Yesterday started off with some time in the studio working on a new painting and also ended the day working on it. I am on my third painting and I am really excited about this one! I headed next door for lunch. I'm now a regular at Andy and Adam's!
I had the most AMAZING carrot and ginger soup there which helped warm me up. I feel so cold all day long here and I long for the moments that I get to warm myself up with soup or a hot drink.
This is what the street looks like right outside Maelor. I love this street.
After lunch Yuki and I went for a walk that ended up being about 3 hours long!
This is a local old chapel that is being turned into art studios, so we heard. My dream!
We saw more sheep, some cows, some great stone buildings, and a beautiful mossy stream.
We stumbled upon this old post office that is for sale! We peered in the windows and it was gorgeous inside! It was a long room with a wood burning stove on either side and a spiral staircase right in the middle of the room!! If I didn't have a husband and children to go home to, you bet I would be buying this place and never returning.
We were heading to the old slate quarry and on the way was this old telephone booth so of course I had to have a moment with it.
We stopped to read about the history of the slate quarry then trekked on the footpaths to get to it. The slate was surrounding us in every direction. It was on either side and underneath our feet. I just LOVED the sound of the slate underneath my boots as I was walking. It was a very satisfying sound. I video taped the sound so I would always remember it.
The size of the hole in the mountain was monstrous...
I collected a few things along the way to press and I just happened to open up the bird book to the owl page which is ironic because that is what I was painting yesterday. I have never painted an owl before but as I did I began to really learn about the form of an owl and all of its details. Every time I paint something I have never painted before I learn more about it as I study the subject. To me, painting equals learning. It is easy to look at something without really studying it, but with art it forces you to take note of every detail. I felt like my walk today was a little like this. When you are in a car you don't stop to study the world around you. On foot you have the chance to be a student of the world around you. Every time you touch the moss, pick up a fern, feel the smooth slate, watch the light hit the mountainside and move as the sun shifts, listen to the sheep bleating and the water dancing over the rocks, you are a student. A student of God's artistry. His amazing, awe-inspiring artistry that I love to capture on my canvas. Although I can never be the level of artist that God is, I love learning about what He has presented us with and reflecting it as best as I can.
