Kirsty Hall  |  Artist & Curator

Do you have somewhere special that eases your soul?

YES! The mountains behind my home. I have to hike there every weekend to nourish my soul, otherwise i'm just out of sorts during the week.

I love your photos, what a beautiful place! I just vacationed in my spot, and I hadn't been for 20 years! I just blogged with photos of my spot (the High Sierra in California). :-)
http://lesleyatlansky.com/blog/?p=820

Thanks for commenting Lesley, your special place is stunning. It had been more than 20 years since I'd been to my place & it was so wonderful to finally go back.

Hi Kathryn, how lucky you are to have your special place so close to your home and how fantastic that you recognise and honour your need for it.

What gorgeous photos, Kirsty and what a wonderful place.

Myself, I always, always gravitate back to the Isle of Wight, where I was born. It is so tantilisingly close, just across the water from where I live now, but is a world away in the way it calms and inspires me each time.

I often find the need to flee the confines of my apartment to find solace and solitude. I only moved to Vancouver a year ago, and there are few places where one can truly find peace, but I have often escaped to the deep forest paths of Stanley Park, or the less-traveled beaches of the same to find myself again. I am forever drawn to deep forest paths near the ocean, and rocky beaches. If I had my way I would magically transport myself to the cliff-path in the park on Galiano Island, looking out over Active Pass. That stark and completely people-free sheer dirt path, and the time-lost rock beach below are, to me, the closest thing to paradise.

These images are quite soothing…Makes one wonder about those old boats- where they've been, their age, what adventures they saw, if they could talk….
While I lived in the Caribbean, my escape place on our island was anywhere along Ridge Road, THE main hilltop passageway. I had a few spots w/ amazing views of the sea and islands.
Now my place to seek solace while in transition and staying with family is the lovely gated cemetery down the road. I walk there. It's so peaceful and beautiful- not a depressing place at all. Ordinarily, I find cemeteries inspiring. This one does that for me. Because I have no loved ones buried there, there's no sadness attached to my visits.

I love cemeteries too, Stephanie, there's a beautiful wild old one near here where I sometimes go and walk.

That sounds lovely, Amber. I've always loved rocky beaches too because I was a rock hound as a kid and always on the lookout for fossils, gemstones or other interesting rocks.

I've never been to the Isle of Wight, Ingrid but it sounds like an interesting place. I've always fancied visiting places like the Channel Isles – from what I understand they're very different from the islands up north.

Beautiful photos, Kirsty. I can see how this place would feed your soul! So happy you were able to spend time there.
Mountains and streams consistently fill my creative well. I've been away from them for a while. Funny how we can lose touch with those kinds of places even when we know how beneficial they are.

Thanks for commenting, Cindy. I also love mountains and streams and for the last couple of years I've had a thing for old sacred wells and springs.

I googled-mapped your vacation spot when you posted it. Virtually walked around the area via google maps. wonderful! I was so envious! I know you must have had a great time. Thank you for sharing! Kim

What an interesting idea, Kimberly, I’d never thought of doing that.