..... another painting from Home Farm . Life is geting very busy at the moment, I'm behind with posts here - not to mention my Christmas cards (I just did!).

There are different ways to look at the sky. You can focus on a certain point, and you will see only one star in the night. Or you can have a complete view of the entire story, and then you will see that the sky is covered with millions of stars. You can contemplate them and abandon yourself in the fascinating landscape. It's the same with human nature: we have to open up our minds and be able to see the various shapes it can take. Even though its morphology can be scaring sometimes, only by confronting it we can truly understand it. And realise that no matter how many egos are in one person, there is only one in the end.

I've been working on  a new project for a while, a commission to paint a farm,  a beautiful place, set just below the hills at Bromham.There are many possible, views, subjects to paint choices are sometimes too many. The obvious subject is the hills.



But I have been fixated on the lake there and a 'Hawthorn Tree' which makes a grand subject.

It is  a rough, old, spiky, tree; strong, stocky with unruly branches,  full of colour and changing quickly with the season; ...

..... but it contrasts against the water behind which sometimes is very still, sometimes rippled , and the colours gradate from a deep indigo near the bank to a heavenly cerulean blue further out. I've done several studies - initially it was windy and rather wild which these studies reflect, a freedom after the summer sessions of tight restraint, painting buildings in Bath.

The beginnings of a larger painting, a lot more leaves needed still ....
The easel setup....it is an exposed area so choosing a day when there's little wind is important, as far as one can predict the UK weather :-(*/

An exciting exhibition by Charlotte Moore, at The Gallery (Formerly Icon Gallery) in St James's Street Bath.
 Charlotte Moore's exhibition at the Gallery on St James's Street continues until Christmas Eve.
Charlotte studied at Chelsea and Falmouth Colleges of Art and has exhibited in London, the Midlands and the West Country as well as in Canberra and Brisbane. Her work features in collections worldwide.
 The gallery has until now been showing mainly mesh paintings/sculptures, which have aroused great interest and much discussion. As of this weekend (10th Dec) the exhibition will change with the addition of two and three dimensional paintings. All works on display have classical art historical references (part of their appeal is finding the allusions), while still retaining Charlotte’s unique style which is charming, colourful and lighthearted.

 FOLDED PAINTING

 FRAGMENT

There are endless possibilities of expanding in the matrix of our world. Human structure has unseen ramifications in the universe and they are ready to serve us by making outside connections. There is no message that can't be decrypted, no symbols that can't be understood if we use the power that's been given to us.

Our appearence on planet Earth was a sacred moment. But the DNA of humankind was never meant to be pure, as it bears every bit of its characteristics: love and hate, joy and bitterness, beauty and horror, passion, envy, pity, fear, greed and kindness, all of them bound together in a spiral of perfection. There are infinite shades in every story and the war has been going on since forever. Will it ever end or was it designed to be eternal? No one knows. Afterall, the dice have been thrown a very long time ago.

Later November view from the putting Green, below Sion Hill. Done in two quick sessions. Each time, soon after I sat down it began to rain, and a windy squall hit on the second sitting although both days had been 'Beautifully Sunny'  till I started work there. (I think I can control the weather now. I just paint .... and it rains).
This was finished as the light faded so I put a bit of yellow glow in some windows as the lights were beginning to come on.
It's a small commission for a friend who needs it for a present. The view had caught my eye in the summer when the light in the mornings reflected in bright patches off some of the distant roofs  - very lovely and most 'Evocative of Bath'. But I only managed to get there in the afternoons and although there was a short splash of sunlight at the first sitting which cast interesting shadows and spot-lit the chimney tops etc., generally it was a pretty dull light. However I quite like this result with an Evening feel.
Oil on board *"8" x 5"