“Near Dane's Dyke, Early June”

Dane's Dyke is a great base for plein‑air painting forays. There's a lot of choice of views and subjects condensed together into a relatively small area. It's a treasure trove of painting inspiration.

There's a beach with lots of textures: sand, rocks, rock pools, seaweed, shallow water, and pebbles. There's snow‑blinding white chalk cliffs mottled with brown and green, over which Hawthorns and Gorse peep, and a blue sky sings.

Then there's wide sweeping Bridlington Bay, where the sea can shimmer and fluffy clouds linger like a mediterranean haven. Add a natural sun‑dappled woodland on path threaded slopes, and there's not much missing. Except I've not even mentioned the cliff tops where I headed for this view.

I'd painted on the cliff tops, rather than down on the beach, the day before. And as often happens, I'd spotted other paintings including this one while working on yesterday's.

So instead of taking the track down to the beach, I headed back onto the cliff top, confident I'd not waste much time deciding where to set‑up.

I was keen to bag more paintings, because there wouldn't be many more opportunities before autumn. The sunny early June days were already bringing the crowds.

Painting at Dane's Dyke can be sublimely peaceful. That's when 'the zone of concentration' can be easily found and maintained.

Another thing in my favour was that I'd been inspired by this exact view before, and it's always a help when you've already studied a subject. It's not surprising then, that this painting turned out so well.

These dips in the cliff top are a feature of the Flamborough Head. I know this after walking the headland – I found yourself repeatedly descending and climbing despite thinking the cliff's were flat on top. It wasn't unpleasant though tiring, because each dip frames a view of the sea, and a moment of beauty.