Shipping Forecast

I love stormy skies and seas, but mainly when I'm safely indoors and in a warm room with a cup of tea in my hands. I used to listen to the BBC radio shipping forecast late at night, and think of all the people out on the unpredictable seas surrounding this small island.  The language is poetic and strangely familiar, (Malin...Hebrides...severe gale force eight imminent....visibility....poor). But out there in the real world I know there are fishing boats and lifeboats, and others who have little choice about going to sea in weather like that. I think about their bravery, and I know I wouldn't be able to do it. Any life demands a certain amount of courage, and we all meet unpredictable seas and  rough weather from time to time; this feels especially true at the moment, given the unpredictable nature of world events. So I'm focussing my energies on trying to be a 'still point in the turning world', at least as far as my own small part of it is concerned; trying to stay rooted in the soil of my own landscape, even as the storm rages on around us all.

'Gale Force Eight Imminent' Acrylic on canvas 2016