A Day Trip to Lyme Regis
It was a warm July day for our planned day out to the coast. I was longing for the sight and sound of the sea, and of course fish and chips !
We were headed for Lyme Regis, a place we love, nestling on the Jurassic coast.
Unfortunately many people had the same idea.
After an hour and our third car park, we managed to park and walked down the path from the Charmouth Road car park to the sea front.
It really is a lovely walk if you don't mind the 114 steps at the start which lead to Church Cliff Walk ! I wasn’t looking forward to the climb on the way back though however it is wonderful spot for taking photographs from.
I always take lots of photographs not just as memories of our trips but as inspiration for future artwork.
I took this photo of the view towards Charmouth on the steps down from the car park.
This would be the inspiration for one of my mini coastal paintings.
We continued on down to Lyme Regis in search of water as it was becoming really hot..
Lyme Regis is called "the Pearl of Dorset" well known for its fossils and ancient Cobb harbour.
It also has many interesting little independent shops, however this was not the day for exploring them in a mask in the heat ! Previously we had visited here later in the year when we explored Monmouth beach which is great for fossil hunting. We vowed to come back in the autumn, when it was not so crowded, to do more exploring and shopping.
We decided we couldn't not have fish and chips though, so after a short wander we found some shade for our lunch. Refreshed we retraced our steps towards East Cliff beach which was much quieter.
Perched on a rock here I took more photos and a short video, I loved the ruggedness and texture and the light was amazing.
You can walk round to Charmouth beach from here but you must check tide times as you may not be able to walk back.
After resting here we began the climb back to the car. One thing was sure, I definitely needed to get fitter !
On the journey home I browsed through the photographs I had taken already knowing that I couldn't wait to get painting!
Previously I had purchased some small canvases (20" x 8") and I could visualise creating some coastal paintings on them..
Beach Walk was the first I painted.
I used brushes for the backround but the rocks and cliffs were created using a palette knife.
The clouds were painted using my fingers, a technique I always use when creating clouds,
This work is now available to purchase through my online gallery. Now Sold https://www.sueosullivan.com/product-page/beach-walk
The second mini painting was inspired by the coastal path view. More brush work in this although I used palette knives for the gorgeous grasses.
This is also now available to purchase through my online gallery. Now Sold
.I cannot wait to visit this beautiful coastline again, although many other areas are on my must visit list. (Even more so as foreign travel is not very attractive at the moment with all the travel restrictions).
I don't only get inspiration for landscapes but often the rugged coast and wild sea are the catalyst for my abstract paintings. You can browse these too in my online gallery and please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to ask anything, I love chatting about all things arty !
Where are your favourite places to visit ?