I was absolutely transported by your words and sketches. This is a fantastic piece. I live so far from the coast, in the south Midlands of England, yet I had a real sense of being myself at that stretch of sand, sea and rocks through your sensory descriptions and captivating ?charcoals. I loved the insights contained in the work too. Thank you for publishing this.
You’re very welcome, and I’m so pleased to hear that this carried you off to the coast. The sketches use water soluble graphite; it will still turn your fingers grey, but it isn’t as dusty as charcoal. The blue is from a stick that blends graphite with watercolour, and I love its unpredictability.
This is wonderful Michela, for the first time in a while I managed to listen as I read and it added to the post so much. I was particularly taken with your idea that, in a new place, our vision dominates to such an extent that it is difficult to find the words to describe where we are. As you know, I’ve travelled to some amazing locations around the world and find photographing them a wondrous and satisfying experience, but often when I try to put those images into a presentation I cannot find the words to accompany them. This is then followed by an overwhelming desire to revisit that doesn’t stem from a dissatisfaction with my pictures but something else that I can’t quite grasp. Perhaps you have provided me with the answer. The birdsong soundtrack to the postscript was so similar to ours and a joy to close one’s eyes and listen to, your cuckoo allows you to get much closer than ours does. Thanks for sharing, ’twas lovely.
Thanks Dave. Cuckoos are invariably ‘just over there’! I have only seen one once; somewhere between woodpigeon and sparrowhawk in appearance if that makes sense. I wonder if the feeling you describe is a desire to rekindle the sensation of the moment? It isn’t exclusive to far flung places, and perhaps in part is why I keep scratching away at my local surfaces.
Oh your sketches are so beautiful Michela!!! I love the movement they capture, and the gentle palette. Also the soundscape of this post is delicious ❤️ your purring cat! I could listen to that all day.
Thank you Rebecca. I’m coming to love working outside, so much more freeing, and the water soluble graphite is great to work with. Maybe I’ll just add a ‘purr-over’ then!
A week later but today head over the immense waters of Slocan Lake to listen to the land deeply…for 3 hours. Powerful is her response to fires which swept over her mountains last summer. I go in fear and hope, open to and seeking regeneration in her cathedral.
I was listening to your voiceover while outside in the evening, while it was already dark and cold and the owls were out. So your little excerpt from a previous walk that talked about the cold at night which has an owl in the background felt so familiar and close. Like we were experiencing the same thing but at a completely different moment in time.
Yes! And I read a post this week that also carried echoes: another person doing the same, or a similar, thing in another place just a week or so ahead of me.
I love going away alone on my own 'residencies'. Your week feels so rich -- the pictures are wonderful and love the title for the book -- one I want to hold in my hands.
Thanks Jan, it was, and I hope it will be the first of many. I have made a few false starts—now sitting out there seems so much easier than trying to make something indoors!
I gift these quiet, unplanned days to myself when I find, on the very rare occasions, the house empty of children, when the dog is sated in his slumber after an energetic walk. How I love to listen to music and paint what I hear. These snippets of time are a gift which I once struggled with due to the overwhelming nature of single mothering, working and running a house on my own. Your post inspires me to carve out a few days to sit, observe and reflect.
What an immersive, captivating read and a visual feast, too... I absolutely love the liquid light photos 🩵 I am yearning for some solitary days by the sea and toying with allowing myself that when my son is with his dad for a week in July... If funds and logistics permit (goodness what sterile words those are).
Your work always inspires me, and I thank you for that 🙏
Thank you so much Lizzie! I do hope you get that opportunity; it’s the first time in ages that I’ve spent a week by the sea, and I felt so much better for it.
Thank you for this sharing of a private wondrous week. You are so connected to what happens in those creative moments AND able to put the experience into shared prose. I think that is a rare gift, used with insight and generosity. Welcome home Michela, I can feel the renewal in your words and your art.
