Painting Kitty

Oil on canvas 20" x 16" Working on a larger format, 'en plein air'.
The edge of Salisbury plain, looking West, with strange light/colour effects in the sky ..... There's a also a compositional challenge here ... I wanted to convey something of the richness of a roadside verge, some sunlight hitting a patch of brambles etc, yet it also relates to the overall landscape in some way. This has pehaps has too much of the wider landscape intruding. Below shows the progression of the work.

A magnificent Copper Beech, by the car park near Heaven's Gate. Done in the last hour of fading light, I didn't quite catch the sense of light I wanted here, but somehow like the sense of 'attack' in this one. Oil on gesso panel 14" x 10".

Some Bach to listen to ........ it helps my mental flow when working.

Jenny Asparro: Partitia no 2

Study of a garden for a house commission

The lovely roses were just gone over with petals dropping but enjoyable to paint.

Something completely different! I found this in a corner of the attic - one of two designs for an 8ft high building hoarding in North London in the area called 'Little Venice', near Regents Park Canal. This project was being planned for the hoarding of a large building site, just as the last recession hit in the early 1990's and the idea was suddenly scrapped.

The second design, now lost, was quite different but more relevant to England; it was of a medieval type Gothic cloister, a row of wide pointed arches with pillar supports and a low wall between, (ie Salisbury Cathedral cloister, but less ornate), with views through the arches into a courtyard garden of green topiary shaped bushes and glimpses of sculptures could be seen. I remember adding a Henry Moore style granite grey coloured statue, contrasting the medieval with something iconic of 20th century. A pity it is lost - anyway very different from the plein air work.

42x76Cm;
Oil and Golden leaf/Wood;
Ask for price

A day out painting at the Cheddar Gorge was scheduled for the UK Plein Air Society - we arrange to meet on the last Sunday of the Month, all plein air painters are welcome. Fellow painter Valerie Pirlot and I travelled there together and if you read her blog too you’ll hear more of the story of how we determinedly encouraged and cajoled each other up the heights of the gorge - it was very steep with heavy equipment, and the hottest day of the year. After much climbing and meeting decending walkers and being told it was another 15 mins to the very top, at 450ft above sea level, we went on ..... but suddenly got to a point (I guess about 350ft)where we sensibly realised any more walking in that heat and there’d be no energy to paint, so we set up easels and got painting.

Above is my rendering of the view, over the town with the river Severn in the distance, and a round reservoir spotted with tiny sails of people boating (they miraculously all disappeared at lunchtime - home for roast dinner - or BBQ - then were suddenly back again in the afternoon). To our left we could see Glastonbury Tor about 9 miles away, no sound from the Festival though we listened out for it.

Below, a photo of Valerie enjoying a well earned rest after her first painting, showing the effect of the climb too ....

and one of me, still hard at work, wishing I had a sun-umbrella too.

On the way back down, with gravity on our side, we stopped for a shorter time to do another smaller painting. I settled to do an old dry stone wall falling down under a background of trees. it looked very 'Pyranese' and felt it in the heat.

We didn't manage to meet any of the other painters who may have turned up (Glynis Dray was one), so perhaps should be more proactive and exchange mobile numbers with those intending to come in the future.

42x76 Cm;
Oil and Golden leaf on Wood;
Ask for price.

Some recent evening skies from White Street Hill, at the edge of Salisbury Plain Escarpment - there's a great view North towards Devizes Bath and Chippenham. These paintings have to be done at speed, the sky changing in minutes, in seconds even, and in five minutes can look totally different. So one arrives at an approximation of what one has seen over the brief time but really it is an attempt to try to catch the sensations of light. It's interesting now these are laid out together, I can see certain effects working or not working so I might make minor changes to improve them.

No5. This time used prussian blue in the lower landscape which packs a punch when it comes to rendering the dark shadows.