A great day out today, scrambling across the West Wales countryside with irrepressible archaeologist Dewi Bowen and inquisitive film maker Melvyn Williams, finding ancient burial sites and standing stones and drawing in the mud. This site is called Meini Llwydion (Grey Stones) and it’s near Llangynog in Carmarthenshire. After almost 4 months of rain, the ground was absolutely sodden, despite the bright, dry, sunny weather today. The mud put my new walking boots through their paces and the mud won.
People often assume that artists have an easy time of it, sitting around dabbing a bit of paint in warmth and comfort, but here’s the reality – wrestling with a drawing board in a quagmire! The acres of liquid slurry finally got the better of me and I gave up on the drawing board and loose sheets and I drew into my Daler Rowney ‘Ebony’ sketchbook with a white conte crayon. We’ll be continuing this journey across Bronze Age South Wales intermittently in coming months, as Dewi researches for his new book, Melvyn makes his documentary film and I draw inspiration from my ancestors marks on the environment.
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I am surprised that you say that they are overlooked by the education system, probably because I find them so fascinating. I am probably also hankering after a distant ancestral past that I can only access from here via tv and the like and your wonderful drawings. Although I do at least live in a part of the country (Australia) that is endowed with amazingly shaped granite boulders. I have quite an affinity to them as well. Appropriate that my star sign, Taurus, is an earth sign😀.
Yes, unfortunately ancient history isn’t much taught in schools, especially the history of the Celtic British. Andrews – Scottish? Celtic British history is so intriguing, it’s like a detective story to piece it together.
Yes, Scottish a way back as they emmigrated from Sussex. I have no idea when they moved there from Scotland. I studied Ancient History (Greece and Rome
Yes, Greece and Egypt are often taught in the UK but rarely our own Celtic heritage, although there is a resurgence in popular culture. The archaeologist I am travelling with is writing a book on Bronze Age boar hunt trails in South Wales. There’s so much here.
Oops pushed the wrong button. I did study Australian prehistory at Uni. Also a pretty neglected subject given 60,000 years compared to 200 years of settler culture which grabs the lions share of the history books. This is starting to be addressed, but i think people assume that nothing much happened in those millenia – not right of course.
Hats off to you, Rosie. Well worth the effort though – these ancient places are clearly close to your heart and that comes through in the intensity of your drawings.
Thanks Michael. These are places that tend to be overlooked by the education system and are kept alive by folklore and crazily obsessed archaeologists. It’s a joy to work with Dewi and the footage that Melvyn has so far is fascinating. I’m lucky to know such people.
Artist’s are a hardy bunch! Here it’s flies and hot temperatures 🌞🌞
oooof! I get so irritated when people say ‘Oh how lovely’ when I say I’m an artist. You have to push yourself, don’t you? We’ve got the midges just before the sun starts to set, nasty bitey things 😡
Midges yuk. When i was doing my sand drawing in January my friend and i got bitten by sand flies. My bites were bad enough but my friend’s got infected. So much for easy. I don’t think you can be serious about your art without the ability to persist.
People will look at something in a frame on a gallery wall and have no idea of what went into it, not just the training, expertise and skill but also the physical difficulties. Maybe we artists should be more vocal about it.
I like the total commitment! The sketch looks interesting. Happy Weekend and sunny greetings from the Baltic Sea. 🙂
Thank you 🙂 I’m afraid it’s raining here and heading East so enjoy the sunshine today