Another delightful post. Love the artwork, the photos and, of course, the writing. I agree with " you want it, you carry it", which I believe should apply in other contexts too. I agree, also, with leaving beach rocks etc on the beach, but I still have a rock that my then girlfriend gave me 48 years agoš
Thank you very much, Terry! I love that you still have a rock from an old flame - that's terrific! š And yes - it's a great rule: firstly, to save putting other people out for your sake, and secondly, to reframe what is actually a sensible amount to carry (as I learned on that beach!).
Beautiful artwork Rebecca and I'm loving the family photos, particularly the one with your bag dangling against the back of your knees - oh to be a child caring so little about such things!
Thanks, Lyndsay! Grandpa took the two pictures of us on that walk - he'd taken some lovely shots over the years but these examples are a little blurry! š¤£
I'm horrified at how much I would care these days about those things in the picture. Firstly, my hair - although still constantly messy - would drive me made if it was all over my face like that on a walk today. Secondly, although it's not clear in the picture, which is slightly cropped at the bottom, I was wearing WELLIES. Wellies. To walk six miles! But you're right, I didn't have a care in the world! Oh to be nearly four again.... š
It's great that you have these memories to look back on āŗļø
If I wore wellies on a 6 mile walk, my feet would be in agony and covered in blisters I'm sure of it! Now I have to have the perfect socks, the perfect shoes, with the right amount of thickness, the right amount of support - it's a whole process! š
Yes, it's funny, isn't it? I don't remember ever having blisters or sore feet or sore anything as a very active child... is this what the years are doing to me???!!! š³
Wonderful story, and the rocks just JUMP from the pages, Rebecca! I wonder what it is about rocks. BGB collected rocks from Lake Superior and stuffed them in her closet of her girlhood bedroom. A box got dragged from there to all the places we lived in during our marriage. Today, I'll use her car for errands, and on the floor will lay creamy quartz-like crystals, big as your fist. They end up in a garden out back, where a trellis holds a clamatys. Girls and rocks....
This book of yours is already a wonderful treasure. Thanks for sharing it with all of us!
Thanks so much, Mark! Rocks are special, aren't they? And girls and rocks - well, you've hit the nail on the head!
You mentioned quartz - that's amazing, because I'd always collect some from the shore of Ullswater - it's all over the place up there, but we don't get those pure white crystals down here. Grandma had bits and pieces of it around and about - I used to think of them as huge white diamonds!
Thank you for the beautiful comment about my book. I'm thoroughly enjoying the project! š
Amie, you're so kind - thank you so much! I've just Googled 'do they drink squash in America?', and apparently, it's not a thing over on your side of the pond. It's basically a fruit-flavoured concentrate in a bottle, which you dilute with water. It's not cordial - that's more like a fruit syrup - this is, well, hang on, I'll ask Robinson's... https://robinsonssquash.co.uk/our-products/
The rocks were such fun to do. I had wondered how I could draw rocks that showed detail in the surface like a real rock - and anyway, I couldn't get anything like what I wanted. I thought that newsprint would be a really cool lateral-think in that regard! But just imagine: rocks you could READ on the beach? One could save a fortune at the airport bookshop! š¤£
Superb from beginning to end. Gorgeous, hardy little Rebecca carrying her burden uncomplainingly, happily even. And I love the art. And the picture of you these days! Such a fun story. Thanks so much.
Beth, thank you, thank you! I'd had a lovely chat with my parents about 'the squash story' when I saw them last week - Mum made it very clear (she hadn't known, of course, at the time, that I had the bottle in my rucksack) that I had been a 'very happy little girl to be carrying it'! And so I was.
That's another thing about this 'Art & Treasures' series of posts - it's giving me the opportunity to talk to my parents about lovely things like this from my younger days. I'm so lucky. ā„ļø
Donna, thank you - and that's such a lovely way of looking at it. And the heavy things in life aren't always the rocks - I'm going to think about that. I've got plenty of heavy stuff that needs kicking into touch...!
