Italian Garden, Heligan

The Italian Garden at the Lost Gardens of Heligan. I was quite pleased with this sketch which took about an hour or so to do. I had a good comfy seat away from the bright sunlight which made using the iPad much easier and I could settle down to work at my leisure.

Mevagissey

Sketches from Mevagissey in Cornwall: people eating chips on the quayside; a fishing boat; and the view from our holiday cottage patio.

Gorran Haven

Sketches made in the picturesque seaside village of Gorran Haven in Cornwall. A gorgeous place with very steep roads and tiny paths between the houses.

Deep in the woods

Deep in the woods

Where pouring rain darkens the light

I walk along puddled track

Ancient trees provide welcome shelter.

Rain everywhere

Tress dripping.

Deep in the woods.

A face at a window.

I've never seen a cottage

Painted black

With face at a window.

A solid black cottage

Trimmed with bright orange window and door fames

There, in the rain

Deep in the wood.

With ground floor window open

She stares out at my rain soaked figure walking past.

I can hardly make her face out

Is there really someone there

In the shadows of the blackness inside

The black house?

"Morning" she calls out

I acknowledge with a similar reply

And walk on in the rain.

Deep in the woods

She sits at the window

Staring out at the rain soaked world.

Provision

Reflection on the sermon at Stopsley Baptist Church (2 Aug 2015) and the YouTube video by Matthew Fox: 'Recovering the sacredness of the earth'.

"If God gives me all that I need, what am I striving for?"

Having pondered this question for the past day or so, two words keeps popping into my mind: understanding and survival. I think it is a slight misjudgement for me to feel that if I am loved by God and he/she gives me all I need then I need not strive for anything. What is important is the intention behind the actions that govern what I say or do. I could just sit back and dwell in the 'love of God' and not really utilise the fact that I am a unique person with gifts and abilities and the conscious ability to change my interaction with the environment around me. I have a responsibility to be the human being that I am and I think that to be aware of who, what and where I am is key to my spiritual life. I need to be thankful for what I have and it is all to easy to let the days go by without really appreciating all that I have around me: family, food, house, work, garden, fresh air, some degree of freedom to be who I want to be etc. But life is about getting out and about and doing something. I am not one for petitioning God for everything either, I believe I am expected to try and sort out lots of things myself and not to try and hide behind a glib "God will sort it all out" that invalidates any reason for my existence.

My attempt to be a spiritual person means that I am striving for understanding, not to do so would be an insult to God, and my understanding is often based on the awe I have for Nature.

"Radical amazement is the beginning of authentic religious feeling."

"The world in all its grandeur is full of spiritual radiance."

"Awareness of the Divine begins with Awe."

"Many people think of God as they would a cow: what can they get out of it?"

I happily admit that I strive for things and that is because I have to in order to stay alive and have some sort of pleasant existence on this earth. I am not going to go into details about this here as this is just a general comment. Intention is important though and I will happily admit that perhaps I push too hard for somethings and should let more things just "be". Deciding on where to strike the right balance is a key issue. There are many positive times in life when you have to find the energy and motivation to succeed. I recently had to take on a bigger piece of responsibility at work which I thoroughly enjoyed. Then there are times when all the hard work I put into growing vegetables in the garden seems in vain until the summer rains come and then everything suddenly flourishes. I would love to have the luxury of a more relaxed lifestyle. Yes, perhaps God would provide, but I am not at the moment willing to put that to the test I am not always sure it is a matter of faith making decisions like that.

To summarise, I do believe that I have all the resources around me that I need for being who I am and perhaps I need need to be more aware of how to utilise what motivates and inspires me.

Wrest Park sketches

Some iPad sketches made today. Visitors to the cafe and the inside of the West Half House in the garden.

Old bridge, Wrest Park

Over the past few years I have crossed this little bridge at Buckle Grove near Wrest Park several times but have never actually seen it. Until earlier this year it was completely obscured by undergrowth such as brambles and blackthorn. Now the stream has been dredged and all the trees and shrubs cut back along the field margin where the stream runs. The bridleway it carries has been built up with chalk hardcore and road planings - in preparation by the farmer for using the nearby woodland for pheasant rearing. It was quite a surprise to come across such a beautiful old stone structure that has remained hidden for many years. The banks of the stream were too steep for me to descend to have a closer look but it did look a little fragile and I am not sure quite how long it will stand up to modern farm traffic. It must be very old. It reminded me of an old stone bridge I knew as a child in Herefordshire which was a much larger structure and had dippers nesting underneath it. From what I can remember that has now been replaced by a modern structure. 

I had been planning to visit this spot today in particular and it was a pleasure to meet a local man walking his dog whilst I was here. We chatted for quite a while about the countryside around here and shared similar observations.