Eviction drawings 2024 to 2025

In February I finished my eviction series, the drawings aren't very neat, but as I'm going to keep them it doesn't really matter. They are the memory of a very difficult time in my life, that miraculously turned into happiness.

"My Now House" Lynton 2024

"My Never House" 2024, when life was at its darkest and I was researching the price of caravans and the cost of storing all our possessions.

"My New House" Combe Martin 2025

Photo's on my Phone 5th of September to 10th of December

 This is a deeply depressing blog post, but it does have a happy ending, I felt I couldn't write about my misery until there was positive news. It's been a long time since my last post as for the past 3 months we have lived in limbo. Every day the same, a constant sense of despair, pointlessness, feeling that we had no future, nothing to do, but stalk the rental sites desperately trying to find a needle in a haystack.

We took the dogs to the beach a lot, the wind and the rain and emptiness fitted our mood.

We searched for a house in Lynton or Lynmouth or even one of the out laying villages, but there was nothing. All the rental houses had been sold for second homes and Airbnb after the pandemic, we've been here for 12 years, moved several times and never had a problem finding somewhere local.

So resigned our selves to the fact we would have to leave our home and community and look further afield.

 

We won second prize for the best allotment for an allotment we have to give up.

We walked on the beach some more, all the time grieving the fact that these things would not be ours anymore.

However leaving was made slightly easier as Daisy had already gone, she and Sam found a beautiful house down a quiet lane in Hele, just outside Ilfracombe.

The flat upstairs was so quiet it felt like part of me was missing.

I drew my "Now house", its A3 drawn in fine line pens, so you can see all the pen strokes, normally I would tidy them up, but to leave it messy fitted my mood.

Sandra and I walked our dogs everyday and as all good friends she listened to my misery.

I finally decided to go to the Drs and was prescribed antidepressants, they made a huge difference, it meant that I didn't burst into tears every time someone asked if we'd found somewhere. They didn't solve the problems, but gave me the impetus to do something proactive. 

So rather than stalking the rental sites finding nothing we wanted, we finally started applying to look at houses.

There weren't many that were suitable, most wouldn't take pets or didn't have a garden or were a top floor flat or most of insulting of all were the short lets of holiday rentals, owners looking to make a bit of money over the winter. We carried on packing and stalking the sites. I soon discovered that agents only show the houses to a few people, so you need to be on the phone as soon as something suitable comes up.

I drew my "Never home", because that's how likely I felt we would find something. In the whole 3 months we only found 3 houses that we would want to live in, we applied for all 3 and were turned down for 2 of them.

BUT we were offered the 3rd one, I still can't believe it's going to be ours, it's a 3 bedroom house with a garden, garage and balcony over looking the sea. 

Even though its perfect it has 2 faults, the first is it isn't in Lynton and the second is it doesn't have a woodturner/open fire.

Its in Combe Martin which is 10 mins drive from Daisy, not too far from Lynton so we can still spend time with our friends.

I can see my house from the beach.

And the beach from my balcony. It means we can walk the dogs on the beach everyday and swim and sun bathe in the summer.

We move in 9 days I still can't believe it's going to be ours, I'm still not sleeping, still feeling anxious, but the emptiness has been replaced with plans for the garden and trying to work out where all the books are going.

The moment I stand on the balcony and look at the sea will be the moment I can relax.

Landscape

Landscapes have always been my thing and so living at the end of the road is perfect for me. 

I like the wild best of all, I think that's why I have a strong affinity to the sea. I've lived within 10 miles of the coast all my life, I've spent the last 30 years with the sea almost on my door step. I can't imagine what it would be like to live inland.

I spent most of my early life surrounded by fields, woods and marshes, I still live very close to nature except I've swapped the fields & marshes for moorland and hills, so these are the things I draw.

I like to have a personal connection to the places I draw, that's why I draw my little corner of Exmoor. 

I don't feel I could draw somewhere else unless I have been there, but even then I feel slightly guilty for stealing someone else's landscape.

The view from the allotment is spectacular, across Lynmouth Bay to South Wales, on a clear day you can see the mountains and wind farms on the coast, this year we haven't had many clear days, but it was very clear on Sunday when we were at the allotment. I've never drawn this view, but the clouds are so amazing in this photo that I'm considering it. 

This is the view sideways to the east, the white building in the middle is The Blue ball pub, the white blur further up is camper vans in the car park we use when walking on Countisbury.

As I'd photographed The Blue Ball from the allotment I thought it was only right to photograph the allotment from the Blue Ball. You can just make them out in the second photo, to the left of the houses, behind the row of bungalows.

I'm not sure whether I will draw these views, but I like the fact they are connected.

Below are some of my other favourite local landscapes all within 5 mins from my front door.

Ilkerton Ridge which I have drawn several times and will probably draw again.

