The Royal Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley

I’ve spoken about the Forest of Dean before, it’s a place that has captured my heart so vividly and inspired so many of my drawings that I find it’s quite often in my thoughts. This November I was able to take a last minute trip to the Forest of Dean with my little family, a Monday to Friday break staying in a cabin on the very site that my parents used to take me to on weekend caravan holidays.

As is always the case whether it be a whistle stop day trip or a longer stay I inevitably take hundreds of photographs, the golden hues of the forest in autumn sing to me like silver does to a magpie. The smell of coal smoke is intoxicating, the familiarity of the woodland trails feels comforting, despite the labyrinthine pathways it feels impossible to get lost in certain places, the route is well worn in my memory.

We started the holiday with a trip to Puzzlewood, somewhere that I don’t recall from childhood. It’s been on my list of places to see for years but there never seems enough time or schedules don’t align with when we’re in the vicinity. We hotfooted from home in Hampshire to Puzzlewood in time for our 11am arrival slot. My in-laws had arrived in the forest the day before and met us at Puzzlewood. We walked into the ancient wood and were immediately surrounded by mossy green rocks, twisty branches and tree roots, fungi of all shapes and sizes and slippery steps leading to rustic bridges over crevasses. Climbing and descending the steps was a slow and considered affair, I felt a little like Bambi on ice at some points as the slippery damp stone steps meant clinging on to whatever you could to keep your legs from giving way.

It is said that JRR Tolkien visited this very wood and was inspired so much that he used elements from what he’d seen in his fantasy books, I can see perfectly well why. It feels as though suddenly the trees might come to life, so characterful and warped are they. Fairies could easily be hiding in the nooks and crannies between rocks and branches, moss providing a comfortable seat to rest. Magical is a word I often overuse when it comes to woodland but it certainly does suit Puzzlewood. The maze-like paths twist and turn, meander up and down over bridges and by caves until you reach a little gate, signalling the end and a return to the Muggle world (yes, supposedly JK Rowling who grew up close to the Forest of Dean also visited Puzzlewood and was inspired by it when writing The Forbidden Forest in the Harry Potter series).

After a turn chasing my son around the willow maze which reminded me of the final episode of True Detective season one (niche reference) we drove to Cannop ponds and walked around the lakes.

The next day we drove to Symonds Yat Rock in the Wye Valley. My memories of Symonds Yat from childhood are a little warped, kind of strange and dream-like. There are rosy toned photographs of a four or five year old me, sat in a canoe with my older half brother sat behind me on the River Wye, bright pink flowers next to the mooring posts by The Saracens Head. Remembering walking from the rock to the river, being encouraged to take shortcuts down steep muddy banks by my dad which resulted in slipping and being stabbed in the leg by a splintered branch. Feeling like where we parked the car at Symonds Yat Rock and where The Saracens Head were were two completely different places, not related at all, a million miles apart. It’s strange how you can mis-remember a place and how funny thoughts from being young stay with you, now whenever I think of Symonds Yat and whenever I visit it I can’t help but think of those hazy muddled memories. We took a walk to the viewpoint and ate our lunch on the stone steps, we then did the Symonds Yat Rock loop walk which dips down into the valley slightly and then back up again. Once back at the carpark which is actually quite picturesque in the autumn we played in the dried leaves.

On the third day we walked in Nagshead Nature Reserve, just across the road from our cabin. It was a drizzly day, rain in autumn just seems to intensify the colours of the turning leaves. Mist hung in the air slightly giving the forest an atmosphere, mysterious and a little foreboding. We were just about the only people on the trail, worn out from carrying our little one and in awe of the beauty of the golden forest. I always think of Nagshead as being one of the most beautiful parts of the Forest of Dean, the colours seem almost surreal. After our loop walk we met my in-laws for a delicious pub lunch in Alvington.

On our final day we all met at the Sculpture Trail at Beechenhurst Lodge for a walk taking in all 16 of the sculptures, although annoyingly we did manage to overlook one. The Sculpture Trail sits steadfast in my memory. A place of wonder where I can round a corner and come face to face with a tree that I’ve lovingly observed or a landscape of pathways that I’ve painstakingly recreated in pen. It’s the one place that we always revisit whenever we come to the forest.

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A Note On Inspiration

Walking along a sun dappled pathway, through a wood where the trees aren’t so dense that the forest feels foreboding and yet plentiful so they screen any signs of road, houses, other people. Walking boots that feel clumsily big, occasionally catching tree roots. Air that feels clean to breathe, fresh. Silence except for chirruping birds, wind dancing through leaves, my footsteps. Eyes darting from tree to tree, branch to branch, leaf to leaf. Constantly framing views, the way the path curls slightly to the right, the twisting branch to the left, the patch of bright green ferns. Fallen leaves, twigs, pebbles. A moss covered tree stump.

Woodland Study V

Mottisfont in July

My biggest inspiration, the forest and all it entails. As I walk through a forest or a wood of some kind I’m constantly in search of my next drawing subject. Even if I’m not actively seeking inspiration it seeps in, a gentle stroll becomes a research mission, always. I’ve loved the countryside and in particular woods for as long as I can remember. I’ve written before about how childhood trips in a caravan to the Forest of Dean instilled in me a love for the outdoors. I’ve been drawing and painting landscapes since studying Fine Art at BA level, nearly 10 years since graduating and I’m still not done with the subject. While studying a Fine Art MA my practice evolved from pencil drawings to tight slightly abstracted pen drawings to large scale loose chalk on blackboard drawings of forest views.

