​'Estuaries and the sublime' is the concept for a portfolio of art pieces which are inspired by the Essex skies and coastline. The title is inspired from the relationship between the habitats and ecology which make this unique landscape their home and the cultural construct of the sublime which gives meaning and sense to the feeling of an expanse of nature, an overwhelming awe and oceanic feeling similar to the vastness of the estuaries. One of my favourite pieces of writing is William Cronon’s The Trouble with Wilderness. He writes; ‘Among the best proofs that one had entered a sublime landscape was the emotion it evoked’ and I find nature in it's extent can bring about these feelings, the strength of which have been historically linked to various phenomenon because of how overwhelming they can be. For example, the Essex coastline has mudflats and saltmarsh, expanses of tidal water, the clearest blue sky with a strength of unwavering desert heat, then across the vault of that same sky might be a dark horizon, deep heavy clouds weighted with rain. I feel drawn to these open places, to the voice and vibration of these intense flat coastal landscapes. In a similar way I am drawn to the sense of isolation in the desert, to the heat, sun and expanse of sand, rock and salt.

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