I nearly packed the second slice of cardboard onto my one-night backpack for the Chasseral. The thought of a mountain scenery landscape was almost too good to resist. However, being less the sturdy board and more the flexi-card type, the idea and object were quickly left behind.
The second idea floating about in search of a clear purpose – plein air sketching from the ridge, ideally clocked on arrival before dinner.
It started quite alright. The rainy, fresh late August Saturday afternoon on the Col had given way to a large opening of blue sky – documented in that rarefied occasion around here – a self portrait.
The Col, though, had ideas of its own…
Sunday was fully mapped out. Full day walking excursion around the Col with an eye (and lens or two) out for my favorite kind of wildlife – birds.
Deep blue skies with a clear view to the Mont Blanc. Small, milk chocolate brown, fuzzy creatures fluttering within rocky crevices. Fuzzy first sighting of the day turned out to be a well-known bird predator in disguise – a cute-looking ermine. Without a long lens in the backpack nor time to linger with a brush pen, I tried to commit its friendly, curious look to memory instead.
Late August to early September is the narrow window when dotterels cross over the Swiss Alps. The species had been spotted on the Chasseral in previous years, and though everyone was hoping for a similar sighting, it was not meant to be.
Nevertheless, with silver thistles lighting up the paths on this end of summer walk among hovering kestrels, wheatears and willow warblers, it was a pleasant, relaxing excursion.
It is from the “spoils” of such walks that new ideas and images emerge. In Japan or Switzerland, walking is an important part of my creative process.
What about Saturday evening? The sketching from the ridge?
Two minutes after that opening portrait a stout, grey cloud wrapped itself around the Col and dropped its water bomb. Walking gear soaked, but not the art supplies, which were back in the hotel room. Still, plein air was definitely out of the picture.
As the second idea went up in smoke, or perhaps steam of the hiking trousers hanging up to dry, the square of glass above the room radiator offered a third one.
The room window was in the recess of a small concrete box. Chilly, but sheltered, and a perfectly flat surface with just enough space for postcard and tools.
Ahead, a view of the lakes Biel and Neuchatel at sunset, and roughly thirty minutes to go until dinnertime.
Rotating the onion-flecked postcard for the best match to the sky and fields, paper in hand to absorb the extra ink from the altitude impact on the cartridges, it was a rapid take. And the only take of the weekend.
Maybe a companion landscape to its right featuring Mont Blanc will come forth soon. Maybe it will have to wait for another year’s excursion.
One can control creativity as one can control the weather… Learning to recognize and harness opportunities is the best skill we can pack.
Wishing you a great start to September!
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