THE MAGIC WAND
There are many ingredients necessary for a good painting; and different artists will have different lists. My list includes a quiet mind, inspiration via a fabulous walk in the Dales, an interesting colour palette, and years of experience with my soft pastels!
The vibrancy of soft pastels is a joy, and the range of colour enormous. It always amazes me that my same boxes of pastels can produce so many different moods and colour combinations. Sometimes loud and vibrant, at other times soft and muted. Usually these choices are intentional, but at other times a different power seems to be at work, and there is little I can do but to roll with it.
Recently this other power has become more apparent, it is hard to pin down, and often elusive: an uplift of the heart, a joy in the vista and the walk up the hill, an emotional connection to the land I view.
I now think of it as a magic wand.
During these pandemic times I know that many of us have been just coping, getting through, hanging on – and that has been me too. Days requiring great determination just to keep going when faced with more frustrating restrictions, with loss and grief, with worry and stress. I noticed that those same boxes of pastels were producing different work: greyer work, moody work.
A fellow artist reassured me that this showed my magic wand was actually working – that my emotion pours into my work whether I like it or not! But it disturbed me too – was this greyness a good thing? Was the magic wand actually a little broken?
For a while, I decided to embrace it; and walks in some remote tributary Dales of Swaledale under drizzly skies helped continue the mood!
Arndale, Moresdale and Skegdale are on the north-eastern edge of the YDNP, to the east of Arkengarthdale. Their upper reaches offer remote grouse moors that are scarcely visited by anyone except the grouse shooters; a few hardy farmers graze sheep here. These moors are difficult to access: a few tracks got me to overgrown paths; but then sheep paths mis-led me; looming clouds distracted me.
It felt remote and vast; a place that makes you feel very small and in awe of the land. The weather remained grey but some fleeting light was gorgeous.
I loved it.
Maybe some greyness at times is important, it suited my mood; but I was puzzled as to how to create paintings to convey the need for it, yet still be exciting and uplifting. The emotional connection felt draining; it was unusual, and I was unsure.
After mulling on it for some time, I figured it out what I could do; a new method was called for, something exciting and fresh: multi-media! I had been harbouring this ambition for ages (to explain it all will need another blog); but in short, I figured out a way to combine my soft pastel portrayals of skies with acrylic painted moors. And the finished paintings could be shown without glass, a long held desire.
And so my Media Mingles work was launched, and I felt that magical presence again. Was this despite the grey, or because of it?
Whenever I walk in the YDNP, and wherever my ramble takes me, there is always one wonderful, magical thing on offer: ‘breathing space’.
These lovely words were used by the YDNP a few years ago, and I think they are perfect. Wherever you go in the Dales, you can step away from normal routine, from normal life. You can take a moment to stop and stare; the views are fabulous, and for a moment you can just be; you can just breathe.
And that is so good. Life can be put into perspective; new ideas can form as you take time out and your mind is still. Some greyness is important; and I actually love its honesty. Maybe the magic wand was never broken after all; maybe I just needed to keep walking and allow myself to form new perspectives and ideas.
I know that in the greyest of days, in the greyest of years, in the hardest of times, the Dales will always soothe and restore me. I love that the National Park is there for us all, free to visit at any time; a gift indeed. My first walk of the new year offered fabulous weather, laugh-out-loud kind of colour, and filled my mind with new palettes.
If a painting on a wall offers a reminder to take time out, to go for a walk in this fabulous place and breathe, then the magic is very much alive.
