What I Did This Summer

The summer is almost over, in the blink of an eye the long, sun drenched days and trips to the beach are just a delicious memory to be savoured as the whispers of autumn pervade the sweet, early days of September.

The school holidays are always a bit of a juggling act where family and work are concerned. I’d hoped to have a couple of weeks where I switched off completely but it didn’t quite pan out that way - heatwaves and client briefs, having everyone at home and it all becoming slightly disorganised meant I was working pretty much up until the day we went away.

This year has been a fickle one - running a business after the upheaval of the last two years in a country where things are becoming more expensive by the minute is tricky to say the least. Sales are slow, and most people I talk to seem to be having the same experience. It’s a hard time to be in retail, but especially for small independent businesses. I’ve noticed how tired I’ve felt over the last few months, and how hard everything has felt so the break on the stunning coast of Northumberland was a pure tonic. I loved our sweet little holiday house near the village of Seahouses and I didn’t want to leave.

While I was there I decided to forget all about work and focus on having fun and relaxing times with my family. We spent lots of time at Beadnell beach, stopping at Bait first thing in the morning, a wooden hut that sold delicious breakfast rolls and hot lattes. We’d enjoy our breakfast with the dunes behind us, and then set up camp on the creamy white sand for the day.

We went crabbing off the harbour wall, paddled in the crystal clear (freezing cold) sea, ate hot donuts, went on a sunset cruise to the magical Farne Islands, and watched a pod of dolphins leap and piroutette across the bay beyond Seahouses. We ate delicious pizza at the Ocean Club, and enjoyed a raspberry gin and tonic at the Bamburgh Castle Inn overlooking the harbour. We took walks on the headland and watched the two remote lighthouses blink in the dusk over on the islands. We saw oyster catchers, plovers, redshanks and herons, and bit by bit, the peace and tranquility of this beautiful place seeped into our souls.

I took a bag with some art supplies and books to read, and although I didn’t make much art I really enjoyed creating two gouache paintings in my sketchbook. It’s been an age since I painted outdoors, and had forgotten how much I enjoy it. I still need to overcome my shyness of painting around people, but something has stirred from doing these pieces, and I am really keen to get out in my own surroundings and make art outdoors again.

Painted on Seahouses beach on a windy day, there are actual grains of sand dried into the paint!

Beadnell beach, looking over to the harbour. It’s a very sporty beach, popular with SUP and kayak enthusiasts.

I came home and ordered a hard backed sketch book, as the one I used at the beach had a soft cover and I wanted something I could rest on. I notice a lightness in these pieces, the loose brush strokes, the colour and the freedom in it. I also noticed how I felt when I created them, and it was a very different feeling to the one I have when I sit at my desk these days.

I think artists must always be open to exploring new avenues and delving into new ways of creating. I’m a firm believer that we don’t need to adhere to just one particular style or genre in our work during our lifetime. We need to evolve and develop our skills, to try new mediums and new ways of creating images. Some people may be fine artists and have a desire to try something completely different, like abstract art, but daren’t take the leap of faith to try it because it’s not what people expect. Art is about creatively expressing ourselves in many forms and we don’t have to put ourselves in a box with a single label on it, it’s natural to experiment and change track.

Every so often I notice that sensation of things becoming a little stale, and that discomfort is a sign to switch things up and try something new. Whatever you try will be of benefit, you’ll learn a new skill or technique which you can apply to your work and so it grows and becomes fresh and exciting again.

I’m also reminded from my plein air beach art that sketchbooks are the most wonderful places for exploration, and for working things out. We can find solace and healing, sign posts and guides within their pages if we just give ourselves the chance to let go and have fun. I’m not sure what the next few months will bring, but I’m hopeful it will turn out ok. I’m also looking forward to getting outdoors with my sketchbook, and have already got some ideas of where I might go to draw.