A couple of weeks ago I spent 6 days on a blustery, rainy Tresco as part of the Gallery Tresco artists residency. We flew on the little plane from Lands End and then took the boat from St Mary’s to Tresco. I quite ‘enjoyed’ the flight thanks to earplugs and a trusty bottle of rescue remedy which was nicely alcoholic. The view of the islands from the sky was stunning.
We arrived on Tresco in intense rain and waited in the little waiting room on the dock until the truck arrived to pick us up. This year we were staying in Doctors Cottage.
Due to crazy weather it was somewhat restricting getting out and about however myself and my son managed plenty of short bike rides in between the showers. The artist staying next door to us was in wet weather gear painting under a brolly whilst it poured down.
(Typically the weather perked up on our final day with glorious sunlight, glittery blue sea and a pleasant breeze).
I collected spring blooms, mainly daffodils and narcissi which I arranged on the dining room table and sketched in the warm cottage using black biro and my compact Tate watercolours which are handy for travelling. We drew and sent a couple of postcards to friends back in Cornwall.
I love being on Tresco but it’s never easy in the winter getting there and back due to the looming fog and mist that rolls in and sometimes remains for hours or days disrupting travel. Our return journey involved the Scillonian as flights were cancelled due to bad weather. We had a very long wait for the boat so ventured into St Mary’s, had a picnic lunch on a damp beach and nipped into a pub for chips and alcohol. I treated myself to a Safari bag from Rat Bags and spent a long time choosing 2 colours for my made to order bag.
The Scillonian lurched and rolled for the whole journey. We hunkered down in the Lower Saloon with bunks and seats. The decor was similar to being in an old people’s home/waiting room with an 80’s sort of feel. After 3 hours it was a huge relief to finally dock at Penzance in the dark.
It’s lovely to be home and back in my studio and I’m looking forward to creating a new collection of flower paintings for Gallery Tresco over the coming months.
