I learned to swim in this moorland pool called ‘Black Rock’. It’s on Dartmoor, just above the village where I grew up, and where my family still lives. It hasn’t changed, but the rocks I bravely jumped off as a kid seem to have got a lot smaller over time!
Black Rock sketch
Foxgloves and reeds grow amongst the rocks, and the water is rust-coloured – rich with minerals. Freshwater trout dart below the surface, occasionally surfacing to take a fly.
Black Rock acrylic, charcoal and chalk study
Remnants of the tin mining industry are clearly visible in the area.
Study of water over rocks
The River Lyd, High Down
Near the Flat Stones
The sketch, above, was painted about eight miles from Black Rock, near Okehampton. My husband played amongst the flat stones and hills just down the road from his house as a child. The river tumbles through dense woodland.