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@alsne

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💖 Morning Somm. @ecorpinc
Evening lace taxidermist. #lacetaxidermy
Sake Philomath: @denver.queencitysakefest
Project of Saints: @iconophilialsn

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The Queen City Sake Fest was such a good time last Saturday. It was my first year attending. And Finn's Manor, where it was held is absolutely stunning and the perfect place for it. ✨️

🍶 From crisp and refined pours to fun flavored finds and casual classics, we tried it all. Paired the ultimate sake lineup with incredible small bites: hamachi crudo, hand rolls, onigiri, fresh made fries & fry sauce, and mochi to top it off. What a great afternoon.

📍@denver.queencitysakefest
@finnsmanor by @alsne

Here, as promised, are all of the sketches and paintings done on this trip. Some simple and quick, and some rehashed and repainted at home. Super grateful the folks that I traveled with were patient and gave me the time to paint. ✨💛 Until next time! #alsneart by @alsne

Cornwall- Day 9: Summer Solstice! On this, our last day, we ate clotted cream on scones, braided flower crowns and hiked to the 9 Maidens, also known as the Boskednan Stone Circle. Jaime led us in a ritual and we danced among the stones with joy as we looked out over the expanse of moors, fields, and ruins. It is a heavy thing to stand in a place that so many have stood, and wonder what they all wondered. ⛅️
Afterwards we’d stopped at a farm for fresh eggs and i loved the sign which advertised parking for the beach below. Then a bit of time to rest and pack our bags. And one last hike towards the Porthmeor Cove where the sun painted everything in gold, and we delighted in the sights and the memories of quietus we were given before heading back to the worlds we came from. by @alsne

Cornwall- Day 8: The iconic Botallack mines of Cornwall. If you’ve read or watched Poldark, then you know the Wheal Leisure Mines mentioned there, and here they are, still sort-of standing. These are tin, copper, and arsenic mines that stretched out for miles under the ocean floor. The tall structures left standing are generally the engine houses that acted as elevators from above to below. In the 1800s these mines would have been booming and generating a fortune, but after the precious metals dried up in the early 1900s, they were abandoned. As my friends hiked around the cliffs I sat and tried to paint, but i learned a valuable lesson this day! You cannot use milk tea as a water source for watercolour. ☕️ I’ve used tea and coffee to paint loads of stuff out of necessity, but I learned that milk acts as a kind of binder and won’t let paint absorb into the paper, so it was a real battle trying to paint the Crown Mines! 😅

After this we went to the town of Zennor where we had the best fish and chips of the trip, and delicious mussels at “The Tinner’s Arms.” (Tinner was slang for tin-miner) And of course we stepped into the church of Zennor where the famous mermaid chair resides. This old wooden pew has a mermaid carved into one side of it. I heard about 6 different versions of the Legend of the Mermaid of Zennor, so I’ll probably have to make art out of it later. Speaking of art, did you know there is a Tate Museum in St Ives, Cornwall?! I didn’t. I got to see some lovely art on the seaside, and it’s a great building design besides. On the way home we stopped at an ancient village ruin called Chysauster- only about 2,000 years old, and for some reason I only took a picture of this horse. 🤣 You can tell we were nearing the end of the trip. One more day to go! by @alsne

Cornwall Trip- Day 7 part 2: Ok, so I want to take a second and tell you about the UK Landmark Trust. No. You know what, it would take so much more than one second! So I’m gonna sum it up by saying The Landmark Trust is freaking rad. They buy up old abandoned buildings, refurbish them, and let you rent them for the night (among many other great things they do, obviously.) So we stayed at Arra Venton- a structure of 3 cottages tied together, built sometime in the 1600s- possibly late 1500s. WILD to get to stay in something that old. The view out the front door was of green rolling hills, and the view out the back window was the ocean. Not too shabby. After talking with others folks staying in similar Landmark Trust sites, we discovered that they are kind of like Pokemon. Gotta stay in them all! Folks go from one to the next from year to year on holiday all across the UK. They all have full bookshelves, and none of them have TVs! It’s simply lovely!
A few clicks down the road, our closest restaurant was Gurnard’s Head, a pub turned into a foodie destination. Pictured here is one of my fav dishes of the trip- the most pillowy gnocchi of all time, some local Gurnard fish, and my first real sticky toffee pudding! Obviously it was at the point that I decided to live here for the rest of my life and never return home. by @alsne

Cornwall, Day 7 (part one)- Falmouth! A great town for wandering and shopping. On a whim we learned that a favorite artist had an art gallery in Falmouth, so we trucked down to the sea to see the Sailor’s Jail Gallery, and the works of one Tabby Booth. (The owl painting, here shows her emblematic line-work and use of antique frames.) We ate scallops, fried cuttlefish and a Cornish apple lollie (popsicle) on the oceans’s edge and then stopped in at a witch museum which had lovely little quips on every piece. I especially liked the spell-work noted in the act of knitting. After Falmouth we visit the Lanyon Quoit- a neolitic dolmen (tomb). Probably built around 2500 BC. It actually fell over in 1815, so the locals put it back up, and it turns out, according to paintings found, they put it back up incorrectly! But no use in fixing it now, I guess. I added a painting of my own to the historical queue, and personally felt just fine about the stone placement. 😅 by @alsne