The best rocks at the beach of course are the ones that are still wet from the sea - they shine so beautifully. Sometimes I'd find a really beautiful one, and as soon as it dried it would be very ordinary! I think rocks are so fascinating when we're little because they're the right size to pick up, to look at and to carry (unless you go crazy like I did that time...!). And we loved to collect things, didn't we? Sticks, leaves, stones... any tiny things we found on the trail.
I love how, when you take the time to sketch/paint an object, a scene, a person, a thought, it becomes so easy to carry with you. A sketchbook, a pencil, are lightweight (at least compared with collectible boulders), but they hold so much. Thx for propping yours open for us to enjoy.
Gosh, Peter, that's such an interesting way to look at it - yes! Spending that time on turning something you love into a piece of art is such a nice thing to do, and of course there's something permanent and very portable - waaaay more portable than a rucksack full of rocks! - to show for it! š
I love the photos and the artwork and of course, the sentiment, so well conveyed in your writing. What an unusual process for the painting of the stones. During our recent tour of Ireland, my wife picked one little stone from each beach that we visited and they are now displayed on our bookshelves as mementos of our wonderful trip.
Thanks, Jim! I knew I wanted to paint stones but wasn't quite sure how... and whenever that happens I just throw everything at it! All I knew was that I wanted to show texture, and what was really fun about using the roller on top of that newsprint is that it picked up blobs of paint and deposited them and repeated them all over the place, a bit like the markings on the rocks themselves.
I love the sound of your wife's collection of stones from Irish beaches - that's gorgeous! I remember a gorgeous trip to an island in the Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland, where every one of its gorgeous white-sand beaches had different treasures. One was covered in pink cowrie shells, and one we called the 'beach glass beach'. Others had the smoothest tiny pebbles I'd ever come across. I'd love to go back to all of those beaches one day.
Being near the beach, I have collected many different kinds of shells over the years. Unfortunately, a lot of them got thrown out by mistake during my many moves. There were so many unique ones. I wish I still had them. Some were a once-in-a-lifetime find.
Love your artwork.
It's fun to reminisce when you look at the old photos.
I love that you collect rocks, too! I'm sad for you that some of yours went missing, especially the very special ones. My sister-in-law picked up an amazing one from a beach near here a few years ago - it was a pretty perfect sphere, and on closer inspection it was a fossilised sea urchin - absolutely stunning.
Finding those photos was brilliant - happy memories!
Your family knew how to have fun together and to include you as an equal in the expedition. You weren't considered to young or too small to share the weight. How lucky. This was lovely.
Thanks, Sue! Yes, although I've never thought of it that way, we always did everything together in a team and all played our part! I'm very happy to say that we're still a pretty good team now. š
Iāve heard that āif you want it, you carry itā in the very same context. My dad, too, is a rock hunter. So he modelled it well, too. Thereās a rock from those rambles in the spare room at their house.
How lovely, Alison! It's such a sensible rule, isn't it? And yay to still having special rocks and knowing where they came from - treasures like these are so evocative of past times happily spent. š
Wow, Rebecca, those little stones just leap off the page. That book will be such a treasure. I find your art work day-dreamy -- I can imagine you illustrating a children's nature book. I loved the little girl photos and the view of your dad. He looks so young and handsome. Such a beautiful family to be born into. Lucky girl.
Awwww Sharron, you're so kind - thank you! Dad still looks young and handsome - in fact, when I think about my parents, I often think of them as they were at the time I have my first visual memories of them. They're still lovely now, of course, and I get to see them often.
Iām a sucker for a shapely flint too! Still fill my pockets with rocks on every hike š lovely post Rebecca, and gorgeous art āØā¤ļø
Oooh, a 'shapely flint', Jill! My pockets can relate to yours....! Thank you for this lovely comment. š
Another delightful post. Love the artwork, the photos and, of course, the writing. I agree with " you want it, you carry it", which I believe should apply in other contexts too. I agree, also, with leaving beach rocks etc on the beach, but I still have a rock that my then girlfriend gave me 48 years agoš
Thank you very much, Terry! I love that you still have a rock from an old flame - that's terrific! š And yes - it's a great rule: firstly, to save putting other people out for your sake, and secondly, to reframe what is actually a sensible amount to carry (as I learned on that beach!).
