Wast Water provides meaning to artist and psychiatric survivor

This artwork is a photo of an A3 size original acrylic painting which I, Cathy Noble Art, made recently, and it’s of a place called The Langdales which is in The Lake District, Cumbria, UK.   My late husband grew up in The Lake District and we used to visit there most of our nearly 30 married years, to visit his family and explore the area, which is really beautiful, wild and inspiring. The Langdales is a lush green quiet place, with valleys and mountains.  I painted this view of it from a photograph I took.

But my favourite place in The Lake District is Wast Water on the western side of the area, completely wild, not lush, it’s remote and unspoilt.  You can sit on a rock by the side of the very deep lake, stony mountains rising all around, and hear only the cries of circling wild birds or the baas of wild unfenced sheep or the gentle lapping of water against the rocks at lake’s edge.  The air is fresh and unspoiled and invigorating.  If you go outside holiday season, there is rarely anybody else there and you can take a picnic and feed your crumbs to the wild birds and contemplate quietly and feed your soul with nature.  There used to be a Youth Hostel nearby (YHA) – it might still be there.  I learned that my psychiatrist of that time also loved Wast Water and he took his wife and 6 children there to stay regularly.  So Wast Water suits away breaks for both stressed psychiatrists and also their stressed patients.  You need a car to get there, it’s very remote and miles away from inhabited areas.  It is an ultimate place of peace, quiet, rest and escape.

I’ve got photos of Wast Water and other places in The Lake District and I intend to paint from them at some time soon, watch this space.

you can visit all my artworks at www.facebook.com/catherinenoble6/ and www.instagram.com/cathynobleart/