Cobalt and Sienna

Another pond! but this is at the back of the woods near me and I pass it when taking the dog for her walk. Its a murky scruffy overgrown place but surrounded by rust coloured ferns and old broken trees. Gave me a good excuse to use a limited palette and really enjoy working with these complementaries.

Cobalt and Sienna. OIL 5.5 x 7.5 inches, click image to see larger

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Sparkling Relections

Back to oil paint for this painting it's the lily pond I've painted a few times before early in the morning just as the sun was rising through the trees. A beautiful thing to see, but I was gutted to find the person who owns the pond has cleared it of all plant life so the pond lillies I'd been going there to paint had vanished!  Do they grow back? do they have to be cleared every year? I doubt it, so my plans to go back there with large canvases in the Spring were dashed this morning...have to be a trip to Giverny I guess!

Sparkling Redlections. OIL 5.5 x 7.5 inches, click image to see larger

£99 (convert)  To purchase please send me an email 

A couple of previous lily pond paintings:

The Green Door

An old building I found in Rochfoucauld the other day. The stonework was crumbling and very loose even so I think it was an inhabited building. Very suitable for my kind of watercolour though.

The Green Door. Watercolour, 9" x12" click image to see larger

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Wash Day

I've made this old French sink and window look very messy and scruffy, the real one I worked from isn't. The whole image had such charm, the sink is about 3ft off the ground and the old tap and soap dish with the fly swat in it just made the whole image really paintable for me, the soft light was just enough to bathe the whole area in a cool blue. I think Sarah thought I was bonkers... perhaps I am!

Wash Day. Watercolour, 9" x12" click image to see larger

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Little Jug

I wasn't sure what I was going to paint before I did this, I wanted to do a still life but don't like making an arrangement, it's too stilted for me, I want to paint the random everyday, especially when using watercolour in this way. So this is the corner of my white enamel table in the studio, the sunlight was bouncing off the surface and throwing everything into silhouette.

I like the strong vertical and horizontal shapes to the right, simple and strong with relatively flat colour, in distinct contrast to the left side with busy colours and shapes.

Little Jug. Watercolour, 9" x12" click image to see larger

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The Chateau

My nearby chateau again! I love the way the towers and rooftops emerge from the mist it enhances the mystery and romance of these beautiful buildings. They are of another time and when I see them like this they are even more beautiful and evocative. This dates from the thirteenth century, the Viscounts of Rochechouart reigned here for 800 years.

The Chateau, Watercolour, 9" x12" click image to see larger

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Sunshine After The Rain

Looking across the back of my garden after a rainstorm, the sun had just come out and everywhere was glazed with a sparkling light. The sun was exploding behind the tree and creating a silhouette of the whole scene.

Sunshine After The Rain. Watercolour, 9" x12" click image to see larger

SOLD

The Old Apple Tree

I'm experimenting with these loose watercolours, keeping a very limited palette and pushing myself to really 'let go' and allow the paint to meander and do it's own thing. Accepting what otherwise I might consider mistakes to remain and be a part of the finished painting. I like the results. Often the 'mistakes' form the most exciting passages of the work. This I already knew of course with watercolour but I often found myself correcting and controlling the application of paint to the extent that almost no random or unexpected effects happen. I guess it goes back to my training as an llustrator, I was always taught to draw something exactly as was and keep any frivolous techniques to a minimum.

This is a painting in an old farmyard nearby, the farmer came over to say hello and see what I was painting, he saw the painting after about half an hours work, all drips and smudges, I expect he wondered what on earth I was doing!

The Old Apple Tree, Watercolour, 9" x12" click image to see larger

£99 (convert)  To purchase please send me an email 

Reflections in Rochefoucauld

Following on from yesterdays post about my recent visit to Rochefoucauld, this is the spectacular chateau that looks over the town.

Reflections in Rochefoucauld. Watercolour, 12" 9" £99 convert

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One Way Street

Instead of my local town I went to Rochefoucauld 40 minutes west of me last Saturday to buy some veg from their busy market. It's really well supported by the town and most stalls sold either vegetables or fresh fish from La Rochelle on the west coast. The town is lovely; the old quarter has gorgeous elegant stone houses known as ‘Maison Bourgeoise’.  The town sits below the superb chateau de Rochefoucauld.

