This week I returned to a place I call Cherry Wood. It's a copse of cherry trees too small to be marked on my map, that caught my attention while walking along the coast path earlier this year. The cool dark shade of the trees created a distinct contrast to the sun drenched heathland and wide open sea views I had been enjoying on the rest of the walk. I found myself immersed in a space dominated by just one species. My attention was drawn to the patterns and textures within the shadows and to the repeating shapes of the twisting, gnarly branches. I knew I would like to spend more time here one day.
The weather was not so agreeable on my return visit. As I stepped into the shelter of the weathered cherry trees the sound of the waves below became a distant rhythm, the noise of the wind grew softer and the rain less intense. Sitting in my waterproofs I spent a long time trying to spend time in nature. Eventually my mind settled and I was able to enjoy being in the moment.
This mixed media sketch is my response, below is the text beneath the paint…
Cherry Wood. Start Point
Monday 31. July 2023
15°C Strong breeze. Overcast.
Raining.
Choppy sea on the other side of the point.
Sitting. Listening.
Protected by a canopy of cherry leaves and twisted branches.
The sound of summer camping as raindrops hit my hood.
The underside of the gnarled cherry branches is streaked with slow streams of rain.
There is movement everywhere as I tune in to the soft, subtle symphony of raindrops striking leaves.
I can hear the waves breaking at the edge of the milky slate-blue sea below.
Swallows and martins beyond the canopy enjoying the wind.
Contact calls of robins
Blackbirds turning leaves under scrub. Brambles.
Wood pigeons calling.
Raindrops making it hard to write. Biro struggling across the wrinkled paper, the surface rubbing off beneath my hand.
