The Woods

I found myself with some of my students on what now seems to be an annual excursion to the Lickey Hills Country Park in Worcestershire yesterday afternoon. They are working on a painting project, ‘From Cezanne to Abstract Expressionism’, with me at the moment, so the plan was to make some drawings and take some suitable reference photographs to work with back in the classroom. I asked them to make just five drawings in the two hours we were there, and thought it only right to do the same. I don’t ever really like to set work that I wouldn’t be willing to do myself, so I set off too with my sketchbook and i-pad into the woods too.

It was good to get out of the stifling atmosphere of the college and into the cold, fresh air. Things are difficult at work, and I constantly seem to find myself battling with someone or something at the moment, which feels exhausting.  I'm sick of it. So it was great to sit under the trees drawing and walking through the woods, largely on my own. Some students did join me at one point, which was nice, as despite everything else at work, the students remain inspiring. Doing it for ver kids and all that...

Trying to create five drawings was a challenge. I did two sketchbook drawings and three on the i-pad which I was really enjoying working with yesterday. There are a couple on this post. My right hand felt painful with the cold by the end of it though. I’m not sure if it was circulatory, as my hand was purple, or arthritic, as it also ached a great deal. The pain stayed with me into the evening.