The spectacular sunrise I had hoped for never materialised. Instead, a dull grey blanket of clouds and a blustery east wind. I had wanted to make a ‘slice painting’ of the church, but the light was rather static and unchangeable. Additionally, I found it really difficult to ‘contain’ the shape of the church within the frame of the paper and could not decide on a suitable viewpoint. I decided to walk around the church and make several studies from different viewpoints hoping that in the end the overall effect would be a more faithful reflection of the circular and three-dimensional reality of visiting and looking at the round church.
By the time I had finished over half the day was gone and I had already walked over two and a half kilometres according to my GPS.
I had a lot of ground to cover, so I got marching – heading east on narrow country roads through the intensively cultivated fieldscape between the villages of Nyker and Aarsballe – an area that I didn’t know very well at all.
As I progressed, I ascended slowly into a gently undulating landscape of wheat fields, small woods and large farms. The land felt different somehow – higher and heavier, as if I could feel the granite under my feet – in contrast to the flatter fieldscape of southern Bornholm.
Through the day, the visibility slowly worsened, first a fine mist and eventually a thick fog – a real pea souper. The roads were almost empty, save the intermittent rumbling of tractors and combine harvesters. Apart from a few gurgling skylarks, there was no birdsong.
The landscape was hidden from me, and I walked alone through the milky mist, stopping every now and then to try to paint the ghostly shapes. In comparison to the morning’s hyper-detailed painting, these could not have been more different both in execution and result.
Cold and windswept I arrived at Aarsballe, glad for the lift home and the opportunity to be released from the rather claustrophobic clutches of the fog.
LAND 33
WEATHER REPORT – Cloudy with some sunny periods in the morning, mist and then thick fog in the afternoon. Temperature 16 – 17 degrees. Wind 7 – 8 m/s, from the E. Hours of precipitation: 0 hours. Hours of sunshine: 0.5 hours.
STOPS with the BIVVY – 0
KILOMETRES WALKED – 15.65 km
DAY LASTED – 14h and 41 m
PEOPLE TALKED TO – 8 (all visitors to the church)
BIRDS SEEN and HEARD – 28 species! (0 new) = 125 species
LESSONS LEARNED – I find it really difficult to paint fine details without my glasses now.
IN MY HEAD – ‘Mr Rat Face’ by Superbandet, Bornholms billedskole, the busy few months ahead and all the things I need to do.
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