You can now view pages from Sark Sketchbook-journal of a local artist. Available only from this site and La Maison Rouge Gallery is the ’special limited edition’ of which there were 500 copies printed. Over half are already sold. Please click here to see the books and contact Rosanne if you wish to purchase a copy.
A walk along the top path to the lookout between Port du Moulin and Saignie Bay always gives me a feeling of ‘old’ Sark, with its wizened, stunted trees exposed to the full force of the westerly wind. On these trees are pale green/grey lichens, like little beards growing out of the gnarled old branches of blackthorns and evergreen oaks. I think the name is Evernia prunastri and it is said to have been used as a fixative for perfume, as a flavouring for bread and even for wadding in shotguns! Long-tailed tits also use it in nest making. Here it’s abundant and grows among the ivy and honeysuckle.
Just quickly managed to do this charcoal sketch of the lane at the bottom of the garden for half an hour before the light went. The old telegraph pole reflecting in the puddles at sundown just looked so interesting. I love the quiet, muddy lanes on Sark with all their wild hedges of gorse, ivy, bracken and blackthorn. The birds are starting to pair up and for the last week or so the welcome sound of song thrushes is filling the air especially at dusk. A full moon lit up the sea and at about eight o’clock I took this photo but it probably doesn’t do it justice!
What a fantastic afternoon, clear skies, high tide with water lapping into the rock pools. Deep blue and green waves with white foaming tops, a real joy to be out…and as if that wasn’t enough in mid-painting I felt like someone was watching me and when I turned around, there was a big Atlantic Grey seal looking right at me! No binocluars or scope with me though and he/she was at least a hundred feet away so unfortunately no sketches. The gulls were flocking overhead and obviously very uneasy at the intruder in the bay, it very quickly made its way around the coast to the south side, diving down periodically looking for a meal. Only the third time I have seen a seal off the coast of Sark.
All the rain we are having at the moment is good news for the frogs which are busy spawning in the ponds, this one I found sitting on my doorstep. Sark’s only resident amphibian as there are no toads or newts on the island. The females which are usually larger than the males will lay between one and two thousand eggs.
A very changeable afternoon, with large cumulus clouds being blown in from the west. On the way to Pilcher’s I had to shelter at ‘Hunter’s Lodge’ before setting off again for the cliff below the monument. Incredibly dramatic rain showers all around, this one over Jersey really silhouetted the Coupee beautifully. Still a cold wind blowing but signs of spring starting to show.
Wind NW force six, gusting more in the sleet/snow showers. Clear skies slowly gave way to dark clouds and as I sat painting on the south side of the rocky outcrop the wind picked up and I had to take shelter as the snow really blew in. As quickly as it had come, it was gone and the sky and sea turned the brightest of blues. During the blizzard there were flocks of small birds rushing to take shelter in the gorse and bracken. A totally exhilarating hour’s painting.
You can now view my watercolour paintings, charcoals and acrylics & oils. Just click on the links on the right of the page.
For the first time in a while the weather was good enough to go out painting. I sat sketching out of the cold northwesterly wind, in the sunshine by the window in the rock, even one or two visitors about. Good to be back out with my paints and just seeing what comes along. Stopped at a tree on the way home to photograph and draw some lichen but a cat came along and thought it would start walking all over me and my drawing so I packed up and went home to warm up. It’s a start!
Please keep logging on to view sketchbook pages from places such as India, Malaysia and the Galapagos Islands in ‘portfolio’ as they are uploaded.