Holdstone Down, which I plan to draw next, maybe .....

Lynton & Lynmouth from Countisbury Hill, I love how this view illustrates just how remote we are. If I ever draw it I would need to draw on at least A2 size paper as I have a compulsion to draw all the buildings in the right places. Maybe it will need several sheets of paper and more photographs using a very good camera!

Park Gardens from Hollerday Hill, the angle is wrong, Park Gardens goes up hill to the right, but I photographed from it from the snowball path walking up hill to the left. I will have to alter the angle before I draw it.

There are so many more amazing views, almost every direction I look. When I decided I needed to appeal to a wider audience I decided I needed to leave Lynton and draw landscapes further afield, but as I've chosen to draw for me I can continue drawing my landscape without any guilt.

Being a bit brave & happy

Over the last few months Ive come to realise that I've been trying to turn my art into a business.

I didn't restart drawing to make money or build a business.

I restarted drawing after 40 years, because it makes me happy.

Drawing drawings that I think other people will like, buying stock, finding stockists, doing craft fairs with minimal sales (what kind of idiot starts a business selling art in a recession?), doesn't make me happy.

I've got 2 more Lynton Town Hall markets to do and I might book the town hall Christmas market because I like being at the town hall it makes me happy to be part of the village, but these 3 markets will be the last.

Instead of which I am going to start applying to exhibit my work in art exhibitions, thanks to the broken chaotic life we lead my mental state is fragile, which has left me scared of pushing myself to far and the possibility I'll fail and failure will break me. But failure is only a thing when you stop trying, so the answer is not to stop trying

SO ... I've just applied to a local summer exhibition, it doesn't matter if my work gets chosen, the fact I've been brave enough to do it is enough.

One of the pieces I have submitted is my First Quarter of Summer, maybe I will finally finish the other 3 quarters. 

And maybe next year I'll be extra brave and apply for the RA summer exhibition!

Sketches of Lynmouth June 2021

I've been working on lots of sketches of Lynmouth in preparation of tackling another panorama.
I'm completely obsessed at the moment, all I want to do it draw.

I was awake at 3 am for no particular reason, so I'm giving myself the day off drawing complicated charts for my next crochet book, they'd only go wrong and I'd have to redo them and allowing myself to draw more pictures of Lynmouth instead.

The Tors & Rock House

Countisbury again!

The Rhenish

The Rising Sun

Rock House

The Bath

Lynton, Something big April 2021

 For a long time I've liked the idea of making an image of the whole of Lynton. Its a tiny little toy town nestling in a little valley, behind a big hill, sheltering it from the Atlantic north winds. And its been my home for the past 9 years, I'm very proud of where I live, so when we went to see a friend who lives on the opposite side of the valley I took the opportunity to photograph the whole town.

When I say its a tiny town, it really is tiny town, smaller than a lot of villages, only just over 1000 permanent residents.

I started by joining all the photos together on photoshop, then divided it into 4 to make it easier to work on. So far I have finished 3 of them and just about to start work on the 4th.

They are not perfect and but I've learnt a lot and want to draw Lynton again from several different view points.

Woolacombe April 2021

 We like to go on road trips to walk the dogs. Woolacombe is 20 miles away, so we go a lot as its a massive sandy beach that stretches for miles  especially in the winter as its a popular dog walking beach. In the summer its full of tourists, so not a good place to take 2 idiot lurchers. But whatever the season its perfect for the tiny boy's.

I never used to draw buildings, I couldn't be bothered to master perspective, but 20+ years later I am fascinated about how the shapes fit together. Maybe its due to 15 years of working with geometric shapes in my blanket designs. I even like the idea of tackling perspective, but not going to worry if its wrong, I quite like slightly wonky.

These are all sketchbook sketches so it doesn't matter if they are good or bad, I've developed the ideas and 6 weeks later using them in a big project.

Early 1980's

The last time I made art was 20+ years ago, at that time I also used my sketchbooks as diaries. Reading back I was so insecure about my art and doubted myself constantly, 20+ years ago the internet was very new, instagram and blogs didn't exist. If only they had I might off had more confidence in myself and my life might of taken a different path.

Today I have Instagram and this blog, its mine to say & do and show the world whatever I want, if the world would like to comment that's fine, if it doesn't that's fine too. This is not about trying to get noticed, or trying to become famous or even good for that matter, its simply about me expressing myself and the enjoyment I get from it.

Anyway back to Instagram, after I'd posted a few doodles I decided to post a selection of my old work, mainly to decide which direction to start in and to prove to the world that I used to be able draw & paint rather than just scribble.

These drawings were all drawn in the early 1980's, I had just left art college and was a "sad Billy no mates" as all my friends had gone on to uni and other careers. I worked as a customs officer at Felixstowe docks and over the weekends sat in my car drawing houses in the town.