Walk Six – Drawing in the dark

Ah what devotion to duty! After a spur of the moment decision to have a lovely day out with my friend Jenny in Brighton, I got back home at 8 o’ clock in the evening, so I then had to rush out and peer through the gloom to get these drawings. Thank you everyone who has shown an interest and wants to join the challenge. I’ll update the links when I’m not so tired. It’s now 10:30 and I’ve barely said hello to Robin so I’m off to bed!

Walk Five – Tree trunk

A bit more time today, because darling Robin took Xavier to his friend Sam’s birthday party. I spotted a few things on my walk that I’ll be able to draw very quickly when the weather is freezing. Best to prepare myself for when this challenge gets really challenging. As it is, I was frozen by the time I finished this drawing, and poor Rufus really couldn’t understand why his mistress was sitting down half way through a walk when there were all those exciting smells to be enjoyed.

Walk Four – Jersey Farm Woodland Park

You know that expression ‘Friday Car’ meaning a car probably made on a Friday that has everything wrong with it because the workers are too busy thinking about the weekend to make it properly. I think we may see a similar pattern with my Friday posts where the drawings and the length of the walk are below par. Not in fact because of the weekend but because the little emperor doesn’t go to nursery on Fridays.

I barely walked the distance today although walking back up Jersey lane to find the coat that had been thrown out of the pushchair probably ensured I did.

I optimistically packed watercolours today. After the usual hour it seems to take to get out of the house with a toddler in tow, I eventually set off, however all I could manage were these tiny black and white thumbnails which I coloured on the computer a few minutes ago.

Oh and the bottom one is Xavier saying ‘Look Mummy, a wiggly worm – hello Mr Worm, how are you Mr Worm?’

Walk Three – Hammonds Farm

Overcast, but not too cold. They didn’t seem to mind a plump, middle-aged woman sitting on the bridleway verge, drawing the farm buildings at Hammonds Farm. You can see the gables and chimneys of the rambling old famhouse peeking up from behind the barn.

Walk two – Childwickbury

A perfect morning for walking. Blue skies, sunshine but a slight chill in the air. I cut across Spencer playing field, past the horses at Sandridgebury stables, along the bridle path that takes you over the railway track and up to Cheapside Farm. I walked a little further on until I could get a glimpse over the fields of the gorgeous Victorian gothic gatehouse at the entrance to the Childwickbury estate. I found a moss-covered stump of a tree to sit on and drew.

This ‘one mile from home’ project is already demonstrating to me that I don’t appreciate what is right on the doostep. I knew that Childwickbury Manor (behind the gatehouse shown here) was Stanley Kubrick’s home, but I didn’t realise until I was ‘googling’ for information that there is going to be an arts fair there in June – so a date for the diary. Also I’m very tempted to make a mess with oil paints by going on one of Christiane Kubrick’s weekend oil painting courses, however my finances and commitments mean that may have to wait for another year.

I’ve also discovered that a mile is a lot further than I imagined!

Walk One – Wood Anemones

For my first walk I decided to walk up to Langley Wood and around the the field to Hill End Farm. As it was drizzling with rain I thought that drawing under the shelter of the trees would protect my sketch book. However the rain dripped all over the picture – which I think improved it immeasurably. I wanted to capture the anemones quickly because the bluebells are just starting to show through which is a sign that the anemones won’t be with us much longer. I’m going to have to be a bit more scientific about this challenge, because although I walked well over the distance required by the challenge – I may have picked a spot that was within the one mile zone. So when I have time I’ll sort out Ordnance Survey maps to mark the spot.

The Challenge

Over the last year I’ve found blogging wonderful as a motivator to be creative. However there’s a bit of a problem with it – there’s an awful lot of sitting – which leads to that syndrome – blogger’s bum. I’ve discovered that I’m the perfect weight – however only for someone 6' 3" tall. So as growing taller doesn’t seem to be an option I’m going to have to do something about the horizontal measurement instead.

Weight loss, exercise and dieting are all so unutterably boring that I’ve decided to approach the problem laterally with an art challenge.

So this is my challenge.

Walk a minimum of one mile from home. Record where you’ve been with a drawing, sculpture, photo or painting and then walk back. Every day for a year.
A mile may seem pitifully short but I chose a distance that would be bearable in the freezing cold or pouring rain and in any case it’s only a minimum distance.
If any one is interested in joining me I’ll add you to the ‘One mile from home’ blogroll.

So at the end of the year I’ll have 365 pieces of art, I’ll have explored where I live in an environmentally friendly way and as a bonus I might be nearer the right weight for a less Amazonian woman!