The Crossing Place, Lindisfarne

The Crossing Place 1 (oil on canvas 60cm x 60cm)

We spent a few days on Lindisfarne at the end of last summer, with the intention of using it as a base to explore North Northumberland and the Borders. However, once we were there, we quickly decided that we'd rather not actually leave the island, as we enjoyed the thought of being cut off from the hurly-burly of modern life, and so our time there turned into a kind of retreat, and a means to re-charge our batteries. Although neither of us are spiritual people - I think a lot of the religious stuff on the Island is nothing but charlatanism - there's something about the remoteness of the landscape which is invigorating and energising, and we found ourselves drawn every evening to the Crossing Place to watch the waders, and to listen to the seals on the sandbanks calling ethereally into the night.

The Crossing Place 2 (oil on canvas 80cm x 60cm)

water
wash away this path behind me
wash away the footprints and the traces
the people and the places
wash away the flotsam and the jetsam
and the stones over which we stumble

water
wash away this path behind me
wash away the nine to five, the career plan
the greasy pole, the pension plan
wash away the credit cards
wash away the payment plans
wash away the brown-nosing
wash away the time and motion
wash away the hoop-jumping
wash away the box-ticking

water
wash away this path behind me
wash away the bollocks and the bullshit
wash away the fashion gurus, retail gurus, lifestyle gurus
wash away the nonentities and the vacuous z-list celebrities
wash away the priests and the preachers and the prattling politicians
and the fools who impose on us
the wisdom of their opinion

water
wash away this path behind me