New Beginnings

Whilst walking to Cockerham Sands from Glasson Dock, I was excited to see my first butterflies of spring and also discover the ruins of Cockersand Abbey which dates back to 1100s. Both of which inspired my page “New Beginnings”.

This page started with a mop-up background created from leftover paint and gesso from other art journal pages; firstly a blue green acrylic paint was applied that had semi-dried to my acrylic block, I sprayed it with water and dragged the block horizontally and then vertically across the page from left to right, as you can see the colour is stronger on the left hand side as a result. Secondly some grey Winsor & Newton watercolour paint was applied using a babywipe, and then some blue watercolour paint which was already diluted on my acrylic block so I dripped it onto my page and then dragged the acrylic block over the top, and I added fine paint splatters too. Next came some left over white gesso which I applied to the page with a spatula. I thought the texture on this page would work well for my design, so I added a Rocks stamp by Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink and also secondary stamped the same stamp to add more depth and texture. This reminds me of the wall and stone ruins that we saw at the abbey. The black flowers and leaves are rub-on transfers by Kaisercraft which I clustered and layered together, I really like the worn look of these transfers. The butterflies and wording are also rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel and to finish I added the three rhinestone flowers.

As my page captures the abbey and the butterflies we discovered, I’m pleased to be able to join Hazel who is hosting the “Magical Mystery Tour” challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

Once at Cockerham Sands we decided to walk to Cockersand Abbey along the coastal path.  The abbey now lies in ruins with its walls and stones scattered across the site. We found out that originally a hospital was built here in 1180 for the sick and lepers and that this hospice was continued by the Premonstratensian White Canons who built their priory here in 1190. It was built on a clay “island” and its medieval name was “S. Maria de Marisco” or “Saint Mary of the Marsh”. As the priory thrived it gained the rank of abbey. Then came Henry VIII’s Reformation, and so in 1539 the abbey was dissolved and although it was sold to John Kitchen who then gave the land to his daughter when she married Robert Dalton, it has lied in ruins ever since.

The only building remaining is called Chapter House which for many years was used as a mausoleum for the Dalton family. We really enjoyed looking around the abbey ruins, it’s such a beautiful place with views out to sea.

These are the beautiful butterflies that we saw on our walk, the one sitting on a dandelion is a Small Tortoiseshell and the other basking in the sunshine is a Peacock butterfly. It seems that the seasons have changed and Spring is here!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Christmas Green, Navy)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acylic (White)
• Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colours (Ultramarine, Payne’s Gray)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Rocks CS875)
• Kaisercraft Rub-ons Lush Collection (Black & White RB867)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (LAN1236G) and Sentiments (Spring #ROY-506 RUB-ON)
• The Works Stickers (Rhinestone Flowers)