I never cease to be amazed at what creative people can come up with, even with such an everyday medium as paper. I've featured paper artists on Some Favourite Things before: a list is at bottom of this post.
Su Blackwell is an accomplished UK artist specializing in intricate sculptures created from the paper of old books.
Her work can be viewed on her website (Su Blackwell) and also purchased from her online shop.
Su says of her work..."I often work within the realm of fairy-tales and folk-lore. I began making a series of book-sculptures, cutting out images from old books to create 3-dimensional dioramas and displaying them inside wooden boxes." "For the cut-out illustrations, I tend to lean toward young girl characters, placing them in haunting, fragile settings, expressing the vulnerability of childhood, while also conveying a sense of childhood anxiety and wonder. There is a quiet melancholy in the work, depicted in the material used and the choice of subtle colour."
In this video the artist shares some of her ideas and techniques.
Today was sunny and wonderful. The Irish Sea was in the distance, closer and closer as the day went on. The beauty was impossible to capture with an iPhone, but I tried anyway.
In the photo below you can see the pedestrian bridge I crossed an hour or so earlier.
Some of the stiles today were old/unusual like this one below.
Looking south from near the sea in Prestatyn. That ridge in the back is the one the Path comes up and over, then down into Prestatyn. For some reason, I wasn't expecting it and with the sunny hot weather and my knapsack feeling very heavy, I confess to a few curse words on the uphill.
The Path goes right through the heart of Prestatyn, past Plas Ifan, a converted chapel which was my B and B for the last night.
North of Plas Ifan was the shopping district and the train station with a bridge to go over the tracks, then another stretch to the coastline. I passed this sign.
Finally arrived at the marker indicating the start/finish of Offa's Dyke Path.
Of course, there was an information panel:
After hanging around on the coast admiring the permanent trophy for a while, I headed back up the street past the train station and the shops to Plas Ifan, another completely charming Welsh B and B. If you ever go there, stay at Plas Ifan. Malcolm and Swan are the welcoming hosts.
Their back garden was so relaxing. Malcolm very kindly brought me a tall glass of cold water to help cool me off. There were friendly chickens scratching about and lots of places to sit and Swan's gardens to admire as well as other guests to chat with.
My room was just inside the front door at ground level (yay!!). There were two beds and a small but functional bathroom.
Breakfast (fresh eggs!) the next morning was served in this charming space, with views from the indoor garden to the outdoor garden. I could have happily moved in permanently!
But alas, the walk was over and it was time to reflect on the journey just finished and think ahead to the next journey (home). Malcolm gave me a lift back to the train station, which was very kind of him - maybe he could sense my exhaustion? I caught the train to London Euston, transferred to the Underground and diddled around on that with one change to get to Paddington Underground, found Paddington Train Station and the Heathrow Express to Terminal 2, found the Hoppa Hotel bus that went to the Holiday Inn that Don had arranged for me on points and crashed for the night, ready for a 5 am trip back to Heathrow for my 7:30 am flight home to Toronto. When I thought about all of this during my trip planning last winter, I found it all a little complicated and overwhelming, but it's really only a matter of reading the signs and I'm starting to improve in that area! So Offa's Dyke Path: completed (less the day I opted not to walk thanks to thunderstorms) Approximately 182 miles or 280 km, with more for missing turns, doing unexpected tours of farmers' fields, being lost in the fog and getting to and from B and B's. Approximately 30,000 ft. of elevation, comparable to Mount Everest. It was AWESOME!!!
This was day 17
Days 15 and 16: Llangollen to Clwyd Gate to Bodfari
I left Glasgym at 6 in the morning. The hosts, Heather and John, were expecting extra people for breakfast (some fishermen!) and if I didn't leave early, I would have to wait until breakfast was over, for a drive back up to the Offa's Dyke Path at Castell Dinas Bran. I preferred an early start, so they handed me a packed breakfast, Heather popped me up the hill (seemed short after the walk down yesterday!) and I stopped here to enjoy an early meal with not only a spectacular view but bucolic sounds of baa-ing sheep and droning insects.
I especially liked these tree roots.
This closed and empty hotel (want to buy a hotel with a great view on a main road in Wales?) is where the taxi picked me up to transport me into Ruthin to another charming B and B.
John and Helen provided a tasty and colourful breakfast of mixed fresh fruit, overnight oats, freshly baked soda bread and an offer of that famous full Welsh cooked breakfast as well.
The room was so interesting, with the mouldings, wallpaper, colours and art (paper art by their daughter). And then, of course, the garden on the other side of the window.
While I was waiting for the taxi to pick me up to return to the Path, Helen took me on a tour of her garden - so beautiful - and even a pond with water lilies.
The taxi arrived on time at 9:30 (I know, a bit of a late start for a difficult day's hike, but that is what Celtic Trails had organized) and before long I was back on the Path for the second last day of the Walk, one with some challenging ascents, especially up Moel Famau, which I found VERY difficult.
There were a lot of ascents on this second last day and I was getting tired. At one point, I had my head down, going up, up, up and met a van going down the other way, even though it didn't seem like this was a road where there should be any vehicles since it was inside Moel Famau Park. I thought he was a park warden or something. Shortly after, it came up again, passing me. Eventually, I reached the point where it had stopped. A man was unloading bags and a woman with a tiny infant was also getting out. I carried on and eventually the road gave out, running into a fence, I realized that where the van had stopped was most likely my turn up onto the moor above and I had missed it. Luckily I found another stile, not in very good shape, with lots of barbed wire around it but was able to navigate it and then followed a sheep track uphill through the heather and regained my intended route. Whew!
Below: Moel Famau, an arduous climb(more shots of Moel Famau in the Part 2 video above)
Mrs. Nest Price, the host of the B and B near Bodfari picked me up from the bus stop where I had been instructed to meet her. She was well into her 80's but drove competently and was very kind in answering my many questions. She manages the B and B on her own, providing both dinner and breakfast to her guests.
The house, very old, but updated, is much longer in one direction than the other and extends to another home where her daughter and son-in-law live and they are active participants in her life.
My cosy bedroom was up a floor, off a long hallway, where there were cabinets of collections of china plates and figures. There was a sink in the bedroom but the loo was across the hall.
The front entrance was a bit unusual - an opening that looked like it maybe wasn't original to the building. The plaque at the side celebrates the house's history. The inner door, which you can see is open, is apparently left that way at least during the day. The door to the back garden on the other side of the house is also left open so you might wonder about wildlife getting inside, as I did. Sure enough, when I was going up to finish packing after breakfast, I startled a little bird in the stairway. It took off down the long hall. Hmm....I wonder about mice???
