Wild

Rainy Sunday, the chilly haar crept back.  Suits me fine, I have been getting things done, enjoying that particular pleasure of scoring them off the list.  Am now in a cozy, creative mood. 

From January to March, I took a watercolour course called ‘Wild Watercolour!’   I joined it because last summer, to break out of a creative block, I attended some wonderful courses at Moray Art Centre.  I wanted to take those freeing experiences further.

One MAC course took us out on day trips to paint in Nature.  It was artist-led with a group called ‘Wild Things’ who gave talks on aspects of local nature; Invertebrates, Pond life, Trees, River, Beach, and finally, my favourite – Fire Craft around a campfire.  Autumn was just burnishing through by then; the birch trees were golden shimmers behind the flames. 

It was the first time I had painted outside, and I couldn’t get out of my thoughts – ‘it’s water’, ‘how to paint water?’.  I couldn’t let go and just make marks until the second last Saturday on Findhorn beach.  I felt so frustrated, I decided not to go with the group to hear about the seals, but to stay put and do multiple one minute watercolour sketches, make marks, make a mess, go wild. 

I did. 

It got aerobic.  I made marks.  Magically the summer rain joined in briefly, co-creating its own marks in the painting and I felt alive again.  It's only a fabulous painting to me, but it’s on my kitchen wall. 

To remind me.

Today, I made three concertina books, water, fire and air.  The background of ‘earth’ still to be painted.  The ideas came yesterday while walking, make a concertina sketchbook of the walk itself, the colours, shapes, sycamore to rock, beach to white campion, gorse, gorse, gorse, gorse, gorse.