This summer has brought a whirlwind of activities, starting with my trip to England in June. I was away for three weeks, visiting London for several days and then teaching back-to-back workshops in the Cotswolds. Since I returned home, I’ve had birthday celebrations, sketching get-togethers, garden parties, and camping trips filling my days, but in between, I’ve been working on finishing up my travel journal from the England trip.
Since I was the organizer and instructor on this workshop trip, I knew I would have very little time to work on my own personal travel journal. Most of my time would be spent teaching, helping students, and dealing with logistics (lodging, meals, transportation, etc.) So, after much deliberation, I decided to take a little Lightwish 4.7″ x 4.7″ watercolor journal along on the trip. I figured I was more likely to fill the pages if they were fairly small.
I started with page 1 the day before I left for London. With all my packing done, I had time to do the quote shown above. (For the lettering, I used a pointed calligraphy nib loaded with watercolor.) I left the next few pages blank, planning to add a title page and itinerary after the trip.
After I returned home, and before I dove into finishing up the sketches I had started on location in England, I did a title page filled with some of the places I visited and things I saw during the tour.
One of the king’s guards that we saw in London anchors the left side of the page, and a cute little European robin perches on a sign for the Cotswold Way walking path. A single pink rose represents the hundreds (thousands?) that I took pictures of during our garden visits, and the sticky toffee pudding earned a spot in the lower left corner (because none of us could resist it!)
A rose-covered thatched roof cottage reminds me of all the beautiful villages we visited, and I even put a miniscule straw fox on the roofline. (Read about the tradition of putting straw animals on thatched roofs here.) The British flag was a natural inclusion on the page…
as was this scene of Bourton-on-the-Water, complete with ducks swimming on the River Windrush. The sketch of tea and scones reminds me of the chilly afternoon when my friends Wendy and Judy joined me in a cosy tea room where we debated the merits of putting clotted cream on top of the jam on our scones or underneath it.
To complete the page, I painted a red phone box (so cute!), British money (I never did get comfortable with the coins), an umbrella (to remind me of all the rain we had early in the trip), Broadway Tower (one of my favorite day trips) and a lovable Cotswold sheep.
So, even though I chose a smallish sketchbook for this trip, I still packed this title page full of images. I like how it turned out. I think it captures the flavor of the trip and is a nice preview of what’s to come.
The next page holds a map showing where the Cotswolds are in relation to the rest of the UK, and the facing page has the briefest of itineraries. I only had room for a list of what we saw in London and the Cotswolds. It will be a good memory jogger, though. I also kept a written diary which I plan to print out and keep with the travel journal. It will tell the full story of my adventures and include all the details that I didn’t have room for on the pages of the sketchbook.
I hope you enjoyed this introduction to my Cotswolds trip. I’ll be back in a day or two with more sketches. See you soon!
13 Comments
ABSOLUTELY CHARMING!
A question: will you be offering any online courses?
I don’t have any plans to at this time. I really prefer in-person classes.
Love this Leslie!!!!!!!!!
Thanks, Beverlee.
Love seeing England through your sketches. Such lovely work. Thank you for sharing.
Lots more to come!
Truly beautiful sketches!
Next time you teach in the Cotswalds I must join!
If you’re on my email newsletter list, you’ll be the first to know when I schedule the next one. For now, I’m taking names for an “Interested” list. Email me at ljfehling@gmail.com
Was thinking our England sketchbook would make an excellent one to offer for sale.. I have a couple other ones of yours… I would buy one for sure!!! Love England!! Love your sketchbooks..
Love
Beverlee
Great idea, but first I need to finish it!
Where did you stay in the Cotswolds? 😊
Bourton-on-the-Water. It was a perfect home base. Every place we visited was within a half hour drive, and we could easily walk into town from our B&B (The Lansdowne) for lunch or dinner.
🤩🤩 Thank you!! Sounds delightful!