Travel is not all about differing cultures, food and exotic venues, it is also about enjoyment and seeing the different ways of living and best of all the unusual. This is the first time that I have seen this road sign, it was in a small village in central Wales and for the cynic, no I did not see a cat with a white stick.

Back to England for a moment. On Monday having a rare free day we decided to venture to the South Bank in London, just to chill out, have a stroll, see some favourite sites and have lunch. As usual we were on the lookout for the unusual and interesting. We were not disapointed.A little ahead of us appeared a person who certainly caught your attention. It was female, tall and very slim. She had waist length pure white hair, over a knitted orange bomber jacket. Over her shoulders and flying in the breeze was  a dayglow, high viz, pink scafe. Then to complete the outfit were a pair of viridian green baggy trousers. Now what her statement was I have no idea, but boy did you see her coming.

We then returned home chuckling having had a lovely trip ou.

Today in the Wales trek we have two images, the upper one is of one of those lovely picturesque cottages which are dotted all over the place, this particular one was sketched whilst still behind the steering wheel in a quick, few moments break in the driving. 

The lower image is of a lovely remote chapel on the north coast of the Llyn Peninsular. Wales is full of many such quiet distant places, where you can just stop and think. Although the busy Blackpoolitis sort of tourism was available, that is, if required; peace was just around any corner; those were the places we were seeking. Not far away was a small car park, friendly cafe and gorgeous beach. People were around, yes,  that was fine, but not in their thousands and they were enjoying themselves. A lovely family holiday sort of spot.

We have a rule when exploring any new district, follow the smallest roads you can find, then follow them until they cease to be a road. Often this involves reversing a short distance, or a tricky three point turn might be required, this three point turn sometimes develops into a rather hairy ten point turn, but thats all the fun of exploring and finding special places.

 

The Welsh journey continues; whilst staying near Conwy we called into LLandudno briefly and had time for a coffee/sketch at a pavement cafe in George Street.  Llandudno is a lovely rather spacious seaside resort, with wide boulevard type streets and many grand buildings, nice coffee as well. the above is not a great piece of art work, however it does capture the Victorian/Edwardian atmosphere of the place. Sketching is such great fun and Liz is still happily engrossed in her book. Can you spot Edith; I will explain that in my next blog? at

Went for a walk at Polsden Lacey the other day and saw a slow worm. I'v not seen one of them for a couple of years. This one was about 15 inch's long and in the middle of a path, right out in the open, a very vulnerable place to be caught in, so it was playing dead and a first site looked a little like a wooden stick. When it realised that it had been spotted, a burst of speed took it into the undergrowth. 

Note Autumn is just around the corner; all those wonderful colours where every leaf is like a flower.

 

After Chester we meandered through North Wales, visiting Rhyl, LLandudno, Colwyn Bay Rhuddlan Castle and several other placed which were familiar with my childhood in that area; it was good fun, with sketching playing its part. Liz was constantly immersed in a super book.

A sketch is not a highly polished piece of work, although it can most certainly be of merit; rather it is about a quick memory, an impression and oft created in far from perfect conditions, the above is a good example.  It is of one of the gateways into Conwy and sketched from a very busy corner surrounded by many people pushing and squeezing past everybody else. Sitting was impossible, so leaning against a lamp post on the edge of the pavement was the only possible way of working. 

It was fun to produce and an impression which pleases me. For those of you who are familiar with my work, you might notice Edith with her shopping bags near the centre of the sketch. She gets into my works all over the place, maybe I will tell you about her next week.

Sixty six images were sketched and several hundred photos snapped during the trip, the sketches have all now been digitally scanned and my attention has turned to the photos, sorting them out in photoshop; all good fun.

Will show another image from the trip in a day or so, regards Charles.

 

 

It has been quite a while since my last blog, to be honest life has been hectic, what with routines, work, commitments and travels; my life has been full to overflowing: but enough of that, my last trek was a journey through Wales from Chester to Bristol, with seemingly every very minor road between traveled. Liz loves these very quiet, remote, single track roads, to be honest fantastic places are often found at the end of them; so that is the way by enlarge that we traveled through Wales. It must be noted that oft these quaint roads have a dead end, with a nightmare three point turn being required for the return journey. Good fun?

However the first drawing of the trip was of the clock gate in Chester. Very touristy and friendly, maybe everybody in Chester spoke to me, I don't know how any drawing was produced.

 More soon.

 

The other day I did a very silly thing. Liz and myself went to La Ronda, an amazing house on the River Ex estuary. The idea was to relax, have some lunch and for me to sketch a little.  The relaxing and lunch bits went fine, it was the sketching bit that went pear shaped. I took my paper and drawing board with me, but when I looked inside my bag, I had forgotten to include my pens, inks, paints, brushes and pencils. Silly old me. After a growl, I managed to scrounge a blunt IKEA pencil stub from the gift shop, with no means of sharpening it.. Not by any means a perfect tool, but it did the job. 

So the day wasn't wasted, we relaxed, had a nice lunch and I was flexible in my artistic endeavours; not a great piece of art, but good fun. Don't take yourself to seriously!

We have just had a few nights in Sidmouth, again; we love the place. As usual we went sketching in Beer, see above. No pencil, straight in with the pen; if you look closely you will notice the rain (drizzle) drops in a few places with very small blots in some areas. Well, maybe with the water splodges on it, it might not qualify as a masterpiece, but I think the blemishes add to the work and give it a strong reality factor. So don't be put of by the weather.

As usual when out painting I met some lovely people. Firstly. a very pleasant if rather strangely unkempt and unwashed individual with well worn clothing, a thin totally unkempt beard and a hat, which for originality would win any competition. It started as a cowboy hat before it was destroyed by the weather and many years of use. Then it was covered by badges of many music festivals; only ones where he could manage a free entry, he does not believe you should pay to listen to music at events. But the crem-de-la-creme was a small plastic model toilet glued to the top central part of his hat. I did enjoy listening to his philosophy on life for a few minuets, the details of which I will not bore you.

Then a lovely elderly lady trundeled past with her wheeler. A nice lady totally out of touch with reality. She just can't understand how the economy was tight and how ordinary people did not have enough to live on, thereby finding life hard. Sometimes there is not point in disagreeing, so she wandered on in her own little world with a smile.

This week I relaxed and could not be bothered to argue.