From Spain and into Portugal, (border-wise, it’s imperceptible, yet the change feels abrupt.) The variety of green hues that span the hills evoke something tropical, light and shadow dances on the distant peaks and I strangely feel more at home than I did a few moments ago. I’ve partially been mapping this journey by the things that grow around me. So far my list goes like this; olives, lemons, oranges, grapes, pears, grapes.
There was a brief period of flatness, beautiful in its own way, as we weaved our way into the country. It inspires relaxation in me (not creativity, but a necessary antithesis). Nestled amongst orchards and lakes, admiring sunsets and sunrises. I find this balance of consuming and creating a never-ending challenge - until I wonder if I’m aspiring to live like some mindset influencer who has a productivity time slot for every hour from 5am til 9pm. A flat landscape makes me feel peaceful, because I don’t have the urgency to create. Instead I’m happy to read, and watch the birds, doodle when it takes my fancy. I revel in the calm, until I’m in the mountains again and I feel what I was unconsciously missing before. The hills have a type of drama, a type of allure that insists on activating some spark in me.
The other colours that astound me here are the wildflowers. Mauves and golds as far as the eye can see, sweeping over the hills like a painting. Gorse is in abundance, its sweet, coconut fragrance is inescapable. But it isn’t just gorse that accounts for the golds, such variety of flowers contribute to the purples and ochres, countless flowers that I can’t name and a couple I can. My colour palette feels gifted.
Usually I only bring a couple of pencils for a long walk, but on seeing the flowers, I couldn’t resit capturing them in colour. I took a small bundle, bound together with a hairband and stowed them away with my A5 sketchbook. With my tin of Neocolors, I tend to have a wide variety of shades with me so I made sure to have a basic range of greens plus some more purplish hues.
Inspiration comes easily to me, the craggy shapes remind me of Scottish hills of my heart, and even the purple heather reminds me of a specific walk around Loch Glass. Those shades dwindle as you amble into the valley. The valley maintains a cool, immovable air. The temperature of air that coexists with water. Little streams trickle through pathways and cobbled streets, all heading for the thread of water below. The canopy of trees reminds me of home, I spot English oaks for the first time since being away. Crown-shyness overhead, acorns underfoot.
Beneath the trees it was luscious green, mossy and wet; not dissimilar to some of my favourite places in the UK. The hue of green that only comes with moss and shade, accompanied by ferns and creeks. This shade of green has always felt like home to me, hiding in dappled light with running water close by.
As a child I labelled these type of places as fairy homes. As a teenager, I thought that foolish. As an adult, I think my childhood self was correct.
Thank you for reading, if you’re interested in any available postcards, please send me an email or a instagram message. Please note they are sketchbook pages so will have one ripped edge and two rounded corners.
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so beautiful!
These photos and your sketches make me want to 🏃🏽♀️ go paint 😊🫶🏽. Just beautiful 🤩