As expected, any time spent in the far north at the end of winter involves a fair amount of staying inside. I think the weather could best be described as exhilarating, although to be fair, I did come back from my first walk on Friday with a new crop of freckles and a pink nose. The pink nose might have been due to the wind rather than the sun, I suppose.
The wind continues to whistle in the wires, and Things Rattle in the night, but all in all the 3-foot-thick walls are keeping the disorder at bay. The accommodation in the Assistant Keepers’ Cottage is fully modernised, apart from the front door. This is a massive structure with the original Northern Light Board door catch – probably hand forged, and certainly hand stamped with the Board initials. The door fits snugly, and most definitely does not rattle.
Yesterday morning was fine, for a while, and I walked down the hill to the carpark. Doesn’t sound very exciting. It was actually amazing: sunshine, high wind, waves crashing on the cliffs. The air was full of balls of sea foam, floating on the wind, looking from a distance like flocks of white birds or giant snowflakes – “plu eira” in Welsh. Snow feathers.
One of the most obvious, and challenging, things about a residency is the impact the accommodation itself has on working methods. Here, everything is very clean, and the opportunities for making my usual large, splashy paintings will be limited to the days when I can work outside. Inside, I am being unnaturally tidy (for me). What can I do that doesn’t make too much mess? Lots of sketchbook work. Make books/a book. A book per walk. Collect stuff (as usual). Photograph stuff. Look, record, think.
