SAND DUNE TO THE SHORELINE

A short journey south, down the east coast of the island was decided upon. A little trip to change things up from the previous two days of luxurious sun lounging on Grandes Playas de Corralejo, a stretch of sand we dubbed 'Euro Beach'. A place with fair priced sun-loungers & parasols, coffee and beer, toilets and beach showers. For a couple of sunny days we were planted there all day, through the tide coming in and going out. (From John Cooper Clark's book 'I Wanna Be Yours') "Luxury, pure unashamed luxury".

The final destination of this journey south was always going to end with more sun lounging, reading and swimming, but we got extra!

Further down the road from the beach we had baked on for the previous two days, was a disorganised assembly of parked cars on either side of the road. A few cars looked haphazardly abandoned, almost ditched off the edge of the tarmac and into the sand - as if a radio news bulletin had announced an impending sand storm or tsunami.

There were enough people milling around, taking selfies, unpacking car boots to suggest certain disaster was not looming, so we joined the line of vehicles, but kept all four tyres on the asphalt.

Sun hats on, we headed out in the direction of the sea – both sure the ocean was just over the gradual sand dune we had started to ascend. Reaching the crest of the dune revealed the panoramic view of more dunes, with the sea way off in the distance. This is what all the people had come to see! What a sight! The excitement had lead several cars to be strewn off the edge of the road and left without correction. The drivers and passengers all keen to see the sand dunes, reminiscent of the vast Sahara Desert, only a short distance away across the sea, almost visible on a clear day. The area of sand big enough to dilute the crowd. Maybe some never made it back!

We traversed the dunes to the shoreline and made camp for the day, using one of the many stone semi circle alcoves set up for privacy and wind break.

Another day of luxury, pure unashamed luxury.

More photographs from fuerteventura @ sleeplessink.com 

WELCOME BREAK – CORRALEJO

What a joy! – One week in Fuerteventura.

So good to get back to the Canaries after a four year hiatus. No surfboards this time, just hand luggage and a camera bag.

A holiday in the true sense of the word.

From the dictionary:

holiday | ˈhɒlɪdeɪ, ˈhɒlɪdi | noun 1 (often holidays) mainly British an extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home or in travelling. North American term vacation: I spent my summer holidays on a farm | Fred was on holiday in Spain. 2 a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done: 25 December is an official public holiday. • [as modifier] characteristic of a holiday; festive: a holiday atmosphere.

T-shirt & shorts all day, every day. No watch, only tide and sun position to assess the probable time of day. 

A simple daily schedule: swim, walk, read, sunbath...take it easy.

Oh yes! Of course!...Taking photos! Below are a few from Corralejo.

More photographs from fuerteventura @ sleeplessink.com 

STILL SHOOTING – NEWQUAY

Still frothing!

Maybe (definitely) less committed/disciplined.

Maybe (definitely) less time spent out with a camera.

But I'm physically off-kilter. So give me a break. That said , I still have to walk Edith, and I'm not going out without a camera.

So these are a few shots from Newquay.

TURN THE DIAL

 Where to begin?

A few facts may provide a sturdy start.

• LastBulletin post: 5th July 2024

• Last Blog post: 12th July 2024

• Last Instagram post: 27th May 2024

(Partial explanation as to why in Bulletin & Blog posts, 1st July 2024)

In these content hungry times, the dates above until now (19/8/2024) is a long time – in terms of producing and maintaining content, I could be considered dead!

But no! I’m still here!

However, the dial has been turned.

So, where to NOW?

It has been a struggle to get back on the horse. CORRECTION: It has been effortless to not get back on the horse.

This does not mean creativity has stopped. On the contrary, it continues to pour and flow within each day – enjoying a freedom away from being kettled into corridors that lead to on-line platforms.

My back injury in April accelerated many necessary lessons, and exercised one of my least applied disciplines; patience.

It was not possible to insist on healing faster, but it was achievable to create a fertile ground that allowed the body to heal. Still now the approach is continued. It includes slowing down, regular exercise, and using the gaps between activity to cherish the calm, space and moment. Without care, these moments can otherwise be arrested by an urgency to scroll, feed the website and social media platforms, and fill up on distractions, far away from the nature of every day.

Irony is included for free with circulating this post across a couple of on-line platforms: my blog & website bulletin.

This is the conundrum – retain or refrain.

The obvious answer is to find a balance. This is when things get thorny. Perhaps an account from 15 years ago will frame the difficulty. Excuse the pun that shall be revealed within the short tale.

I was selling framed prints in a popular Truro gallery, a nice place, with knowledgeable and helpful people. The commission rate was 47.5%, and I was happy to have a good footfall viewing and buying my work.

And now for some number crunching. Each framed print sold for £140, the commission on each one sold was £66.50, therefor £73.50 went into my pocket…YESSS!

Second to the thrill of creating my artwork is selling the work. So I had a pep in my step, but my buzz was kicked in the nuts when the obvious was pointed out to me by a more business minded friend. Of course there is a cost to producing each piece, and I knew it, but I was just so happy with being involved and people seeing my work, I glossed over what I considered minor details.

But my friend seized the opportunity to call me a dickhead. He told me, “Before you buy another pint and shoot your pistols in the air, take a moment to think it through”.

I could tell my swagger was going to get wounded.

“Once you’ve kissed the girls, lifted the trophy and received your cheque for £73.50, take a seat and consider how much of that is yours after the cost of producing the piece”.

Oh shit!

£73.50…minus.

Paper & Print (The best paper, inks and printing process used) - £20

Frame (Wonderful bespoke frames) - £40

= £13.50

I’ll have a half please landlord!

A suggested solution, or at least an idea to adjust the numbers in my favour was to learn how to build frames, and frame the prints myself. But I didn’t want to, nor do I currently wish to, spend my time manufacturing the parts going around my work (however necessary), it is creating the work to be framed that is important to me.

And now, spending time creating content and maintaining the backend of the website, blog and Instagram feels the same. Forever attending to algorithms, SEO, views, likes, followers, etc, is extremely time consuming, and each hour spent in the virtual maze, is an hour not holding a camera, pen, pencil or brush.

So for now, I seek a lopsided balance. In it I spend more time being open to new ideas, techniques, creativity and enjoyment, no matter who, or how many see it, or what surrounds it.

I’ll post & blog along the way, just using the platforms as they were initially intended – a place for some of my creative endeavours to find some light, regardless of the machine aspect of the virtual soapbox delivering them.

Much love,

Kevin