Quietly Sheltered — Beneath the Surface

At first glance, Quietly Sheltered can feel like quite an open landscape. There is a wide sky, land stretching beyond the water and nothing that immediately asks us to look in one particular direction.

But the longer I spend with landscapes like this, the more I begin to notice what is actually there.

The lake rests between the surrounding land, with grasses growing around its edges and trees sitting further away along the horizon. The changes in the landscape happen gradually, moving from one colour and texture into another, and although there is plenty of space beyond the water, the curves of the land give the lake a feeling of being sheltered within it.

I think that combination of openness and shelter is what interests me.

If I imagine myself sitting somewhere like this, I probably wouldn't be doing very much. I would be quite happy sitting on the grass, perhaps picking at it absent-mindedly while my eyes wandered across the view.

At first I would notice the obvious things. The lake, the shape of the land, the trees and the sky.

After a while, I know I would begin noticing more.

I might hear the slight rustle of leaves moving in the wind or an insect buzzing lazily somewhere nearby. I would notice the grasses moving, changes across the surface of the water and all those tiny things that are easily missed when we are walking through somewhere rather than stopping.

The landscape that initially seemed very quiet would gradually become full of things happening.

I love that.

There is something different about spending enough time somewhere for the smaller details to become noticeable. My eyes stop searching for the main subject and begin wandering instead, finding things that were there all along.

Perhaps that is also where the feeling of shelter comes from for me.

I don't think somewhere has to be enclosed or hidden away for us to feel sheltered. This landscape isn't. There is a wide sky above it and the view continues beyond the lake, but the water sits comfortably between the surrounding land and nothing within the scene makes me want to hurry on.

I can imagine staying there for quite a while.

Gently picking at the grass, allowing my gaze to drift across the view, listening to the leaves moving and an insect buzzing somewhere nearby.

And eventually having that familiar thought.

I feel like I'm home.

I don't mean that I recognise this as a particular place or that it reminds me of the house I live in. It is more the feeling of being comfortable enough somewhere that I no longer need to think about being there.

That is what Quietly Sheltered became for me.

A landscape that appears simple when we first look at it, but gives us more to notice when we stay with it for a little longer.

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