Acrylic Paint

My bold, brash chum. Beautiful, bright and bubbly, and if I’m honest, ever so slightly intimidating. I want to dive in and play but the sheer intensity of the colour makes me a little nervous about making any marks with the stuff. In Art Therapy recently I was invited to have a go at finger painting, and that seemed easier than being all artisty with a brush. So acrylic paint to me is a friend who wants to take me on and adventure but I’m not quite brave enough to let them. One day…

Charcoal

Charcoal’s a cheeky monkey. Unpredictable and a bit loopy. When I’m with them I’m guaranteed to be up to my elbows in dark dust within five minutes of using the stuff. It’s the friend who gets me into trouble whenever we’re together, but I love every minute of it.

Oil Pastel

Bright, happy and childlike. A friend I should spend more time with because I’m sure there is more to explore.

Ink

Another bold, brash and rather frightening friend. Apparently knows all my secrets and tells the world in blot patterns. One to be careful with.

Watercolour

My artistic BFF. It’s soft and subtle when I want to be soft and subtle. It’s bold when I want to be bold. It’s easy to work with (especially with Aquash brushes), and doesn’t leave a mess.

Good to be back with you, friends.

I started a ten-week course on January 18th, and as soon as walked into the art room and picked up an oil pastel, I felt like I’d come home. Something was connecting in a corner of my mind that had been neglected and left to gather dust. Even when the therapist was talking and we weren’t “doing”, I was fiddling, just remembering how it felt to have a stick of colour in my hand and the freeing sensation of applying it to paper.

When I returned home that afternoon I dusted out my old watercolour set. It had certainly been well-used back in 2005 and 2006, but there was plenty of life left in it yet. I opened up the massive Archie Grand notebook Michael had given me a few months before, and threw colour and images at it like a woman possessed. I was home.

The following session, last Wednesday, re-introduced me to the joy of painting (Bob Ross was with us in spirit). Just playing with colours, mixing different shades and seeing the images that came out of them. The therapist commented that I “went to another place” when I had a paintbrush in my hand. Indeed I did. And I like it there. When the challenge came for finger painting I launched straight into the bright blue in front of me and by the time I’d smeared, rubbed, daubed and splatted, I had filthy hands, an unshakeable grin and a rather nice picture of some very lively surf.

So, out of the sessions, I’m now re-connecting with a part of my life that I had neglected for so long. Geeking out over art materials, reacquainting myself with the ones I have, and catching up with the creative people I admired years ago when this here place was my own little world of art.

It’s good to be home. More soon.

Decided to abandon my planned theme for the week and go back to a project I had started for Slimming World. This is an information board about Flexible Syns, and will hopefully be a useful little extra for us all to enjoy at group.

So, to compensate for the lack of anything decent from me for the second day of my retro week, please enjoy this little YouTube gem, featuring the yellow frocked b*stard himself:

Back in the day The Capstone was where all the swingers and hip cats hung out.

Meanwhile, in reality, Capstone Restaurant is in Ilfracombe and has this fab old sign which inspired me to knock this up for kicking off the third week of Thing A Day… Retro Week!

And, before the Pedant Alliance come after me with sticks I should point out that the Grocer’s Apostrophes are intentional.

It’s incredible. I’ve spent a great deal of time staring at this view open-mouthed. I still can’t believe we live here.

The great thing about being here in Tiverton, not far from an attraction known as “Devonshire’s Centre”, is that we can travel to either of the coasts in the time it used to take us to get to work on a wet morning. And when the weather’s good and we have the time, we love to get out there and make the most of it. Here are some of my thoughts on our recent visits to just a few of Devon’s fabulous coastal spots.

The North Coast – Lynton and Lynmouth to Barnstaple

The north coast is rugged. Seriously rugged. It’s walking boots and things with “The North Face” stamped all over them, and Real Ale and an excuse to blow a fortune at Millets. As the sign welcoming you to the area will tell you, it’s where Exmoor meets the sea which it does so in an explosion of breathtaking scenery.

