Simply Neutrals #47

Hello dear friends, welcome to Simply Neutrals #47!

We just came back from the Austrian mountains, where we stayed for a couple of weeks. And today I just had to share with you one of the amazing glaciers we visited.

Simply Neutrals #41

Hello dears, a warm welcome to Simply Neutrals linky party!

Today I'm sharing a little bit more about my personal life. It's nice to get to know a little about each other, don't you think? (Although I will never share much of my private life online.)

Last week I mentioned that I'm decluttering. Again :) I have a deep desire to live a simplified life. I always had. It's a lifelong process of becoming more mindful, living a more sustainable and responsible life, and living with less stuff and less clutter both in my surroundings and in my head. Once in a while I have this urge to simplify drastically. When closets and mind have been cluttering up again, sneaky without me really noticing.

Simply Neutrals #40

Hello dears, welcome to Simply Neutrals! It's so wonderful to see new people joining SNT. A very warm welcome to you :) I hope you enjoy the gathering with us.

I'm busy decluttering at home (actually it's my third big round of decluttering, it's a process of years already), and while doing so I found some shells that I had brought home from a trip to Cornwall. Which brought me back to the Cornish beaches and rockpools. The long hours we spent there, enjoying the scenery, taking photos, watching the shells and rocks, the birds, the waves coming in and going out. Peaceful happiness.

Thousands and thousands of shell-creatures, clinging on to the rocks, waiting for the waves to come in and the water to rise again after low tide. Waves smashing against the rocks.

It's a miracle, how these tiny creatures can hold on to the rocks with such powerful waves crashing on them, again and again, hour after hour, day after day.

I'd love to go back to Cornwall.
I think I really wouldn't mind to live there!

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FEATURE OF LAST WEEK

Like I said, it's wonderful to see new people joining us at Simply Neutrals, and one of them is Jo from Let's Art Journal. I am completely in love with the beautiful collage she made and shared with us last week.

So many beautiful details to see...
Thank you for sharing and linking your gorgeous work, Jo!

Isle of Skye Edinbane Pottery

Hello dear friends,

When on the Isle of Skye we visited the Edinbane Pottery. Actually we spent hours and hours there, watching the potters at work and admiring the beautiful art pieces they created. I've never tried this art form, but it's fascinating to watch.

Stuart

It all started with Stuart and his father when they founded the pottery in 1971. Today, besides Stuart, his wife Julie and German born Andreas also work here, occasionally joined by other potters.

We visited a couple of times. The first few times, Stuart and Julie had some days off. So we spend most of our time with Andreas. I made a short film to give you an impression:





The clay mixture they use and the glazes are made by them as well. So the whole process from clay making to the finishing touches are all done by this team of potters.

There are many steps in this process from rough clay to pot. In their shop they have a list of all the steps. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of it.

What's so nice about this pottery is the openness. You can see the potters at work while literally standing next to them. They are very happy to tell about their work and answer all our questions, which no doubt they have had to answer many times before, over and over again.

The potters each have their own unique style. And I must say I loved them all equally. Work inspired by the island's nature and the sea, like the Ebb and Flow series below.

Not long ago part of the pottery burned down and had to be rebuild. When we were there they were still busy building a new oven. Stuart showed us around so we could see the ovens they have.

We watched Andreas at work on a huge teapot. I mean, really huge. Not exactly something for daily use unless you drink a whole lot of tea or have a very large party, but it's a beautiful decor piece. We had to leave though before he could add the glazing and paints, so we haven't seen the end result.

Andreas

I always love to see what tools artists work with. I'm tempted... may be there's a bit of room in our home for a potter's worktable? Who knows...

Visit this wonderful pottery on their website:

Edinbane Pottery

Or better yet, go pay them a visit on the beautiful Isle of Skye!

Wishing you a happy day!

xx Wen

The Quiraing on the Isle of Skye

The Isle of Skye was one of those names that were on my wish list of dream trips. Just the name alone sounds magical to me. When arriving I first had some kind of culture shock, or nature shock really. I knew beforehand that the landscape would be barren. We had visited Wales before and it can be quite barren there as well at some places. But I wasn't quite prepared for this empty land I was about to visit.

It took me a couple of days to feel at home there. But once that was settled, a feeling of magic hit me. This land is truly magical, mysterious, and wonderful.

One of the many days we were so fortunate to spend there, we went on a road trip to the Quiraing. A rocky terrain, with very distinctive features. If you google Isle of Skye, you will probably see more photos like these. It is one of the landmarks of Skye that is a must see for visitors.

