Cornish sketchbook - Headlands

Our Cornish summer visit took us to the Lizard Peninsula, a lovely area, a lot quieter than much of Cornwall, and excellent drawing potential. I kept up the sketch a day ambition, and only lost one day when we were travelling.

This is a series of the sketches looking out towards headlands...

Chynhallis Point, from Coverack

Looking back to Chynhallis Point, from the west



Kennack Bay, drawn very quickly with waves crashing into the sea wall where I sat
I like the speedy nature of the marks which gave greater accuracy

From Kynance Cove, looking towards the Lizard

Tremenheere sculpture gardens

We've been away for a couple of lovely weeks in Cornwall - pretty good weather and wonderful scenery...particularly at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens (near Gulval, Penzance).  These gardens are open to the public at weekends but are still in the development stages. Only 4 other visitors were there when we visited, in August! - Bliss.

However - a swish visitor centre is being built, so visit soon if you want to see a treat in the making.

the woodland walk up to the high ground

View of St Michael's Mount from the entrance to
the James Turrell skyspace at the top of the gardens

View to the sky from the beautiful oval of the Turrell skyspace

The David Nash sculpture is hidden away but worth the search

A sketch a day...

The summer holidays are here and there will be loads of opportunities for sketching ... if I am motivated enough to take full advantage. So with Anthony Gormley's words ringing in my ears:

"A day passed without drawing is a day lost"

I have armed myself with new sketchbooks and treated myself with a trip to my local fantastic art shop, Pegasus Arts, for some new materials which are crying out to be drawn with.

An ambitious collection of sketchbooks?

Off the starting blocks...

So far so good, I haven't lost a day yet. There will inevitably be some lost days, ambition is one thing but real life tends to also happen. I'll just try and lose as few days as possible, and then post some results.

Drawing the not so 'Common Oak'

My third drawing on wood featured a Common Oak on oak wood. The photographs I used for inspiration were taken on morning walks around the Arboretum.

my drawing surface - raw oak with bark and burr features

stage 1 - establishing distant tones

stage 2 - establishing the tree shapes

stage 3 - shadows picked out from several photos,
I wanted these shadows to wriggle across the ground

The finished piece, adaptions made, finished, gessoed and sandblasted
Common Oak, 'Quercus Robur'

I found this piece of writing shown on a sign when visiting the arboretum last week; I hope my piece of work compliments Wyatt's words:

"No writer could ever match the poetry expressed in the form of a single tree,

for it speaks from its roots, through the fibres of its stem, the shape of the trunk,

the turn and spread of the branches, the twisting and reaching of the twigs.

A tree speaks. It speaks of a hundred summers and a hundred winters.

The whole of the message is contained in the way it has grown,

precisely, to make use of what its environment has provided.

It states in essence 'Here I am, and where I am is what I am'"

By John Wyatt, from 'Reflections on the lakes' 1998

Delayed

This is the third print in the Westonbirt series, called 'Delay'.

'Delay' Etching 70 x 35cm

The piece shows the view of the end of a path in the arboretum (the same path the previous two etchings - see previous posts). The exit is framed by two arching tree branches. The word 'delay' is a sumative expression of the comments people make when talking about being in the countryside. Rarely do you hear of people expressing the view that they couldn't wait to get back to the humdrum of daily routines, the more commonly expressed feeling is of wishing to delay the moment of leaving. The sanctury of woodland provides a place to pause, and once stopped there is reluctance to move too quickly.
This etching leads to a crooked tree in the near distance, just at the end of the path, it beckons but the crookedness advises caution. It might be better to stay safely in the shadows of the path, unnoticed.

At the end of the day our crooked lives take us forward and, well, I'm curious about that crooked tree!

Pause

This is the second print in my Westonbirt Series, and is called 'Pause'

'Pause' Etching 70 x 35 cm

This print was achieved using the same techniques as 'Wander', shown in the previous post. A combination of open bite experimenting, a little hard ground for the line and a larger swathe of aquatint for the cast shadow down the centre of the path.

The title was inspired by a talk I went to given by Dr Neil Armstrong, a GP who lives at Tremenheere, a large property in Cornwall with one of those wonderful old gardens which gently drifts down to the coast. Armstrong devotes his free time to rejuvenating and developing this garden into a place for people to visit. One of his aims for the garden is to provide a place which will provide the opportunity for people to take time out from the rat race, to stop for a while, to pause. He has built a number of seating areas to encourage this and is installing artworks by well known arists. During the talk he told us about a James Turrell sky space/box which he had just completed and which took the form of a temple like structure. I was very inspired by the idea of providing space to pause, and in this part of this Westonbirt path its possible to pause and look equally both forward and back, where we've been and where we are going.

Its funny how trains of thought link isn't it.... At Tremenheere Armstrong has also commissioned a David Nash installation and the Making a Mark blog this week linked to some wonderful Nash work being done at Kew Gardens. In response to Printed Material's book recommendation on last weeks post I can reciprocate by recommending "Wildwood - a journey through trees" by Roger Deakin, a lovely lyrical book describing a man's passion for all things wood. There is also a fantastic chapter describing Deakin's visit to Nash's studio at Capel Rhiw. Pausing for thought, coming full circle.

Wandering

Over the next few posts I'm going to introduce you properly to the three finished etchings which comprised my MA show.

The first of the series is "Wander":



'Wander' Etching 70 x 35 cm

 The series of etchings, as with other sketches I have shown are all from a short path that can be found in the heart of Silk Wood at Westonbirt Arboretum.
While I was preparing the plates for the series I went to a lovely talk given by Dr Suze Adams. She discussed her own work in some depth, she is a warm and fascinating speaker if ever you get a chance to hear her. She also referenced the writing of Edward Casey and in particular the book, “Getting back into Place”. Casey discusses the idea of lingering, tarrying, delaying and wandering linked to stasis and movement. I was inspired by this concept of activity and inactivity linked to the experience of place, and found that it brought a new meaning to my developing prints. The words are so evocative of the emotional investment in walking. I felt I needed to include the words and so used them to inspire the naming of the prints.

This first one is 'Wander' because it is the entrance to the path, an invitation to go for a wander. I think the curve of this path, directed by the lean of the trees draws the visitor into the path ... What is around that corner?

The print is achieved with the use of a lot of open bite mark making, a hint of aquatint and a trace of hard ground line.

I completed a drawing of this same scene before I made the print:

'Entrance to path' Graphite 70 x 35 cm

Its interesting to see the similarities and differences between the two pieces now. Drawing allows me to think through the process of the etching and the composition and emphasis of the print. I purposefully do not trace the drawing but make a free hand translation with sugar lift onto the etching plate to start me off. This way the etching takes on its own life as a new and independent piece of work.

Looking at these works again is making me wonder about the next place - more wandering needed!