Beautiful words, sounds, sketches and pictures Michela, you’re putting it all so well together. A treat to go along on this adventures by your side, thanks for sharing 🙏
Thanks for sharing .. This spring has seen an abundance of cuckoo as we trundled slowly through France and then into Spain. Listening to this on a sun drenched balcony in the Algarve countryside … pet sitting .. my own (temporary) purring bagpuss on my lap …
Ah, a bagpuss being well looked after! Interestingly the first Spring here, a cuckoo calling was a lovely surprise as my only previous memory of their call took me back to a childhood holiday in France.
I love this Michela, it is so inspiring. Your sketches, like your photography, are beautiful - I particularly like the last square.
I think time is one of the most important gifts we can give ourselves. It is restorative and I find it always leads to creativity even without a change of scene. Just spending time in nature with my thoughts and without the pressure to produce anything is so valuable.
The book project sounds really exciting and I look forward to hearing more.
Thanks very much Gill, you’re very kind. I recognise the restorative benefits of an hour ar two, a day even, but a whole week was bliss. “Without the pressure to produce anything” is key, and perhaps that is why the words were reluctant to flow.
Cuckoo and willow warbler! The sounds of spring. An enjoyable read and listen as always. There is no sound more soothing than a cat purr. Loved your sketches and your reflections. I have had time alone at the caravan in South Lakes this week and have just immersed myself in nature. I've walked miles, and seen and heard so much it's overwhelming. Bliss! Good luck with your plans for the book!
Thanks Linda. Now my ears know them, I am surprised by just how many willow warblers we have here. Perhaps the only qualification on purring cats is that at 3.45am it is a little too early for breakfast! I loved being able to do so much walking along the coast last week. I much prefer getting to know a place on foot.
I was absolutely transported by your words and sketches. This is a fantastic piece. I live so far from the coast, in the south Midlands of England, yet I had a real sense of being myself at that stretch of sand, sea and rocks through your sensory descriptions and captivating ?charcoals. I loved the insights contained in the work too. Thank you for publishing this.
You’re very welcome, and I’m so pleased to hear that this carried you off to the coast. The sketches use water soluble graphite; it will still turn your fingers grey, but it isn’t as dusty as charcoal. The blue is from a stick that blends graphite with watercolour, and I love its unpredictability.
This is wonderful Michela, for the first time in a while I managed to listen as I read and it added to the post so much. I was particularly taken with your idea that, in a new place, our vision dominates to such an extent that it is difficult to find the words to describe where we are. As you know, I’ve travelled to some amazing locations around the world and find photographing them a wondrous and satisfying experience, but often when I try to put those images into a presentation I cannot find the words to accompany them. This is then followed by an overwhelming desire to revisit that doesn’t stem from a dissatisfaction with my pictures but something else that I can’t quite grasp. Perhaps you have provided me with the answer. The birdsong soundtrack to the postscript was so similar to ours and a joy to close one’s eyes and listen to, your cuckoo allows you to get much closer than ours does. Thanks for sharing, ’twas lovely.
Thanks Dave. Cuckoos are invariably ‘just over there’! I have only seen one once; somewhere between woodpigeon and sparrowhawk in appearance if that makes sense. I wonder if the feeling you describe is a desire to rekindle the sensation of the moment? It isn’t exclusive to far flung places, and perhaps in part is why I keep scratching away at my local surfaces.
I loved listening to this, your words and the landscape's chorus ... and the purring cat, while appreciating your beautiful paintings. 🙏 🌊
Thank you Simone, that’s so good to hear.
Oh your sketches are so beautiful Michela!!! I love the movement they capture, and the gentle palette. Also the soundscape of this post is delicious ❤️ your purring cat! I could listen to that all day.
Thank you Rebecca. I’m coming to love working outside, so much more freeing, and the water soluble graphite is great to work with. Maybe I’ll just add a ‘purr-over’ then!
A week later but today head over the immense waters of Slocan Lake to listen to the land deeply…for 3 hours. Powerful is her response to fires which swept over her mountains last summer. I go in fear and hope, open to and seeking regeneration in her cathedral.
It looks beautiful, so I can understand your trepidation.
I was listening to your voiceover while outside in the evening, while it was already dark and cold and the owls were out. So your little excerpt from a previous walk that talked about the cold at night which has an owl in the background felt so familiar and close. Like we were experiencing the same thing but at a completely different moment in time.
