Hartland Quay

Another very difficult choice of what to back-blip.

The day began for me with a very early morning walk exploring the upper and lower paths through the glade. The tree canopy enveloped the upper path in darkness but then I emerged into misty glowing light as the low sun caught the feathery tops of the grasses.

Our first day in the studio and a very different approach for me. I haven't done woodcuts before (only lino) and I was presented with a huge piece of Japanese ply and the suggestion that I explored as many different marks as possible and also positive and negative cuts. The result a doodle - one half circles and flowing shapes and the bottom half based on a landscape idea I'd been playing with in the week before. I'd expected to cut the board up into different pieces when I created it, but in the end Merlyn suggested that I reverse the block and print it as a shadow of the positive image - a touch of genius - I can see why she's good at what she does! I just love the cutting part of the process and I think this much freer approach to working might have opened up new avenues for me, which is what the experience was all about.

A long, hot and successful day and we headed back to Hartland Quay to eat. I wanted the sea in one of my images from the trip, so here it is. As we were waiting for our meal to appear these children lost their ball in the sea and sent one of their number to retrieve it.

The cliffs here are also unusual, mudstone and sandstone compressed and turned on end by tremendous geological forces make striking patterns in the landscape - images that appear in more than one of Merlyn's very large prints.