The Isle of Angelsey, September 2020

This year's holiday came at the end of  a long and difficult Summer for me and Adele. For one there was the pandemic and lockdown - not seeing family and friends in the ways I would have liked to do, missing colleagues and people from work - and then having harsh chemotherapy treatments every three weeks, that took over a week to recover from and left me very tired. One gets progressively weaker from each treatment. So once I knew it was coming to an end I felt fairly sure that I would have some time off. We tried to find a place on Anglesey for a short break. Once away, I started to feel a lot more energy coming back - sea air, lots of walks, peace and quiet and good food helped. We also had great weather, a real bonus.

I think doing watercolours is my way of relaxing and of having a memory of a place. I like having my little set of colours, brushes and notebook in my rucksack. 

I started filling up this small hardback notebook with sketches and watercolours in 2016 and it's got all sorts of places in it now, from Blackpool and the Lakes with Pool Arts trips to Ibiza and Wales with Adele. I also keep a little diary of every journey which is a big collection now and me and Adele often think how lovely it is to be able to look back at the notes we make. I don't consider these to be great art (and they certainly are not that good as paintings) Sometimes I like them , sometimes less so, but I keep everything. They are more of a way to slow down and look at what's in front of me and later I find I remember the day and the atmosphere more through these scrappy little paintings than the many photos I might take. On this trip, I had lots of unfinished drawings which annoys me, I think I was just too relaxed in the Welsh sun and too busy exploring as much of the island as I could!