Some pen and ink doodles from this year’s Glastonbury Festival; all were drawn in Tom’s Bar and on the hallowed ground of Tom’s Field. Tom’s Field is where an old grey mare called Tom was kept and where all of us workers now eat, drink and are entertained during the festival. Quite a magical and cathartic place! Al
Glastonbury 2019 and The Cure onstage A3 print! Al
Continuing with the Glastonbury Festival theme next on the easel is one from 2019 and The Killers with Blue Pyramid! an acrylic on 1000 x 500mm canvas! Al
I’ve started with some Payne’s Grey to define the structures and then have used some acrylic aerosol spray to flatten the sky. I love the effects you get when you paint over the top of the spray because sometimes the tube paint is slightly repelled by the undercoat, we’ll see how it goes!
Well now it seems like Glastonbury 2022 is going ahead. So as usual I’m working as a veteran with the Recycling Crew and will reside in Tom’s Field near Worthy Farm; Tom’s Field is named after the old horse that used to live there! We have a large marquee where we have wonderful free vegetarian food and entertainment, not to mention the wonderful local Singing Cider. We’re pretty self contained so we could just stay there and still have a fantastic festival. I love meeting up with old Festival friends, drinking the cider and chatting by our camp fires with the thump of distant music.
So almost two weeks to go and after a long lay off we’ll meet again in Tom’s Field and drink and remember lost friends and colleagues who’ll be missed! Al
I’m returning home to Glastonbury Town,
To fly so high I hope we never come down.
Oh come back to dreams and escape from strife,
A few days, an escape, from our hum drum life!
We spent an enjoyable day visiting the Somerset side of the Exmoor National Park spotting deer and searching out cream tea rooms. We visited Selworthy, it’s Beacon and the Periwinkle Tearooms, then travelled on to the The Horner Tea Gardens for more indulgence. Full of cream and jam we decided to visit the Culbone Stone on our return home.
Just off the A39 between Oare and Porlock there is a small junction which leads to a permissive path leading to the Culbone Stone. This mediaeval stone which has a Christian wheeled ring cross carved into it by and early Christian community about 1,200 years ago. It is approximately 3′ high and 20″ wide, and it’s style suggests it dates from perhaps the 6th or 7th century. This stone was discovered on it’s side at about 1939 and then placed upright where it was found, it is thought to be part of a long Neolithic stone row erected 3000 years ago which resides close by in the same wood. The earie wood, it’s ghostly trees and hanging moss suggests magical and mystical properties and has been suggested that St Beuno may have preached there.
We searched for the stone row for some time but sadly gave up stumbling around through brambles, tics and dense bracken. Below the exmoorher.co.uk link gives a much better location for this row.
CIRCLE OF LIFE
An enjoyable circular 10 mile walk from County Gate to the village of Culbone. It was wonderful to be out walking again along the South West Coast Path. A scenic cliff path walk through densely wooded walkways with tripping streams and open fields dotted with sheep and newly born lambs. We arrived at the village of Culbone and enjoyed a picnic sitting on an old bench in the graveyard of St Beuno Church.
St Beuno Church is reported to be the smallest church in England and dates back to the 13 Century a delightful place set within an aged wood, the sunlit graveyard was a delightful way to spend time in the sun.
We returned back to County Gate via a higher footpath through farmland disturbing herds of sheep and lambs on the way. Finally we made our way back over the high moor through the County Gate Stones back to our car. Below are a couple of links with regard to this walk. Al
https://www.highcliffehouse.co.uk/county-gate-culbone-church
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culbone_Church
I’m still in the painting and creativity doldrums so today I forced myself to sit down and take two hours to paint a picture. Not necessarily for sale but just to start the juices flowing again. Well I’m not there yet but at least it’s a start in 2020.
Last week I decided to cross over from Devon into Somerset and first visit Porlock (by the way Mrs Jackson’s Victorian Tearooms homemade crumpets are to die for) and then to complete a circular walk around Bossington Hill. This is a wonderful winter’s scene I saw in full sunlight. Al
https://www.albrownartist.com/post/the-view-from-bossington-hill
Al Brown Artist. 