Walking for inspiration

On Friday I took a break from the workshop and exhibition prep’ to get some fresh air and family time.

Taking a break can seem like the worse thing to do when schedules are bursting- it certainly took a lot of persuasion to get the revising one away from her books- but it helps us recalibrate and make more progress.

Sometimes a trip to the local park is all that I have time for but a walk through green spaces, listening to the birds and spotting the wild flowers really helps to untie the knots in my thoughts- and my neck muscles!

On Friday, we took off in search of better weather. It was damp and dreary here but looked promising further south, so we headed to Runswick Bay in North Yorkshire.

I’d been working on this in the morning

And then went walking here in the afternoon

The tide was at its highest when we arrived so we decided to explore the cliff walk. A ravine leads from the south end of the bay up a steep, stepped path to the cliffs, it’s part of the Cleveland Coastal Path – we could have walked all the way to Whitby but we had tweenagers with us !

Halfway up the steps looking towards Runswick

The cliff path is gorgeous, on our right a field of barley (?) was swaying mesmerically in the breeze with skylarks singing their hearts out high above. On our left, the cliff tumbled down to the North Sea, showing its rusty stripes of iron ore, through recent rock fall scars. Terns flew below us, plummeting into the sea to catch fish before bursting out into the breeze again.

Wildflowers broke the green path lines with brilliant colour – speedwell, stitchwort, pink campion, violets, gorse and birds foot trefoil.

We walked as far as Kettleness before turning to retrace our steps and catch last orders for the cafe in Runswick Bay.

So now I have ideas and images to think about and develop; large scale cliff top scenes and smaller studies of wildflowers to add to the Efflorescence series. Time to get back to the workshop now the Yorkshire sea breezes have blown some clarity into my head .

(And I’ll finish that tiny version of Runswick too!)

Published by Donna Cheshire Textiles

I am a professional textile artist specializing in Appliqué and Free Motion machine stitching. In order to create a unique colour palette, I hand dye my own fabrics and then use these to create the landscapes and coastal scenes recorded in my sketchbook. I often incorporate recycled or vintage fabrics in my work - they add meaning to the story the work is telling. I love being so close to the Northumbrian coast and countryside and I especially like taking time walk and draw these stunning landscapes View more posts