“A Seat With A View”

Nestling in the grassy bank, near where rocks start to appear in the North end of Bamburgh beach, is a seat – one of a few thereabouts.

The view from this position can only be described as epic. I know, I use the word a bit too often, but there aren't a lot of locations where it's as deserved as it is at Bamburgh.

Strangely, sitting here often feels secluded. This is odd, given Bamburgh always has plenty of people on the beach, year round. The grass is growing through the seat, as if few had sat there that Summer. Had the grass grown that quickly or do so few find the chair?

The coast road passes by above, and people file past on the beach below. Few follow the paths through the grasses along the bank, and even less cast their eyes there – there's too much else to catch attention.

This is a place to sit, and absorb the rhythm of life – sounds of the sea and of buzzing insects in the grasses; a rising and falling song and flutter of Rock Pippets; soft caresses of a gentle breeze on your skin and the soothing to and fro motion of waving grass; and of course, the warmth of the slowly orbiting sun.

There's the distant giggle of happy and excited children on the beach. They sound distant here, half way up the bank some way from the main parking areas.

You feel unnoticed, working away on your landscape sketch, almost in a different dimension to the rest of the world. Such is the power of the place.

It's partly the concentration you build‑up while looking and painting – it somehow seems to slow down time. There's also a calm to Bamburgh beach, during the more settled Summer weekdays. It makes it easy to loose yourself in looking, observing, and studying.

A place for just being in‑the‑moment whether you're an artist, or not. I recommend you go find this seat, and you'll likely see what I mean.

I've written this vivid recollection some time after returning from Bamburgh. It's all there, held in the sketch, and it's what inspires more art back in the studio.