One Way Street. Watercolour 12" x 9" £99 ($150)

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Two Barns in the Wood

These two old delapidated barns stand alone in a nearby wood. In France there isn't the same fascination with barn conversions as there is in the UK. Thank goodness, I often found it frustrating back in the UK to return to a seriously gorgeous crumbling barn with paints etc in hand, only to find it covered in scaffolding and on its way to becoming a hideous new barn/house

Two Barns in the Wood. Watercolour, 9"x12" £99

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Click image to see larger

The Washing Line

It was such a beautiful day here I had to spend some time in the garden. As I was digging and wondering about what next to paint I realised the barns over the fence would be perfect.  The colours and random shapes are what I love about these old crumbling buildings, the more decrepit and old the better.  It was quite cold so the paint was slow to dry but with the loose technique I'm using it wasn't too much of a problem. I was able to finish off the details in the studio anyway.

The Washing Line, Watercolour, 12" x 9". £99

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Three Apples on the Counter

Just a random Still Life today which didn't take a lot of arrangement, but quite a lot of work! From the back left; Bottle of Olive Oil, Japanese pot, Bag of coffee grounds, Slab built ceramic box, Bottle Opener, Pot of jam and three French apples. There were a lot of reds and magentas in this but the ceramic box in the background provides a good balance.

Any comments to this or any other posts are always welcome, 
via the comments link at the end of the post

Three apples on the counter. Oil. £99

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The Apératif

This last Saturday I spent an enjoyable hour in this little cafe/bar with my coffee watching the comings and goings of the shoppers in as they meet with friends and take a breather from the busy streets of St Junien.  These two gents were there the whole time and seemed oblivious to everything around them, deep in conversation and enjoying their glasses of wine.

I'm enjoying the recent shift again to watercolour and the very loose treatment, for me it works well, as long as the underlying draughtsmanship is taken care of I can have fun with the paint!

Any comments to this or any other posts are always welcome, via the comments link at the end of the post

The Aperatif. Watercolour, 12" x 9". £99

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Rochechouart Chateau in the Rain

This is the chateau in my nearby town Rochechouart a very imposing building which dominates the wide valley as I leave town on the way home. It dates from the fifteenth century and hosts a museum with a large collection of contemporary modern art. 
I enjoyed painting this and let the watercolour just do it's own thing, well almost, my watercolours are so much more exciting and interesting when they are loose and less defined, leaving the viewer the opportunity to be more engaged with the painting rather that seeing everything resolved and final

Rochechouart Chateau in the Rain. 

Watercolour., 9" x 12". £99

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A French Classic 2

This is a Citroen D Special, a beautiful French classic car. I love these and would like to see one parked outside my ramshackle house here in France, or maybe tucked up in the garage! This one was parked up in a back street in a small town around the corner from an old garage where there were several old motors of other kinds gently rotting away, or were they waiting to be broken down for parts? I like the fact that this one was just sitting there waiting to be driven off again to cruise along sunny roads in the South stopping at small Provencal villages for coffee and finally to Nice and along the Basse Cornishe on the coast of Nice.

One can dream!

A French Classic 2. Oil. £99

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Lily Pond in Shade

This pond is one of my favourite subjects, I've always been interested in painting water, it's reflections and the effect of sunlight playing with it. It would be good to explore further and make very large canvases painted on site and really get lost in the abstract nature of it all. But in the meantime I'm just exploring and sharing ideas and possibilities.

Lily Pond in Shade. Oil. £99

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Evening in Honfleur

I have to apologise for my recent abscence, I've been making some improvements in my studio/workroom and was unable to get any serious work done, but I'm back! and I'd like to wish everyone who reads this a very happy 2012.

Today's painting:

A very cold, icy evening in Honfleur, the gorgeous Harbour town in the north of France, painted from my photo archive. It was actually two years ago I was there, on my way back to the UK after a Christmas in my house here in France, before I moved permanently.  

It was so cold here that day everyone was struggling to stay upright, but the sky became liquid and dramatic, too late though to make any difference to the icy conditions.

Evening in Honfleur. Oil. £99

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