Manx heritage buildings and landscapes feature in a very personal account by artist David Paul Cowley in his Sketch Diary Journal.
The first edition of the journal includes a series of drawings, sketches, ink and watercolour paintings and accompanied by a hand-written dated transcript.
It covers the first three months of David’s experience of trying to cope alone after separating from his long-term marriage and no longer seeing his son Harley every day.
David told Island Life: ‘I spent my time living alone in a temporary bedsit, trying to deal with things, which wasn’t easy.
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‘The only thing that kept me mentally sane at the time and my thoughts focussed on other things, was keeping a personal Sketch Diary Journal.
‘It really helped me keep my thoughts at bay and become a real source of mental therapy for me, and still does.’
The pieces include an ink and pencil sketch of boats in Douglas’s inner harbour dated November 19, 2022.
The accompanying transcript explains he had been enjoying a walk around the harbour and was inspired by the stunning reflections.
There is also an unusual view of the exterior of the Gaiety Theatre, from January 9, 2023.
Here he explains that during his career as a painter, decorator and signwriter, he spent a lot of time restoring the theatre.
He had to stop being a painter and decorator after being hospitalised with pneumonia eight years ago, where it was discovered his career had led to irreversible lung damage. It was then he started a full-time career as an artist.
Entries also draw on the loneliness and heartbreak he felt spending Christmas alone, with his Christmas Day watercolour featuring an empty chair and a Pot Noodle.
His final journal entry, from January 31, is of Laxey Glen Mills, and includes the history of the mill.
And he wrote the journal entry was a requirement ‘to keep myself busy and mentally positive’.
He thanked the Isle of Man Arts Council for its support.
The first edition of Sketch Diary Journal is available to buy now from David’s website davidpaulcowley.im