This past week, things in the studio have gone a little slower than I’d have liked.
I’ve realised how ambitious it is to paint, draw or sketch something every single day. But even on the days where I only manage five minutes, or I open my sketchbook with the best of intentions even though nothing goes in it, it’s still an achievement.
The Woodlands and Walks project has involved a lot more thinking and almost ‘soul searching’ than I thought it would. It’s encouraging me to connect with Malta’s little scraps of nature, however few and far between they may be. This week I’ve visited several city gardens and explored the island’s only woodland in Buskett, but I’ve also started to notice the tree-lined avenues, the ivy-clad facades. Little pockets of nature breaking through the urban sprawl. (I’m sure this could be the theme for a future series!) I’m spending a lot of my time looking, taking reference photos and documenting what I see around me. Even though this series has nothing to do with Malta at all.
It’s about where I come from, and those little memories of nature from childhood. I love the freedom of creating a story, creating a composition that fits both my memory of a place, as well as my current mood, interests, and more.
As the seasons change and autumn slowly arrives on the island, I want to connect with it more, in those little areas of solace where I can. Just as I do every time I fly home to the UK: I look to the old familiar path under my favourite weeping willow by the riverbank, follow the Canada geese across the gardens and try not to tread into the path of an oncoming squirrel. It is windy, bitterly cold and epic noisy starling-strewn clouds over grey skies in Aberystwyth. It’s rabbits peeping up from the dew-soaked grass beyond our Devonshire lodge. A winding, narrow lane dotted with sunlight leading to a Georgian manor house beside a beautiful frosty lake.
So I’m giving myself a break and am making sure to indulge in the landscape in one way or another, for these remaining 71/100 days. That could mean:
A walk in some gardens
Landscape sketching
Painting
Studying/reading about other landscape artists
Getting outdoors for inspiration
Writing
Using my Landscape Painting Prompt List
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