Here are two little paintings I made while on an artful way, a rowing boat outing with Charlotte Dumbill. We went from Derwentwater Marina to Rampsholme Island, taking turns with the oars. I produced two small watercolours using the lake water – one painted while Charlotte rowed so the landscape was in motion, the other while beached at Rampsholme.

I am not a watercolourist or a landscape artist, but it seemed the natural thing to attempt in a boat on a lake.

Answering the three Artful questions

Creativity, connectivity, care for place all seem to me to be linked by the idea of attentiveness. Creativity involves attentiveness to the subject or idea and the means of expression, connectivity involves attentiveness to the connected and care for place involves attentiveness to what is changing or staying the same in a place.

On the water we paid attention out of practical necessity to the other people and boats and to the depth of the water, and less practically to the sounds and look of the landscape.

We reconnected with each other, having not met up for quite a while, and talked among other things, about what people can do to combat the climate emergency.