Ups & Downs...

Light and Shade.

My November Guest

My sorrow, when she's here with me.
Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
Are beautiful as days can be; 
She loves the bare, the withered tree;
She walks the sodden pasture lane.

Her pleasure will not let me stay.
She talks and I am fain to list;
She's glad the birds are gone away,
She's glad her simple worsted grey
Is silver now with clinging mist.

The desolate, deserted trees,
The faded earth, the heavy sky,
The beauties she so truly sees,
She thinks I have no eye for these,
And vexes me for reason why.

Not yesterday I learned to know
The love of bare November days
Before the coming of the snow,
But it were vain to tell her so,
And they are better for her praise.

Robert Frost

‘Light and shade, light and shade.’ It’s no secret, I love our changing seasons; I find beauty in their differences. The glorious autumnal light of October slipping quietly into November; a lull before the lights and celebrations of December.

This month so often seen as a grey month, filled with dank, gloomy mornings, is a celebratory month for us with family birthdays. But it is also now, a month tinged with sadness; Mum passed away three years ago on a dark November. morning. I can’t believe it’s been that long: I miss her wisdom, her loving kindness, and her silly humour. The sense of loss is, at times, almost palpable.

But Nature, with her rhythms, comforts me; the variations in ‘light and shade’. Just as she endures the loss, the shedding of her glory, so I too, have to hold fast. To acknowledge that, without the dark, I wouldn’t cherish the light. Without the starkness of winter, I wouldn’t treasure the bounty of spring, the rebirth.

And talking of births, we are expecting a new addition to the family soon, another November birthday celebration - a great-niece (ooh, doesn’t that make me sound old?) A tangible reminder of the ‘light and shade.’

P.S. If you want to read a more ethereal, atmospheric take on November, then click here to read Laura Pashby’s note to the month.

A change of scene never goes amiss. A hop over the county border into Norfolk was the order of the weekend. This flat landscape, with its big skies, expanses of marshes, brackish water, shingle, sand and wading birds, never fails to inspire.

'What a coast this is, with its salt marshes and lavender, its channels, dunes, bays and crumbling Ice Age cliffs, lonelier and wilder than its Suffolk neighbour, Arctic, melancholic, beautiful, treacherous, with sandbanks and quicksands, storms and floods, and never-ending erosion.'

Peter Sager

I’m reminded of Brian Rutenberg, in his book, ‘Clear Seeing Place’, discussing knowing:

“…your origins. Where do you come from? What place stacked your bones into the shape of you?….My connection to the landscape of South Carolina has nothing to do with nostalgia; it’s much broader than memory. It’s my clear seeing place. A career has many moving parts, but there must be a cable that runs from your soft tissue directly to your clear-seeing place. Every artist needs such a place, for this is where your muse resides…” B. Rutenberg, P.95, Clear Seeing Place

The fenlands of Lincolnshire are where I grew up and it is the place that ‘stacked my bones’; I often wonder if these flatlands, that are my ‘clear-seeing place’, are why I feel such affinity for the marshes and coast-line of north Norfolk…lands that stretch to the far horizons… And why, whenever I visit, there is a ‘settling’, an ‘ahhhhhh’ moment…and suddenly, everything becomes much clearer…

'Often times within the circle of your sight there is neither house nor man visible. A grey church tower, a windmill, or the dark-brown sail of a wherry in the distance breaks the sense of utter loneliness, but the scene is wild enough to enchain the imagination of many.'

George Christopher Davis (1884)

The weather was grey, a slight edge to the wind necessitated wrapping up warmly, but I still took the chance to do a little sketching…at Brancaster Staithe and Thornham Marshes.

(Apologies - the original clips etc were focused, but now I’ve edited/spliced together, they appear a bit blurry… Maybe time to invest in some software other than the freebie version….)

The final image shows the two studies I preferred…capturing some of the silvery light and rivulets of mud left by the outgoing tide.

We stayed in Poppy Barn in Field Dalling - a great bolthole, handily located for exploring the area…

…and it’s only a stone’s throw from the town of Holt, where we discovered the wonderful ‘Make Holt’ store, full of fabulous art and craft made by local artisans. I couldn’t resist this stone tumbler by Tamlin Lundberg, a great addition to my coffee mug collection…

And a trip to Norfolk wouldn’t be complete without having some fresh dressed crab salad whilst sitting on the beach…

What else has been inspiring me this week?

• The soft, muted palettes of Larissa Eremeeva…

• Making a start on Anna MacDonald’s ‘30 Day Declutter Challenge’

  

  Being able to see/grab my materials easily has helped with my creativity; no stopping the ‘flow’ in order to hunt down a bottle of ink or the like!

• I’m beginning to feel a bit in the doldrums over marketing/sales, and energy levels are low, so the idea that, with a little strategic planning, I can market via a series of 10 minute tasks feels like something I can manage…

  

  “I’m realistic that 10 minutes is not a life changing amount of time to spend on your business. Chances are you won’t completely write a blog post or record and edit a podcast in that time…but if you spend just 10 minutes working on your marketing over 90 days, that’s an extra 15 hours over 3 months that you weren’t spending before. If I asked you to find 15 hours of ‘spare’ time I’m sure you would be just as horrified as I was.”

  p.xii Hannah Isted - The Best 90 Days Ever

• Haven’t quite gotten around to it yet, but I’m looking forward to experimenting with these…

  

  Not used the Golden inks before, so will be interesting to see the difference to my usual Daler Rowney acrylic inks. Anyone else tried these?

Until next time, happy painting!