12 Mar Inspiration on The Somerset Levels at Godney Arts House with CoolStays…

I never think of February as a particularly exciting month, although I do always try and structure the first couple of months of the year with day trips and a general feeding of my eyes and mind. January and February are always tricky to get through so over the years I’ve learnt  that I just give in to not knowing what I’m going to be doing and use the time as respite from the madness of the latter end of the previous year.

In January I met with CoolStays who suggested a trip to Godney Arts House as they said they were sure I’d love it, but I honestly didn’t expect it to be quite as beautiful and cosy and that I would feel so inspired by the Somerset Levels. The house is owned by artist Simon Ledson and designer Jane Peck and it felt like a perfect opportunity to reconnect with my painting as weather and the landscape often inspires my work. Brighton artist Sophie Abbot, who I always find an inspiring person to be around, came with me for the couple of days and we spent our time chasing starlings at sunrise and sunset in the hope of a glimpse of their famous murmurations, as well as walking, painting and relaxing in the amazing pub next door The Sheppy Inn ( who even served us soup and mussels when they’d closed the kitchen as we’d lost track of time painting ).

As we were only there for a couple of days, we decided to make the most of the journey there and back, so stopped off en route at the cliffs by Cheddar Gorge, and then popped into the Hauser & Wirth Gallery on the way home.

I have to say, as collaborations go, this was genuinely both an inspiring and relaxing break which is what Cool Stays is so brilliant for; they have such quirky and interesting holiday options that I really urge you to have a look through their site, particularly if you want a get away with style, character and luxury as well as keeping your independence.

I’ll start my photo story at Cheddar Gorge, which was our giant gateway into into a secluded Somerset retreat…The gorge cliffs were enormous and then the Levels were so beautifully flat…such incredible opposites so close by felt surprisingly humbling…Having driven down lots of sleepy, flat roads with gentle bonfires silently burning, we arrived at Godney Arts House greeted by fresh bread and Cheddar cheese…The house was instantly calming, warm and very cosy and all the windows there are to die for… The house is full of lovely, stylish and quirky details including artwork ( which is also for sale ) by Simon…

My two favourite things in the house though had to be this gorgeous bath and the simple kitchen table, which ended up being commandeered by water colours and pastels…
We couldn’t believe how lucky we were to be staying next to such a brilliant and unique pub which is well worth a visit, even if you’re not staying in Godney, as the beer and food are fantastic… I was desperate for one of these Spanish dolls as a child and here she was dancing in the Ladies!We drank ‘Wild West’, but kind of wanted to try this pump…although she scared me a bit! The following morning we were out of the house before 7am trying to find the starling murmurations, even going so far as to phone the starling hotline, and although we didn’t catch any displays we found them roosting like fat fruits in some of the country lanes…

After the sun came up properly we went for a morning walk around Westhay Moor Nature ReserveI made the mistake of testing how thick this ice was, and got a very wet boot!
We wanted to try and catch the starlings at sunset so had a leisurely afternoon

before going to the opposite end of the reserve to wait by the bird hide…and get extremely cold!! The starlings only made an appearance in the distance but we watched the sky for 2 hours completely enthralled…

Every piece of the sky was constantly morphing into new and more beautiful shapes…We went back to Godney Arts House and became engrossed in sketching, although nearly missed out on supper… We’d really enjoyed our early jaunt the previous morning so set of for an invigorating morning walk before setting back for Brighton… I could have stayed so much longer…this was a truly calming and quiet spot, but Brighton was on the horizon, although as the Hauser & Wirth gallery was so close by in Bruton, just before we properly got going on our journey back, we stopped off to have a look around ‘The Land We Live in and The Land We Left Behind’

I found this trip to be such a breath of fresh air and can’t thank CoolStays enough for asking me to go. Just looking at the landscape, walking along ancient tracks, staring at the sky and taking time to paint was invigorating and enlightening…if you need to get away you should definitely do it, even if it’s for a couple of nights, and I would also definitely use the CoolStays site as well as following their Instagram account @coolstays as a starting point.

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