My journey around ancient monuments last week ended is an unbelievably muddy field just outside the tiny village of Meinciau in Carmarthenshire. Some distance from the road, through a couple of fields is The Gwempa standing stone, a large menhir covered in elaborate patterns of lichen and scored heavily with lines near the bottom. TheContinue reading “Walnuts And Mud”
Tag Archives: Carmarthenshire
Arthur’s Table
Up a mountain (Mynydd Llangynderyn), over a ridge, through a bog to a pair of small sub-megalithic burial chambers next to each other under a rocky outcrop. Together the pair is known as Bwrdd Arthur (Arthur’s Table). This is the western burial chamber, called Gwal y Filiast (Kennel of the Greyhound Bitch), which is theContinue reading “Arthur’s Table”
Channelling Cezanne
Each ancient stone monument I visit on my travels across South Wales affects me in different ways and this is being reflected in my drawings. Here at the Neolithic ring cairn atop Mynydd Llangyndeyrn, Carmarthenshire, the angular stones contrasted sharply with the grassy hummocks surrounding them. I’m not interested in doing topographical drawings, I wantContinue reading “Channelling Cezanne”
The Sentinel
The Sentinel is a massive quartzite standing stone, the first ancient monument we met as we walked up Mynydd Llangyndeyrn, which translates from the Welsh as the Mountain of the Church of Saint Cyndeyrn. The stone was flat on the ground until 1976, when its socket was found and it was re-erected. Nobody is sureContinue reading “The Sentinel”
Grumble In The Jumble
What influences a drawing? Lots of things; the subject, the artist’s reactions to the subject; the drawing materials; the weather. That’s right, the weather. I was so cold by the time I reached this sub-Megalithic burial chamber on Mynydd Llangynderyn that I couldn’t be bothered to faff about with my carrying tube of paper andContinue reading “Grumble In The Jumble”
Stones, Slurry, Sun
This morning was bright, sunny and cold and I took off with archaeologist Dewi Bowen and film maker Melvyn Williams for a second day following the trail of Bronze Age monuments across West Wales. We had a trek up Mynydd Llangyndeyrn, between the villages of Pontyberem and Crwbin to see a magnificent standing stone; aContinue reading “Stones, Slurry, Sun”
Myrddin’s Quoits
I’m continuing to work on a series of drawings done in the field, quite literally, of ancient stone monuments in West Wales, linked with the legends of the Mabinogion. This is Myrddin’s Quoits. Myrddin is the Welsh version of Merlin, who is a major figure in Welsh / ancient British mythology. I visited these stones,Continue reading “Myrddin’s Quoits”
The Greyhound’s Kennel
This is the first of the ancient stone monuments I drew a couple of days ago when I was trekking around muddy Carmarthenshire with an archaeologist and a film maker. The Welsh name is Twlc Y Filiast which translates as the Kennel of the (female) Greyhound, but the monument is also known as Arthur’s TableContinue reading “The Greyhound’s Kennel”
The Vastness Of Time
I was out and about with archaeologist Dewi Bowen (left) and film maker Melvyn Williams (middle) yesterday, following a Bronze Age route to visit 4 sites of ancient stones. I was planning on drawing them all but this one turned out to be a bit on the short side and I couldn’t get any inspirationContinue reading “The Vastness Of Time”
MUD!!!
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, theContinue reading “MUD!!!”
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