In my previous blog I promised a report from a tent on Shell Island in North Wales, so here goes… we’ve been so lucky this year because our last trip was cut short by stormy weather and wrecked tents. This year turned out to be the best weather we’ve experienced here for a long time; wall to wall sunshine and sea breezes, blue waters to rival the Adriatic and the devastatingly beautiful scenery of Snowdonia and Cardigan Bay. I’ve painted this place for many years in all it’s different moods. My previous sketchbook diary is full of happy memories and I was seriously wondering if I’d find any new inspiration but I wasn’t disappointed. I’d brought with me a pad of black drawing paper, pencils, watercolour kit and my sketchbook. The dunes here are beautiful and full of wildlife which changes constantly through the seasons; this year I was pleased to see linnets, stonechats, and burnet moths in abundance together with some wild white roses (or maybe some kind of potentilla?) which I sketched on the black paper. It was my first attempt at working on black background and I let the dark paper show through for the shaded areas, rather the reverse of working in watercolour and using the white paper for highlights. That's the picture I've chosen for this blog. I’d like also to do a bird portrait back home based on the photos I’ve taken. The sunsets here can be glorious and we were blessed with an absolute cracker whilst crabbing down at the harbour. I'll post that sketch soon, too. It was one of those perfect serendipitous moments with absolute calm apart from the dunlins calling and the sun dropping down over the peninsula across the bay. I did the sky and water reflections there and then. The light soon deteriorated so I finished it outside the tent next day and was joined by a lovely lady passing by who’d recently retired and was thinking of learning to paint. We had a long chat and parted company but she returned later in the day with friends and family – she was so enthused with my sketchbook diary that she’d brought them along to have a look. It was very gratifying to feel that not only did I have a wonderful time, but I might actually have inspired someone else to have a go and get creative. Certainly, my grand-daughters followed my example and have produced some wonderful, spontaneous flower pictures using pastel sticks on the black paper. I’ll post my flower painting in my gallery soon. Now I’m looking forward to the next adventure, whatever it may be. Meanwhile, happy painting all.