Hello friends,
Yesterday we went to a place called Southend-on-Sea. It is a town at the mouth of the Thames river, where it meets the North Sea. Southend is known as a seaside resort with an amusement park and fish’n’chip shops galore. And it has a famous pier that sticks out 1.3 miles (2.1 km) into the water. It is so long to allow for ships to dock when the tide is out. Although, ships do not dock there any more.
Tony has fond memories of going to Southend when he was little. Obviously I do not have memories of going there as a child. I like going to Southend because it is by the sea. I love the salty sea air in my face. And being able to look out. Out to sea. Out to where the sky meets the sea.
We used to live right next to the Thames and it always felt like there was…breathing space. Something I miss a lot now that we live away from the river. Although I didn’t grow up next to the sea, the ‘Big Town’ near to where I grew up is right on a bay and I would see the view across it plenty enough that I think of it as part of the landscape where I grew up. If that makes sense.
And in this past year and a half where we’ve barely left our local town, I sometimes feel really landlocked!
So the smell of the sea and the salty windy in my hair was just the thing I needed yesterday. And it didn’t hurt that we had ice cream and fries that burnt my tongue and I did some sketching. I hope we can do it again soon. :-)
Has ‘stay in place’ this past year and a half made you feel landlocked too?
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
xx Carina
Some Things I Enjoyed This Week
After teaching beginner embroidery on Wednesday, I took the Tube to Oxford Street and bought some goodies in the Scandinavian Kitchen. I may have polished off a bag of salty liquorice sweets that same evening! :-)
After my visit to Scandi Kitchen, I wandered through the Soho area of London and did a bit of sketching. The sun was shining and it was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours.
Recently I have started using a Pentel Brush Pen which I really like. The ‘nib’ is a brush and it can make both fine and very broad lines. But it also a little bit unpredictable which I really like. And the ink is waterproof so I can use it with watercolour. It’s funny how simply trying a new tool can open up whole new possibilities! Here’s a couple of sketches I made using that pen (and watercolours). The top one is Soho Square Gardens in London and the bottom one is the Southend Pier.