Why do we do it?

Endurance, Expressive seascape

It’s a question I ask myself a lot, usually when I’m halfway through a painting, covered in splatters, slightly cold, and unsure if I’m painting sea spray or just expressing my emotional turbulence.

The short answer is that I need to.

Not in a tortured artist way. Not because someone once told me I had a “gift” (although let’s be honest, I’m not completely terrible). I do it because my mind can be a bit of a chaotic whirlwind, and painting is the one thing that calms the storm. My brain’s default setting is busy, I’m sure many of you reading this know that restless feeling too.

Thoughts, feelings, memories, all swirling like a stormy sky over the west coast of Scotland, Cornwall or anywhere there is a coastline. (Do you see what I did there?) In another life, I used to channel it into rock climbing. Something about the focus and the movement gave me peace.

But then life, as it often does, had other plans, and I had to find something else to focus on. After having to give up my career as a chef in Scotland, I must admit, I was a little lost for a while. I studied nutrition to help with my own newly diagnosed condition, and helped a few others do the same. Then I found some old paints and canvas and….here we are today.

If I couldn't be in the wilds of the Highlands of Scotland or walking at sunrise in Cornwall before a hectic breakfast service, I could at least remember it. How the wind and salty air took my breath away, and I forgot all the noise in my head. The light and constantly changing colours of Scotland, especially in winter, kept me distracted.

In the end, we don’t just paint what we see, we paint what it feels like to be there. At least that’s what I am trying to do.

There’s something about wild coastlines, especially in Scotland and Cornwall, that makes you feel small yet calm. I’d walk, slowly, watch the clouds change shape, and just breathe. And at some point, I started painting.

Not to capture a perfect view. Not to make a pretty picture. Just to express what it felt like to stand there.

The weather. The stillness. The storm.
The space to just be.

Thank you for reading.

Melissa x