Yes! And I read a post this week that also carried echoes: another person doing the same, or a similar, thing in another place just a week or so ahead of me.
We're all connected 🙂
I love going away alone on my own 'residencies'. Your week feels so rich -- the pictures are wonderful and love the title for the book -- one I want to hold in my hands.
Thanks Jan, it was, and I hope it will be the first of many. I have made a few false starts—now sitting out there seems so much easier than trying to make something indoors!
Fascinated by how working on it in place is making the difference.
I’ve been on a very similar journey Michaela it’s liberating isn’t it
Yes it is Paul. And then we wonder why we didn’t do it sooner!
I gift these quiet, unplanned days to myself when I find, on the very rare occasions, the house empty of children, when the dog is sated in his slumber after an energetic walk. How I love to listen to music and paint what I hear. These snippets of time are a gift which I once struggled with due to the overwhelming nature of single mothering, working and running a house on my own. Your post inspires me to carve out a few days to sit, observe and reflect.
I hope you do, Sofia. It’s easy to underestimate the benefits of time out, or to fill that precious space with ‘ought to dos’.
What an immersive, captivating read and a visual feast, too... I absolutely love the liquid light photos 🩵 I am yearning for some solitary days by the sea and toying with allowing myself that when my son is with his dad for a week in July... If funds and logistics permit (goodness what sterile words those are).
Your work always inspires me, and I thank you for that 🙏
Thank you so much Lizzie! I do hope you get that opportunity; it’s the first time in ages that I’ve spent a week by the sea, and I felt so much better for it.
Thank you for this sharing of a private wondrous week. You are so connected to what happens in those creative moments AND able to put the experience into shared prose. I think that is a rare gift, used with insight and generosity. Welcome home Michela, I can feel the renewal in your words and your art.
That’s such a kind comment Leslie, thank you. It’s made me realise how important it is to allow ourselves, and our loved ones, time out or away.
Amazing sketches. I love that you have given yourself this gift of time and allowed a place to seep in.
Thank you Mary, very kind. It has certainly got under my skin, and I will be impatient to return—much as I love the moss.
Beautiful words, sounds, sketches and pictures Michela, you’re putting it all so well together. A treat to go along on this adventures by your side, thanks for sharing 🙏
Thank you Rannsy, that’s such a kind thing to say and I’m happy to have your company.
Thanks for sharing .. This spring has seen an abundance of cuckoo as we trundled slowly through France and then into Spain. Listening to this on a sun drenched balcony in the Algarve countryside … pet sitting .. my own (temporary) purring bagpuss on my lap …
Ah, a bagpuss being well looked after! Interestingly the first Spring here, a cuckoo calling was a lovely surprise as my only previous memory of their call took me back to a childhood holiday in France.
Our Merlin app has been bursting with all kinds of weird and wonderful …
I love this Michela, it is so inspiring. Your sketches, like your photography, are beautiful - I particularly like the last square.
I think time is one of the most important gifts we can give ourselves. It is restorative and I find it always leads to creativity even without a change of scene. Just spending time in nature with my thoughts and without the pressure to produce anything is so valuable.
The book project sounds really exciting and I look forward to hearing more.
Thanks very much Gill, you’re very kind. I recognise the restorative benefits of an hour ar two, a day even, but a whole week was bliss. “Without the pressure to produce anything” is key, and perhaps that is why the words were reluctant to flow.
Cuckoo and willow warbler! The sounds of spring. An enjoyable read and listen as always. There is no sound more soothing than a cat purr. Loved your sketches and your reflections. I have had time alone at the caravan in South Lakes this week and have just immersed myself in nature. I've walked miles, and seen and heard so much it's overwhelming. Bliss! Good luck with your plans for the book!
Thanks Linda. Now my ears know them, I am surprised by just how many willow warblers we have here. Perhaps the only qualification on purring cats is that at 3.45am it is a little too early for breakfast! I loved being able to do so much walking along the coast last week. I much prefer getting to know a place on foot.