Something a bit different.
Last September whilst on holiday is Dumfries we visited Carsethorne Bay on the Solway Coast. With three Pointer dogs in the car we were looking for an open space to give the dogs a run. The beach there was ideal. As we walked along the beach that day I stumbled across an old roof slate and thought I would take it home and make a number plate for my house ... a souvenir from our trip. We then came across two more,
I was so fascinated by the beach with its tree stumps poking through the sand and the remains of an old jetty which had taken it toll in the stormy seas and was instantly curious about its history.
I discovered that it has been a bustling Steam boat trading port ( hense The Steamboat Inn) before the railways and during the early 1800's the jetty would have been lined with Emigrants; thousands of people left Scotland in search of a better life in New Zealand, Australia and North America. Convicts were also shipped from here to Australia.
So...after researching the history of Carsthorne beach it seemed fitting that these tiles were given a new life carrying the scenes of where their foundations would have been.
The small blue rowing boat belonged to a local man and had been a feature of the beach for a many years. During a more recent visit to the area and to the Steamboat Inn. I was informed that the boat sadly vanished one night.. they presumed breaking from its mooring and becoming lost at sea.
This adds another twist of fate, this little boat too is now part of the history of this fascinating place captured forever on a tile that once lay on the very same beach.
I am delighted with the finished pieces and they are very special to me.
From these tiles follow a whole new collection of Artwork for me ..painting on slate
These re-claimed roof slates make such an interesting surface. I try to use the natural shapes and ridges of the slate to create the picture. Like this example of the cottage on the cliff; I used the diagonal ridges in the tile to create the rock face. Each one is totally unique...I am now taking commissions for slates.