Pathway III

Since graduating with an MA in Fine Art I’ve continued to draw, and draw, and draw. I’ve gone back to fine liners, they feel most comfortable for me. The drawings are not totally representational, they aren’t abstract either. In my mind I’m creating a kind of impression of a landscape, attempting to capture the light and the detail. Building an image through repetitive mark making that allows my mind to wander back to where I was when I took the photograph that I use to aid composition. Some of the drawings work well, in my mind they almost shimmer, like when you’re looking up to the tree tops and the light dapples through. Some drawings don’t work as well and feel flat and lifeless, full of detail but missing something.

Woodland Study IV

Late Afternoon in Micheldever Wood

If I can’t get to a wood or if I’m in need of an inspiration fix from home then I have a small collection of art books to see me through. Most focus on Impressionists and painters of landscapes. Favourite artists include Monet, David Hockney, Peter Doig and Tracey Emin (the catalogue from her solo exhibition at The White Cube titled The Last Great Adventure Is You is a favourite to peruse). I like painterly paintings. Expressive brush strokes, colours that reflect what you see in nature. Beautiful lines made by a fine brush, paint drips. The art I like is nothing like the art I produce, I’ve often wondered about that.

Other Things That Inspire Me:

Postcards, interesting stamps, maps, black and white photography, collections of things in glass cases, walled gardens, Chinese ink paintings, rows of oil paint tubes arranged in rainbow order, old sketchbooks.

What inspires you?

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Artist Interview: Dominique Cameron

I'm a curious type; I like to know what informs an artist. Who or what do they look to for inspiration? How do they work? Each month I will be asking an artist I admire a few questions, this month is Dominique Cameron.

The Wood by Dominique Cameron

Dominique, landscape is at the centre of your practice, what is it about landscape that you find so inspirational?

Landscape and walking have always played an important part in my life, from an early age I would walk the countryside with my family and my practice has developed from those earliest times. I have always had the desire to know where it is I live and having moved house many times there has always been this sense of wanting to map any new environment coupled with a curiosity of what lies beyond the door.

I'm particularly taken with the series of work that you did inspired by 'The Wood', how do you decide which type of landscape or place to focus all of your attention on for a project?

I am interested in all forms and variations of landscape, so the projects I undertake will be different each time. For instance after a project in Leith, Edinburgh I wanted to find an equivalent for the complicated, chaotic nature of urban streets. I decided on a piece of woodland not far from home which was overgrown and secluded, very visually complicated but quiet. Currently I am working on a farm which sits atop a hillside looking out over the Firth of Forth – at that point I was needing to be in the open, with far reaching views as a counter to the wood. So one project leads to another…

The Wood by Dominique Cameron

The Wood by Dominique Cameron

You use colour very vividly in some work and stick to black and white in others, is there any reasoning behind this?

My use of colour is dependent on many factors. The large woods paintings were monochrome out of a desire to see the woods pared back. I felt that I could articulate better the space by just using black and white. However it wasn’t simply black paint – there were at least four different kinds of black used. Using colour would have made the immediacy of response more difficult. However the smaller works in oil reflected the sensuousness and richness of the plant life. So in short it does depend on the subject matter.

What are the materials that you work with and is experimentation important to you?

I work with many kinds of materials from oil, acrylic, charcoal, ink, through to watercolour and gouache. I do like experimenting with their differences and at times in the studio I will often use what’s at hand, and can often be surprised by the result. I am currently interested in the juxtaposition of drawing and painting so will often use both in works, and believe there are no rules in mark making, but play is an integral part of any practice.

Leith by Dominique Cameron

Leith by Dominique Cameron

Can you outline the process of making a piece of work from start to finish?

The question of process changes with environment, materials and support. Yet the one constant is the use of gesso. I prime every surface I work on whether that be canvas, wood, panel or paper. I like the ground of gesso that gives a slight tooth and makes the support more durable. I will then go in and out of drawing and painting, building as I go until I either think its time for a cup of tea – and therefore the need to walk away. I will return to sneak up on the work, catching it by surprise almost. I immediately will know where I’ve gone wrong, what needs to be changed, and be startled by my previous decision making – it is almost as if I have not encountered the work before, it feels so new.

Tell me about your studio or creative space.

My studio is a room at one end of the house. It’s the only room that has not had any work done to it. There are doors that open out to the garden and I have a view of the sea. It’s very messy, dirty and piled high with all manner of things. Every now and then I have a clean up as I find I no longer have space. It is not very large but it’s fantastic to have the space close by. If I choose I know I can work in the middle of the night.

The Farm by Dominique Cameron

The Farm by Dominique Cameron

What artists (living or dead) inspire you?

I take inspiration from many sources, not only painters, and this list can and does change, but the artists that have remained with me would include the painters Ivon Hitchens, Joan Eardley, Cy Twombly, John Virtue and writers Virginia Woolf, Kathleen Jamie, Alice Oswald, and the filmmaker Margaret Tait.

I love learning random facts about people, tell me three things about yourself.

Three things about myself – this has proved the most difficult question. Umm…. I like to dance when I work in my studio. I used to be a fire fighter and I do like clothing with roomy pockets - for all my collections of things.

Finally, where can people follow your work online?

You can follow me on twitter - @bourbonandwolfe, and on my website – dominiquecameron.com.

Thank you to Dominique for agreeing to be part of my artist interview series. I first found Dominique on Twitter and was immediately attracted to her black and white depictions of woodland, for obvious reasons if you know me and my own work at all. I’d love a studio like hers, with doors that open on to a garden and a sea view to boot, it sounds like the absolute dream. Remember to take a look at Dominique’s website where you can find many more examples of her work on the portfolio page.

Dominique’s interview marks the end of my artist interview series, at least for now. Thank you to all of the artists that have taken part this year and to all those that have read the interviews too, I hope you have gained as much from it as I have.

If you enjoyed reading then please click the heart at the bottom, share or better still leave me a comment, I love reading them. ❤️