Glyn Davies Photo Artist

Jun62024

Anglesey is an island of variation, visually rich but economically poor. When clouds sit over one end, sunshine bakes the other – waves pound the exposed South West facing coast whilst sheltered coves hide on the North East – low and expansive sand dunes at the South rise to huge steep rocky cliffs on the North and West.

Add to this geographical variation the rapid changes in weather, from day to day and season to season, and for the artist we have endless sources of inspiration and imagination here on the island. For some, the sheer beauty of the island blinds them into painting or shooting the obvious and this can lead to the outsider imagining we only have lighthouses at dawn and sunset!

There is so much more, in the ordinary, which makes the place extra ordinary. A simple stretch of sand dunes is not just sand – it’s pattern, it’s carving, it’s movement, it’s the wonder of new shapes and structures, it becomes faces, forms, figures and creatures. The winter winds carve new landscapes whilst you watch, sand blasted. The walk along the shore is not exercise, it’s escape, it’s mind clearance, it’s liberation, it’s sensual, you can feel it in on your skin, in your bones and ultimately in your heart. Many locals (and empathetic visitors), visit this place because they feel this spirit, this freedom, this enlightenment.

Tiny chapels nestle into lush meadow valleys. Slate fences and limestone walls are sculptures in landscape. The sea is almost always in sight on the horizon. As Skylarks circle the air, and rooks burst out in noisy explosion from tall trees, sheep munch lazily on vivid grass. On the sea beyond, ships slowly make passage for Liverpool assisted by the Amlwch pilots. A pony races across a large tract of textile-like sand at Red Wharf Bay and Porpoise can always be found hunting the over falls at Point Linas. Seals bask undisturbed on rocks in deserted coves, or float almost motionless in deep water gullies.

For me at least, this island will always provide creative stimulation, it will always pacify my soul and it will always remain the land of my father’s, my connection with my past, and the past before that, an ancient isle, a precious isle.

Glyn has authored and published five books of his work to date, two about Anglesey, which were bought by the Prime Minister as a gift for the Royal couple William and Kate.

Oriel Glyn Davies Gallery is the Caernarfon based photographic gallery run by Glyn Davies which has 100s of gorgeous prints (inc. Limited Editions) of Anglesey, Snowdonia & North Wales available to buy.