Beautiful artwork Rebecca and I'm loving the family photos, particularly the one with your bag dangling against the back of your knees - oh to be a child caring so little about such things!
Thanks, Lyndsay! Grandpa took the two pictures of us on that walk - he'd taken some lovely shots over the years but these examples are a little blurry! š¤£
I'm horrified at how much I would care these days about those things in the picture. Firstly, my hair - although still constantly messy - would drive me made if it was all over my face like that on a walk today. Secondly, although it's not clear in the picture, which is slightly cropped at the bottom, I was wearing WELLIES. Wellies. To walk six miles! But you're right, I didn't have a care in the world! Oh to be nearly four again.... š
It's great that you have these memories to look back on āŗļø
If I wore wellies on a 6 mile walk, my feet would be in agony and covered in blisters I'm sure of it! Now I have to have the perfect socks, the perfect shoes, with the right amount of thickness, the right amount of support - it's a whole process! š
Yes, it's funny, isn't it? I don't remember ever having blisters or sore feet or sore anything as a very active child... is this what the years are doing to me???!!! š³
Wonderful story, and the rocks just JUMP from the pages, Rebecca! I wonder what it is about rocks. BGB collected rocks from Lake Superior and stuffed them in her closet of her girlhood bedroom. A box got dragged from there to all the places we lived in during our marriage. Today, I'll use her car for errands, and on the floor will lay creamy quartz-like crystals, big as your fist. They end up in a garden out back, where a trellis holds a clamatys. Girls and rocks....
This book of yours is already a wonderful treasure. Thanks for sharing it with all of us!
Thanks so much, Mark! Rocks are special, aren't they? And girls and rocks - well, you've hit the nail on the head!
You mentioned quartz - that's amazing, because I'd always collect some from the shore of Ullswater - it's all over the place up there, but we don't get those pure white crystals down here. Grandma had bits and pieces of it around and about - I used to think of them as huge white diamonds!
Thank you for the beautiful comment about my book. I'm thoroughly enjoying the project! š
1. Lemon squash! Intrigued!
2. Beautiful photos of a beautiful person
3. How the words shine through the rock sketches
Amie, you're so kind - thank you so much! I've just Googled 'do they drink squash in America?', and apparently, it's not a thing over on your side of the pond. It's basically a fruit-flavoured concentrate in a bottle, which you dilute with water. It's not cordial - that's more like a fruit syrup - this is, well, hang on, I'll ask Robinson's... https://robinsonssquash.co.uk/our-products/
The rocks were such fun to do. I had wondered how I could draw rocks that showed detail in the surface like a real rock - and anyway, I couldn't get anything like what I wanted. I thought that newsprint would be a really cool lateral-think in that regard! But just imagine: rocks you could READ on the beach? One could save a fortune at the airport bookshop! š¤£
Those rock sketches and paintings š Another gorgeous work, both words and images (wee Rebecca!!! š„°)
You're so kind, Bryn! 'Wee Rebecca' - that's really made me smile! š
(Of course I'm not so wee now, at a strapping 6ft+, and pushing 49!)
š¤£
Superb from beginning to end. Gorgeous, hardy little Rebecca carrying her burden uncomplainingly, happily even. And I love the art. And the picture of you these days! Such a fun story. Thanks so much.
Beth, thank you, thank you! I'd had a lovely chat with my parents about 'the squash story' when I saw them last week - Mum made it very clear (she hadn't known, of course, at the time, that I had the bottle in my rucksack) that I had been a 'very happy little girl to be carrying it'! And so I was.
That's another thing about this 'Art & Treasures' series of posts - it's giving me the opportunity to talk to my parents about lovely things like this from my younger days. I'm so lucky. ā„ļø
Beautiful! As we move through our life we learn which heavy things get to come along with us and which ones we need to discard.
I loved rocks when I was a child too, do all kids love rocks? My boys didn't seem to love them the same way I did.
Donna, thank you - and that's such a lovely way of looking at it. And the heavy things in life aren't always the rocks - I'm going to think about that. I've got plenty of heavy stuff that needs kicking into touch...!
