaming of now. It's all practice, and doing the job. And my holiday sketching has given me so much confidence, that since I got back, I've done some more sketching in public.
I have some more sketches that I'll share next week, and I also hope to post some photos in a separate post. But it'll take some time to go through them and do all the editing.

Holiday Photo Sunday: A happy day in West Dorset

A little collage of a happy day spent on the West Dorset coast, including my favourite place for Fish & Chips, one of my favourite walks along the cliff tops, and my first time ever playing Scrabble. 

These were taken earlier this year, in March. I still have to go through all my photos from our summer holiday, and hope to share some soon, but I've just booked my flight and train tickets for my next holiday in West Dorset and I'm so looking forward to it, that I had to go back to these.

Happy Sunday!

Penguins and Seals

I still got so many photos of amazing creatures left, that I'm going to split them (well, some of them) into two separate posts. This one is for the Humboldt Penguins and the Common Seals. The penguins didn't really do much, but they were fun to watch. And they kept standing or sitting still or moving only little, which was of course perfect for taking pictures of them.

I don't know how long we spent watching the seals, but it was quite some time (and long enough to miss the little train back to town by just a few minutes). They were one of the first we went to see in the morning after we arrived, and we went back to them again in the afternoon. N lent me his big zoom lens to get some really nice close ups. It was fascinating to watch them swim and dive (they like to swim on their backs) and to stick their heads out of the water and observe their surroundings. Their noses look a bit like those of gorillas!

One last post with more sea creatures to follow soon.