Cornwall- Day Six: A most leisurely day due to the heavy cloud that enveloped us and squeezed the sunlight out of our souls. We went to see Saint Michael’s Mount- the sister monastery to the French Mont-St-Michael. This tiny island reveals its land bridge at low tide only, and it a cute little museum/diversion from everyday life. We enjoyed more clotted cream ice cream and a brief lunch in town before going to explore the streets of Penzance where much shopping was done, and at the end of the day, a lovely stop in at a lovely cocktail bar called “Four.” Highly recommended if you’re ever in the area. The bartender/owner was a wealth of knowledge and even posed for a photo with us. Overall a slow day to recover from the jam-packed days we’d been having. by @alsne

Cornwall- Day 5 part 2! One of my favorite moments and pictures of the trip (taken by @kristinrust ) Look at these mysterious and ghostly folk who crept out of the mist with their Saluki pup as we walked around The Merry Maiden’s Stone Circle!
We went to a nighttime, cliffside showing of Romeo and Juliet at Minack Theatre, and my high school thespian self was IN ABSOLUTE HEAVEN! The mist surrounded us, and created a backdrop, shrouding us from the ocean beyond. We drank wine with a fitting High Priestess Tarot label and ate intermission Cornish Pasties. It was a night to remember! by @alsne

Cornwall, Day 5: Newlyn crab avocado toast!!! We explored Mousehole, the tiny town near Newlyn with a rock pool and dramatic shore, and then had lunch at a tiny fish shop where I enjoyed a small fish called John Dory for the first time along with seaweed popcorn! Then clotted cream ice cream with clotted cream on top! (This was maybe too much, but when in Rome!)
A short drive took us on another wild path to find the Holy Well of Sancreed. A literal hole in the ground, found with the assistance of many ribbons tied to a tree- we gathered some water to use at our solstice celebration later. This little hidden grove had some of the most fae-trees I’ve ever encountered. The well itself predates Christianity, but a 15th Century chapel was built nearby as it is so obvious the place holds power.
Obviously a walk through the Sancreed Church and cemetery was next on our very wet and grey agenda. Many beautiful Celtic crosses here. by @alsne

Cornwall, Day 4: We packed up and travelled from Boscastle to Newlyn, and we stopped at a handful of stone sites in between. (Oh, and we had kippers for breakfast)
1.) The Rock Valley Labyrinth carved on a cliffside near the ruins of an old mill.
2.) Stannon Circle- one of the easier circles to get to. We found rushes there, and braided St Brigid’s Cross. (Or just Brigid’s cross if ya like.)
3.) King Arthur’s Hall- I did not venture into this one since it was far into a field and we weren’t sure where, but the girls found it- an unusual alignment of a colonnade (hall) rather than circle.
4.) Trippet’s Stone- another one easy to get to from the road- some questions as to the validity of the middle stone, but what can ya do?
5.) Godaver’s Stones were hard to find at first, but a local horse harness-maker helped us out, and since it was up a hill, I sat and painted the foxglove while the girls disappeared into the mist.
At the day’s end we had dinner at the much anticipated Argoe, right next to the fish market, and right on the docks. We ate many things, but the chunk of perfectly cooked Turbot was this land-locked girl’s fav. by @alsne

Cornwall Day 3: The most beautiful hike of my life. The Southwest Coast Path is like the Colorado Trail of England. This breath-taking path is a stunner, and magical in foggy weather. We only hiked from Boscastle to Tintagel (~5miles from start to finish?), but the whole trail is 630 miles! While I huffed and puffed up steep cliffs, it seemed like 80-year old couples were passing me with ease. The lack of elevation and cloud cover were my only salvation. Every bend in the path, every crest of every hill, I wanted to take 1 million photos. This place is unreal. We crossed through private farm land and paddocks, with genius gate systems, all managed by the UK National Trust. Those folks really know what they’re doing. Completely delightful! We ended at Merlin’s cave beneath the cliffs where Tintagel Castle once stood, the birthplace of King Arthur. by @alsne

Cornwall Trip, Day 2, Dinner at Coombeshead Farm. Dinner was beyond lovely. So fresh, and vivid! And how peculiar to eat Mangalitza pigs, and then go chat with them after supper! On the drive home we pulled over to hunt out the Nine Stones stone circle that was “just over the ridge somewhere.” I didn’t make it all the way to the circle, but the girls took some amazing photos while I chatted up the sheep. by @alsne