The best rocks at the beach of course are the ones that are still wet from the sea - they shine so beautifully. Sometimes I'd find a really beautiful one, and as soon as it dried it would be very ordinary! I think rocks are so fascinating when we're little because they're the right size to pick up, to look at and to carry (unless you go crazy like I did that time...!). And we loved to collect things, didn't we? Sticks, leaves, stones... any tiny things we found on the trail.
I love how, when you take the time to sketch/paint an object, a scene, a person, a thought, it becomes so easy to carry with you. A sketchbook, a pencil, are lightweight (at least compared with collectible boulders), but they hold so much. Thx for propping yours open for us to enjoy.
Gosh, Peter, that's such an interesting way to look at it - yes! Spending that time on turning something you love into a piece of art is such a nice thing to do, and of course there's something permanent and very portable - waaaay more portable than a rucksack full of rocks! - to show for it! š
Plus, i find that I store something better *mentally* if I spend half an hour staring at it, for a drawing!
A very good point!
This is a beautiful, reflective, intimate series. I'm such a fan.
Rebecca, that's so very kind - thank you so much! š
I love the photos and the artwork and of course, the sentiment, so well conveyed in your writing. What an unusual process for the painting of the stones. During our recent tour of Ireland, my wife picked one little stone from each beach that we visited and they are now displayed on our bookshelves as mementos of our wonderful trip.
Thanks, Jim! I knew I wanted to paint stones but wasn't quite sure how... and whenever that happens I just throw everything at it! All I knew was that I wanted to show texture, and what was really fun about using the roller on top of that newsprint is that it picked up blobs of paint and deposited them and repeated them all over the place, a bit like the markings on the rocks themselves.
I love the sound of your wife's collection of stones from Irish beaches - that's gorgeous! I remember a gorgeous trip to an island in the Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland, where every one of its gorgeous white-sand beaches had different treasures. One was covered in pink cowrie shells, and one we called the 'beach glass beach'. Others had the smoothest tiny pebbles I'd ever come across. I'd love to go back to all of those beaches one day.
Wonderful story Rebecca!
I have picked up a few unique rocks in my time.
Being near the beach, I have collected many different kinds of shells over the years. Unfortunately, a lot of them got thrown out by mistake during my many moves. There were so many unique ones. I wish I still had them. Some were a once-in-a-lifetime find.
Love your artwork.
It's fun to reminisce when you look at the old photos.
Thanks so much, Matt!
I love that you collect rocks, too! I'm sad for you that some of yours went missing, especially the very special ones. My sister-in-law picked up an amazing one from a beach near here a few years ago - it was a pretty perfect sphere, and on closer inspection it was a fossilised sea urchin - absolutely stunning.
Finding those photos was brilliant - happy memories!
Your family knew how to have fun together and to include you as an equal in the expedition. You weren't considered to young or too small to share the weight. How lucky. This was lovely.
Thanks, Sue! Yes, although I've never thought of it that way, we always did everything together in a team and all played our part! I'm very happy to say that we're still a pretty good team now. š
Iāve heard that āif you want it, you carry itā in the very same context. My dad, too, is a rock hunter. So he modelled it well, too. Thereās a rock from those rambles in the spare room at their house.
How lovely, Alison! It's such a sensible rule, isn't it? And yay to still having special rocks and knowing where they came from - treasures like these are so evocative of past times happily spent. š
Wow, Rebecca, those little stones just leap off the page. That book will be such a treasure. I find your art work day-dreamy -- I can imagine you illustrating a children's nature book. I loved the little girl photos and the view of your dad. He looks so young and handsome. Such a beautiful family to be born into. Lucky girl.
Awwww Sharron, you're so kind - thank you! Dad still looks young and handsome - in fact, when I think about my parents, I often think of them as they were at the time I have my first visual memories of them. They're still lovely now, of course, and I get to see them often.
ā„ļø And yes, I'm very lucky. ā„ļø
Sometime, show us a current photo of your wonderful parents. I would love to see these people who obviously, innately, knew what parenting meant.
I'm a one more rock kind of person; and one day I may too have to return overdue rocks!
Oh, that's brilliant!!!!!!!! I can see you in my mind's eye now, checking multiple rocks out of the rock library every time you pass it! š¤£
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How had I missed that there's a rock emoji?! Brilliant! šŖØ