Sketching the Summer: Watercolours from Our Trip to Jersey

Hi all,
Here are a few of my watercolours from our recent family holiday on the island of Jersey.

It was our very first time there and I completely fell in love!
The nature is breathtakingly beautiful and surprisingly diverse: from wide sandy beaches to dramatic rocky cliffs, from open dune landscapes to lush fern jungles and quiet forests.

I managed to carve out a few precious moments to paint — while impressions were still fresh. It helped me pause, absorb the feeling of a place, and gently record those memories on paper.

One afternoon, not far from Bouley Bay, we found a magnificent tree — so big and old, it looked like something out of a fairytale.
It was impossible to pass by without stopping.

Even my not-so-little-anymore fifteen-year-old girl couldn’t resist climbing it.

There are many beautiful coastal trails on the island.
In some places, the cliffs are so high that when you look down at the sea, the boats below look like tiny toys.

The island is full of farms — Jersey is famous for its cows, of course.
I didn’t paint any cows this time, though.
But I did sketch a charming rows of potatoes.

And here’s a sketch of the very famous The Hungry Man Kiosk in Rozel — a cosy little spot by the harbour that’s just as charming as everyone says.

And Rozel itself, seen from a distance, looked like a tiny peaceful village tucked into the green hills.

• If you ever feel like you're too busy to sketch, or that drawing outside is “too much”…
  Maybe all you need is a shift in how you see it. And if you’d like a bit of gentle guidance, I made a short class all about that:
  → Plein Air for Calm & Joy: A Gentle Guide to Sketching Outdoors

And, finally, here we are: me and my plein air companion (my not-so-little-anymore girl).

Wishing all of us a gentle, joy-filled summer with time to pause, to notice, and to create.

Warm hugs,
Olya