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| Confusion Lifted, Llŷn Peninsula - © Glyn Davies 2011 |
The build up to my latest exhibition "Wales Uploaded" over the previous weeks had removed my chance for fresh air, and I hadn't been near the hills for weeks which made me feel worse. The continued gloomy economy is all around me, with four empty shops now blighting the terrace over the road in the town. The council sent out misleading information that the small business rate relief was being terminated, which in fact it isn't, but struck fear for many of the Anglesey's struggling retail businesses.
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| Light Below a Black Mountain, Nasareth - © Glyn Davies 2011 |
I had no choice, I had to get away from it all, and after a quiet but friendly Mother's Day lunch with 'me Mam' I made for the hills to clear my head and find myself again. The main mass of Snowdonia was under very heavy cloud and rain so I headed for the Llŷn peninsula and the rolling rounded hills of Bwlch Mawr and Gyrn Goch where the peaks mostly seemed to escape the low cloud. It started raining as I ascended the steep lush-green mountain side to Bwlch Mawr, but I just didn't care, I was so elated to be out in the fresh air. Funnily enough, this is the third time I've done this peak in the last 6 weeks so the steep start seemed to pass very quickly and I was soon in the cloud on the first and lower summit. I couldn't see very far into the distance but the crags, grass and peaty moorland all around were clear, vivid and so vital to me. I even enjoyed the sensation of my feet sinking into the saturated earth and the drizzle accumulating as water drops on my face. It was so quiet, not even a sheep made an appearance, so I was at last enjoying the mind-uplifting solitude I seem to need so much at the moment. As I ascended the boulder field to the main summit, the clouds started to break and distant views momentarily snatched my attention from my earthy foreground. And then light appeared, gently at first then streams of brilliant and warm sunshine, flowing down towards the valley below me to the right. A sunlit tall arrow-like mast at Nasareth, punctured the base of heavy cloud over the mountain beyond, farms appeared as tiny white dots below a huge sheet of blackness. Across this dark swathe floated rapidly changing clouds, stark even in their softness. The sense of scale, the vastness of the sky and mountains, made both me and man's puny constructions pale into insignificance, and with it my worries and sadness. I was alive once more, and assured of my place and my purpose.
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| A Pattern in Confusion, Llŷn Peninsula - © Glyn Davies 2011 |
As I left for lower slopes I realised that the greasy green rocks from weeks before were now dry, rough-textured sculptures of beauty - huge curves and slices carved into stone by nature. I lay in a bowl shaped block on the crag, sheltered from the unusually bitter South West wind and soaked up the gentle warmth of the sun. The peaks of Gyrn Goch, Gyrn Ddu and even the three peaks of Yr Eifl in the distance, were a playground for light, shadow and cloud metamorphosis - it was utterly magical and totally captivating. I waited until the performance had finished and the final grey curtain drew across the sky before I made my way back down to the van, and beyond that my nephew and even more wonderment.
All words and images are strictly copyright © Glyn Davies 2011
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