Anita Reynolds joins Claire Gormly at Boleigh Farm Campsite to find out how she's completing the Year-Long Online Landscape Course whilst travelling.
So, tell us what you’ve been up to, Claire!
I came to Cornwall to walk the South West Coast Path and decided to do a course at the Newlyn School of Art at the same time. So now I've parked myself in a spot for the next few days to put some of what I learnt from the course into practise, but also because I'm doing the Year-Long Online Landscape Course.
With the in-person course, Landscape to Print, I learnt all about Geli plate printing and was really excited about that. And so, incorporating what I'm learning on the online course into what I'm doing in person, it's all just kind of gelled together really.
Excellent. So, you’re on Module 4?
I'm on Module 4, the mixed-media part, and I'm up to the part where we have to walk around a landscape and do sketches.
So, you've been to the Merry Maidens?
I've been to the Merry Maidens, and this morning I did a whole series of (drawings), you know, stuck them together, walked around the Merry Maidens in a circle and then picked out some of the ones that I want to concentrate on.
Also, this morning I took out the Geli plates, which I was very excited about. Just using acrylic and playing with texture from some grasses that I found and different papers, which I brought with me all the way from Australia.
So, yeah, I did that this morning, and then I'm going to go back over there later on to do some collage on-site. I've never done this before, so I'm really excited.
Can you see this translating to your landscapes back home?
Well, I'm from New Zealand, so I spend a lot of time there, and the landscape there is really inspiring. It's very much wilder and rougher, but what I'm drawn to in the landscape is the historical things like the stone circles. In New Zealand we've got some amazing Maori history, and landscapes close to where my parents live that I'm really inspired to create in.
So I definitely will be taking out all of my stuff and trying it when I go home.
It's fascinating and I just love the fact that you're doing it here. I'm just thinking about your suitcase when you came over, was it like 80% art materials, 20% everything else?
Yeah, I brought loads with me. I brought this big, heavy drawing board, my paper, my sketchbook, all my printing ink. How did you manage it when you did the Coastal Path? I mean, it's one thing having a car and bringing my materials with me in a suitcase, which I've done.
You know, when I did the South West Coast Path about 12 years ago, I took a little tiny sketchbook and a set of watercolours. I kept the materials very simple and I only walked one week at a time.
I think this is a really fun project, because you don't know what the colours are until you're sitting in the landscape, do you? You really have to be in that landscape to figure out what your palette is, I'm really discovering that.
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Watch the full interview here.
Find out more about the Year-Long Online Landscape Course here.
A huge thank you to Boleigh Farm for warmly welcoming us and permitting us to film on-site.