Actually we didn't plan on going to the Quiraing. We passed it by accident, because the road that we we wanted to take instead was blocked for road work. But when we saw these stunning views, we were quite happy with this pleasant surprise!

And those sheep... I have a story or two to tell you about them as well. But that's for another time. As is the story about the pottery...

Hugs and sunny smiles,

xx Wen

(Ps: the little home on wheels is not ours, unfortunately...)

The inspiring coast of Cornwall

Cornwall had been on my wish list for a long time before we made it there. I grew up in a coastal town myself and really longed to visit the south west end of the UK. And I was not disappointed. Now I really long to go back there again and again.

It's that's feeling of really being on vacation, that I also always have when we drive to our local coast and pass the sand dunes. On these coasts the trees are lower than inland. There's more bushes than trees, really. You hear the seagulls and smell the salt of the sea in the refreshing breeze. And of course there's the sea. The waves splashing on the beach over and over again.

It's the hours spent beachcombing.

Finding treasures in shells, stones, sea glass and pottery pieces.

It's a place so inspiring, I take loads and loads of photos to bring back home some of the beauty and memories. At home I wish to capture it all, studying in threads, fabrics, paints, and so on.

And I don't mind the weather on coasts like this.

I want to stay outdoors for as long as possible. You really have to drag me home then.

The hills and cliffs, the beaches and sea, they inspired me to experiment with crochet. I used a version of the so called wave stitch, and varied with working in back loop, front loop and both loops, to add some depth to the piece. I also started adding some tiny flowers in embroidery. Where this will lead me, I have no idea, but I'm having a whole lot of fun anyway :)

And the colours also inspired me to get some paint going as well, as you can see.

I love paintings worked in detail and abstracts equally. It's just like nature. Nature paints in wild landscapes, flora and fauna, magical small worlds in details, and abstracts and patterns.

Here's an abstract painting by nature:

Isn't it just gorgeous? Plant life holding on to ancient coastal rocks, washed by the tidal waves. 

Waves that bring little treasures to the coast: sea glasses, pottery, shells.

Found in rock pools and harbours.

Here the ocean has withdrawn. But only for a little while. You have plenty of time to do some beachcombing, but make sure to keep an eye on the tide and go back to dry land in time. I didn't, and got wet feet. Luckily I was close enough to the beach. Others had gone a little further and had to swim back. They had fun though, and got back safely.

I can see why so many artists are inspired by the Cornish coast.

Here are some of my favourite Cornwall inspired artists (in alphabetic order):

Amanda Richardson

Carolyn Saxby

Hannah Cole

Kirsty Elson

Melanie McDonald

Serena

The only thing that I regret, is that I didn't shoot more video on this trip.

Oh well, next time!

Is there a particular coast you have fond memories of or which you would love to visit?

Do you love beachcombing?

xx Wen

Derelict...

Derelict is the theme chosen for us by dear Ros at Our Beautiful World this week.

der·e·lict  (dĕr′ə-lĭkt′)

1. Deserted by an owner or keeper; abandoned.

2. Run-down; dilapidated.

3. Neglectful of duty or obligation; remiss.

1. Abandoned property, especially a ship abandoned at sea.

2. A homeless or jobless person; a vagrant.

3. Law Land left dry by a permanent recession of the water line.

I would say a ruin is quite abandoned and run-down. Isn't it?

This place is definitely deserted by it's former owners.

Or is it?

Some of the old spirits are clearly still having fun

and won't hear of deserting or abandoning or any such dreadful word.

Now, of course you'd like to know where this happy old place is.

Let me enlighten you at once.

So, here's proof of it.

Ghosts do exist.

And love to be photographed,

especially when bravely fighting the enemy.

This was on a trip to Dorset, England. I loved Old Sarum, it's a beautiful place to visit. Below are the outer defending walls from which you have a wonderful view of the surrounding farmland.

The defending walls consist of steep slopes which are already hard to climb in itself. But what must have made it even more agreeable a climb was the ongoing attack from above by lovely friends.

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Hope you enjoyed the little tour.

Wishing you a beautiful week!

xx Wen

Footy note:

I heard there have been severe weather and flooding in Dorset. Though I searched the internet, I couldn't find the state of Old Sarum at the moment. But there are flooding in the surrounding area and more heavy rain and storms are predicted for the coming week. My heart goes out to all who suffer there. Thank you dear Darnell for mentioning it, for otherwise I would not have known about it at all.