Mawddach Residency – DAY 14

Our last day! Woke up early to watch the light come. In the night I’d heard rain on the roof, hammering at the covered skylight, but by the time I was sat by the window the day was dry. The world was blue black and slowly, the light trickled in, sky lightening first, then water.Continue reading “Mawddach Residency – DAY 14”

Mawddach Residency – DAY 7

We drove up the coast, first following the estuary in, on winding roads, past rows of grey slate cottages, then turning back along the opposite bank, taking the road that hugged the shore. We had spent so many hours staring across at these hills, drawing their shifting colours, noticing that they always seemed to beContinue reading “Mawddach Residency – DAY 7”

Mawddach Residency – DAY 6

We went back up the estuary, away from the sea, towards the mud flats. We saw a curlew pecking at the sand, running as if slightly off balance. We passed yesterday’s spindle bushes and sea defences and carried on, further up, looking for more. The landscape is fascinating because it is a place of suchContinue reading “Mawddach Residency – DAY 6”

Mawddach Residency – DAY 4

Woke to skies painted peach, already pale blue at the edges. Sat by the big window in the studio watching how the water shifted, grey rushing in in slices, bands of movement, silky, stuttering. The cloudless sky ripened to rich blue and we went walking. We followed the track at the edge of the coast,Continue reading “Mawddach Residency – DAY 4”

Mawddach Residency – DAY 3

We swam in silver today. The silt from the banks made the water silky, slashed with ice blue, swan grey, silver. It was colder this morning, the air heavy with moisture; the rain from the night before had left a chill. We waded past clumps of yellowing bladderwrack half hidden in the mud thick water,Continue reading “Mawddach Residency – DAY 3”

Mawddach Residency – DAY 2

The tide was rising and, as we crouched pressing seaweed to wet paper at the edge, the rain came; heavy, relentless, whipping the water into pimples. The hills were swallowed by mist and we were quickly wet through, rain running through the roots of our hair and down our spines. We dropped ink around weedContinue reading “Mawddach Residency – DAY 2”

Mawddach Residency – DAY 1

Fresh from a high tide swim, still outlined in cold, we packed our bags and set out for Barmouth. We took a winding path around the edge of the headland, under old oaks bending and twisting with burnished leaves. The bracken at the sides of the path is burn coloured and curling, dried before dying.Continue reading “Mawddach Residency – DAY 1”