DURDLE DOOR_

I've been going to Durdle Door since I was 18 months old, my mum and dad got married there. It is quite possibly my favorite place, so I was very excited to be going again. The beautiful Dorset area is inspiring, from the rock formation to the incredibly rough sea, even the way people live. My family (all 5 of us) crammed ourselves into a pokey caravan, listening to the wind crash and whirl against it. It gives us a chance to relax, and completely isolate ourselves- you can't even get a phone signal! Dominoes and cards were the main games played, along with pool and a pint. We even managed to have a swim in the ice cold water. But it was the wonderful things I discovered and picked up there that made it really special. Small antique shops and vintage markets displayed wonderful items, and I picked myself up a set of deer antlers (possibly starting a collection). Rock and fossil shops were in great abundance, but I had my favorites. I picked up small intricate shells with textural qualities, painted stones and crystals, all great inspiration for shape and form. The forage appeared different, so I collected some plants and dried them out, and later used some of them as scratchy paint brushes to give texture and raw form. The landscape itself was breath taking, you could look in any direction and and be amazed. My mind was going crazy putting shapes together, and I was capturing interesting images which contained form, texture or colour to document this and work with later. The colours were very neutral, due to the weather and nature of the rock and forage. It was bleak, but this appealed to me and I thought that these colours perhaps with an added accent colour taken from the bright houses at the harbor could work very well. 
Although I travel down every year, it always feels like a new experience, with new things to be seen. I almost feel honored that a place so wonderfully beautiful is so close to home. 
My main source of inspiration for my project was skeletons and skulls, and I could incorporate the florals I found. But I feel the shapes and texture of the rock and landscape is very relevant to include.