The final year has started. Or, well, it started four weeks ago. It's only really now that I feel completely in the swing of things in the studio. I had an amazing summer; first, two months working in Italy where I loved being with everyone and everything about that culture again. Then after a couple of weeks back in Scotland, one of my biggest adventures yet; hiking the John Muir Trail in California. An incredible 230 mile hike starting from Yosemite Valley and continuing south until it reaches the summit of Mt Whitney, the highest point in continental US. John Muir was an naturalist, conservationist, writer, botanist and founding father of the national park movement in the US - a man who was born in Dunbar, Scotland in fact. It took us 17 days to reach the summit, and another day to get back to civilisation and eat a burger. The Sierra Nevadas is just a great place to do long-distance hikes. Being out in the wilderness for that long, with only one re-supply, was a big change, nothing like a day hike in Scotland. It left me craving the outdoors and started the base point of my research when I finally returned to the studio.
I started by looking at moving my work on from Italy and more towards natural landscapes. Depicting the sense of place whilst still keeping a abstract feel has been a interesting balance to find. And I'm not close to finding it yet. I need to keep pushing over the next few weeks to really try out any ideas
I've had and to see how different materials react together. The pace in the studios has been very varied, amongst my own days and everyone else's. As I scale up some of my smaller studies, the waiting time for these large pools of paint to dry becomes longer and other side projects appear to fill the time. It is not without its difficulties but I'm starting to really enjoy my final year in these studios and the family that comes with it.
The next two months are full of big milestones; exhibiting in my first international exhibition and finishing my first draft of my dissertation. More hikes are also planned because my heart seems to sing if it's in the mountains and hills, surrounded by good company or amongst some paint and brushes. Balance is key and you can only make work if you have experience to draw from. Or at least I only can.
'I only went out for a walk and finally decided to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.'
JOHN MUIR