Looking through my 2014 Sketchbook

I was looking through some old sketch books and came across these two watercolours from 2014. The watercolours were painted en plein air on Bryher which is one of the Isles of Scilly. The painting on the left in my sketchbook was painted from the beach on Green Bay Bryher, looking across to the Island of Tresco. The other watercolour left side  is a view of Tresco from Green Bay a little further along the coastal shoreline. It was a lovely time spent on Bryher, almost a month that year which gave me the opportunity to paint many of the beautiful areas on Bryher, Tresco and Samson.

 

Les Aspres Normandy

The watercolour below of a landscape in Les Aspres Normandy has been accepted in the Open Exhibition 2018 at the Sock Gallery, Loughborough Town Hall, Market Place, Loughborough LE11 3EB

Exhibition dates :  4 August- 8 September 2018

01509 634912

Summer Open Exhibition at the Cank Street Gallery 2018

I am delighted to have three of my watercolours accepted in the Open Summer Exhibition at the Cank Street Gallery 6 June- 4 August 2018.

Please see the link below for more details, you can view the catalogue on line.

www.cankstreetgallery.co.uk

Les Aspres, Normandy 2018

I always enjoy my visits to Les Aspres a small village in Normandy where  family live.  There is a view at the bottom of the garden that is so beautiful, the fields roll on for miles and the landscape is breathtaking. Especially when there is dramatic light after a storm which dances over the fields and trees making the colours in the landscape come alive.  We seem to have experienced plenty of storms, rain, mist and fog during end of March and beginning of April;  making the ground very waterlogged but also creating good subjects for atmospheric paintings!

The watercolour below is the view  of landscape at the bottom of the garden.

 

 

Visit to Lapland Artic Circle March 2018

“Is it the silence of the wilderness that so enchants me?” Asksei Gallen-Kallela (1886).

Last year in November, I went to see an exhibition at the National Gallery London. The exhibition was called  “A Vision of Finland” the artist was Finnish Asksei Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931) and a plein air painter. I was impressed and inspired by his work, particularly Lake Keitele (1905) also, Clouds above Lake.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Sweden and Finnish Lapland in the Arctic Circle. It was a very exciting and inspiring journey which enabled me to see the vast expanses of wilderness of the Arctic Tundra.The location where I stayed was in Karesuando, Norrbotten, Sweden, near to the Muorio river and border between Sweden and Finland.  This was excellent for exploring the northernmost part of Sweden and traversing across into Finland.

When the night came it was time to venture into the forests, to be amazed by the Aurora Borealis magical displays across the sky. There is silence in the wilderness, beauty in the forests and landscapes of this icy tundra.  All of this inspired me to paint a series of watercolours relating to my experiences in the wilderness of the Arctic Circle, which will probably be ongoing!

Winter terrain, Lapland, Artic Circle

Karesuando Sweden, Artic Circle

Wilderness Finnish Lapland

Walk in the Forest Finnish Lapland

Inspired by Snowdrops

February has come around again, giving me hopeful expectations,  optimism and promise of spring.  Walking around the village today was a delight with many plants typifying where we have reached in the year. Daffodils, crocuses, winter flowering cyclamen and primroses are so delightful to experience. The plant that always inspires me most of all are snowdrops;   walking through Church view meadow Quorn,  I saw a beautiful display of them nodding their heads in the wind. I made some sketches trying to capture them en masse,  which resulted in the watercolour below.

Waterlogged fields, Charnwood, Leicestershire.

It was really great today to go walking into the countryside around where I live, discovering  different places where I had never been before.  The sun came out  which reflected the beautiful seasonal colours in the waterlogged fields and in the landscape.   It was magical, although the ground was very marshy and a challenge to walk on, I managed to paint some watercolours two of which are below.

 

 

Happy New Year 2018

On my way home after a very muddy walk, I turned a corner to see the sunset which was an amazing display of colours. I would like to share this photograph with you and wish you all,   “A HAPPY NEW YEAR ”

 

Winter Open Exhibition at Sock Gallery Loughborough Town Hall

 

Last month I submitted watercolours to the Sock Gallery’s  Winter Open Exhibition 2017. I was delighted to have a painting accepted and hung in the exhibition at the Loughborough Town Hall. The exhibition is from Saturday 2nd December 2017  until January 6th 2018.

 

Oil and Beeswax Sketch on Gesso Sized Paper