Watercolour, Inks, Acrylics, Pens
My mum lives on the edge of the Cornish moors in an old miners cottage – when I go there, it’s a long journey and every hour out of the city drops a weight from me. Every day I’m there, I walk a big expanse of open fields and ruined quarries where the lichen is ferociously spiky, and the trees are gnarled and cling determinedly to the land from exposure to the elements. I like to walk hard, sweat on purpose and get soaked through with rain like I am cleaning my soul with effort! Sometimes I don’t see another person for hours, and sometimes I get a strong feeling that there are ominous spirits that flare up – irked by my presence on a particular patch – a sudden howling wind will whip me! ‘Okay, okay’ I say ‘Im going!!’
After a particularly difficult breakup where I lost myself a bit, I walked for almost a whole day. A huge loop of a walk that ended me back at my starting point but feeling deeply shifted. It was so comforting to feel that return to myself, and reminded me that my relationship was an adventure. So even though I felt like I was all the way back at the start of a journey, it’s more like a spiral – always going deeper as we circle back round!
I painted this spooky sweaty walk, peacefully and happily at dusk when I got home. My mum had a fire going, and we set up the Mah Jong to play after dinner. Returning to my roots, and my feeling of home – I felt so content to have found my way back.