Monday 14 May 2012

Light & the Great British Seaside


Summer is getting off to a slow start here in the UK. However, yesterday & today have been full of sharp, bright light & searing blue skies that, whilst there's still a nip in the air, whisper the promise of hot summer days to come.

I'm currently teaching an online drawing class & as part of the preparation, wanted to take some photographs of pebbles. I already have pebbles in my garden collected on previous excursions to the coast, but what I didn't have was the right type of light.



I decided that I owed it to my students to give them photographs of pebbles taken in situ on a beach in coastal light.  The nearest place, I could get to easily, was Clevedon on the south west coast. Technically speaking, Clevedon is at that point where river & ocean meet. The water contains silt washed down the river by recent heavy rain, & yet, it's tidal, has small pebbled beaches & a beautiful Victorian pier.



On the drive there, I was thinking about the fact that artists seem to be drawn to the light of the western coast & why this should be. For example, the St Ives artists in Cornwall & St David's in Wales is also a congregating point for artists. Is this just true in Britain or does this happen in other places too, artists creating communities to take advantage of the western light. Do you know of any others?


2 comments:

  1. Love this post, Erica! And wonderful what you are doing for us! :) I am one grateful lady and student :)

    St. Ives is one of the loveliest places I know as I love the English coast for its stunning colours and landscapes, and yes, never thought of it consciously, but that has to do with the light ... Without it, colours wouldn't look so magical ...

    What I know is that light is one of the most important sources for my creativity and my happiness and that a friend of mine, who is an artist too and is originally from Portugal, really misses the light of her homecountry. And that I miss the light of the Provence right now, as it's really special: can't describe why or how, it's 'just' a feeling.

    Do you know Cadaques in Spain? Only visited it once but would love to go back. It's a place frequented by many of our great artists and Dali resided nearby ... http://estudiosdecococita.wordpress.com/2011/08/06/cococitas-alphabet-c/
    If you'd ever have the chance to visit this place, don't hesitate! I am sure you will like it as much as I do :)

    Thank you for this inspiring post: I'd love to discuss this item live :)

    PS: coincidence or not, today I wrote about light as well and how I love it :)

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  2. Very strange that we both wrote about the light!
    I had never heard of Cadaques, but I followed your link & it looks beautiful. Interesting too that many artists were attracted to live there.

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