Lynton and Lynmouth are villages separated by a gorge. Normal people who visit Lynton at the right time of year would travel between the towns using the clifftop railway. But some people either aren’t that sensible or arrive out of season when the thing is out of commission and find themselves very delicately negotiating the route down on foot and, fuelled perhaps by fish and chips in Lynmouth, charging back up again but pausing every five minutes to beg for oxygen, sherpas and St Bernards bearing brandy.

The rugged landscape continues along to the west of Lynton and emerges several gut-churning miles in Combe Martin. From there it’s just a few minutes along some more impressive scenery to Ilfracombe, one of the larger coastal towns in North Devon. I haven’t really got much to say about Ilfracombe, as it seemed the entire town was closed. Maybe another visit between April and September will see it with more life.

There was certainly no shortage of life in Barnstaple, the next town along, when we visited yesterday. Barnstaple is the shopping destination for North Devon holidaymakers and Michael’s parents certainly seemed to enjoy wandering around its variety of shops with us despite the bitter cold wind.

The South Coast – Exmouth and Sidmouth

The south coast is altogether more tranquil than the rugged North. Although there is no shortage of hills and beautiful scenery anywhere in Devon, the towns along the south coast suggest a more relaxed pace. It’s cream teas and craft fairs and sitting on a bench by the sea and watching the world go by. Exmouth is our most frequent destination along the south coast as it’s only about 20 minutes from Exeter. In comparison to the towns on the north coast, Exmouth was positively buzzing with activity when we visited last Sunday – a car boot sale at the Hall and an Antiques Fair at the Pavilion. A perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Sidmouth is utterly gorgeous in just about every way. It’s the ultimate Devon seaside town. Streets of interesting little shops, cafes and hotels, a sandy beach, and as a backdrop, the magnificent Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. You can be admiring little seaside souvenirs in the shops, and then just up the road be admiring imposing red cliffs and preparing yourself to tackle Jacob’s Ladder.

There is so much of both coasts that we haven’t explored yet – out further west to the north are Croyde, Westward Ho! and Clovelly; and to south further west are Dartmouth, Salcombe, Plymouth and going on into our neighbouring county that we’re really looking forward to exploring at some point – Cornwall.

We we are very lucky to be living in such wonderful surroundings.

Last photo for Devon week is this shot of the River Taw in Barnstaple. Tomorrow, I’ll be posting a piece featuring all the photos from the last few days all about Devon’s north and south coasts.

Sidmouth

Exmouth

These pics and others will feature in a piece I’m working on to finish off Devon week.

Okay, so this only qualifies as a ‘thing’ because:

• The photo was taken in Devon. (week 2)
• It’s a thing for Slimming World (week 1)
• I cropped it.

Let me explain. Michael and I went along to group tonight with the intention of photographing another one of our group competition nights. We were thinking we’d sit quietly, take some snaps of the winners and enjoy sharing the results. One slight problem… we were the winners, leaving one of the other members (fortunately, a keen photographer so she knew her way around the D40) to take the snaps on our behalf. So, a bit of a fail for “Thing A Day”, but another bit of silverware for the desk and another certificate for the album.

Back to business with the ‘things’ tomorrow, but I won’t be uploading anything tomorrow as I won’t be home. So you’ll be getting two on Wednesday.

And for JohnA, I’ll end with Slimming World haiku:

Bow down and worship The incredible shrinking Sam And, of course, Michael.

See you on Wednesday!

Enough of playing with old photos – time for some new ones. Here are two words you see a great deal around Devon – “Tea Gardens” – and they’re always enjoyable places to sit back, relax, and enjoy a cuppa (when the weather’s nice).

This particular Tea Garden is at one of our regular stops – Mad Hatter’s Restaurant in Tiverton. Best coffee in town.