It all started with a young art student gazing out of a train window!

Welcome to my brand new blog! I suppose it all really started, when a young art student gazed out of a train window. She saw the most magical place she had ever seen. It looked perfect! A cluster of interesting red roofed houses, surrounded by muted tones of sand and sea.

I was only eighteen at the time and it was my first ever visit to Northumberland. Little did I know then, it would the beginning of a 'life long love affair'. A 'love affair, still very much in the throws of passion, to this day.

Alnmouth from Church Hill

The life long 'love affair'.

My first ever visit to Northumberland (Alnmouth to be precise) was as an art student, on a residential field trip.

Octobers were much colder then, in the early 80's. My pencil holding fingers, were numb and painful with the raw winds. Each morning we were 'pushed out' into the chilly air, armed with only a sketch book and hotel packed lunch - containing a rubber cheese sandwich, an apple and crushed crisps.

By night (being teenagers) we drank in one of the pubs.

"I'd better not say which one because of the 'late lock ins'.

One of our tutors knew the landlord".

During day light I wondered aimlessly, enjoying the spaciousness and absorbing it's peaceful beauty. Then one day something rather strange occurred, at first it was a change in the light, a golden hue illuminated the beach. Then I noticed an unusual sensation which seemed to spread though out my body and suddenly I expanded.

"Yes I know it sounds weird!"

But that's the best way I can describe what occurred.

'I' for a fraction of a second, expanded and became part of everything. Part of the sky, the beach, the sands and the sea. I really wasn't quite sure, what to make of what I'd just experienced. When I met one of my tutors minutes later, I was rather dazed.

I tried to describe the strange event to him.

"Oh you've had one of those ineffable experiences"

He announced, as if this was something quite normal.

"You know one of those spiritual things!"

"Oh! Ok!" I said and that was that, I was drawn to return to Alnmouth, each year.

My shadow on Alnmouth estuary

My spiritual home!

At first we came to Alnmouth, every June for family holidays. With each holiday my children became a year older and more of them, Four in all!

We explored the whole coastline, the castles, beaches, islands and country walks.

Each year was like coming home, a whole week's escape, from land locked South Yorkshire.

My children eventually all became older than 'The young art student' had been all those years before. They now have children of their own!

I moved to Northumberland almost fifteen years ago and I really do feel at home.

"It really is my spiritual home!".

There are so many beautiful colours.

A new adventure started Sept 2024.

"Why I waited so long to start painting Northumberland I'm not quite certain".

'The young art student' after college, never really painted again for many years.

She instead studied Textiles, Ceramics and other things too.

Became a mother and in between 'normal jobs' had businesses making mohair bears - fairy dresses - jewellery and felt hat's, to name a few.

She went to California to train in hypnosis. She did all sorts of types of healing and 'New Age' things...

Five years ago I did start to paint again.

I painted a collection of forty one paintings, depicting dogs in vintage settings.

I sold them at events and Tynemouth Market. Then after selling hundreds of prints, I was in need of painting something much more fulfilling.

So I decided to emerge myself in Northumberland, it's legends, history and mysteries, and all the endless interesting things. At this time of writing, I'm now creating painting twenty. I'm having so much fun. I feel the excitement I felt, when I was that 'young art student' all those years ago.

Worshipping Nature