Saturday 5 March 2011

Cardiff with the Plein Air Society

Last Sunday I went painting in Cardiff with the Plein Air Society group and I had a wonderful time. I did 3 paintings on the day but finished them all at home.

In the morning we went painting the beautiful City Hall. It was quite a challenge as the light kept changing. I tried to catch the light reflections on the building during the rare minutes the sun showed up. Here is my first painting:


Cardiff city Hall, winter morning     oil on board 12"x10"


The inspiring building


My unfinished painting after an hour



Antony Bridge went for the biggest canvas, finished first, and achieved
a beautiful result - what's his secret??

No rain would stop Glynis Dray in the making of her masterpiece!


An that's me all wrapped up - always keeping my natural sense
of fashion and elegance.... (cough)....

In the afternoon we headed to the gardens behind Cardiff Castle where I did my second painting:

Bute Park, winter afternoon, Cardiff     oil on board  12"x10"

Again the light was changing all the time and it rained half the time but I decided to go for the sunny version.




As we were painting, it seems that a "paparazzi" caught snapshots of Antony and I from all angles!






Finally, after a comforting cup of tea some of us headed for a last quick painting at the Bay before heading home. There was the most beautiful sunset but we literally only had minutes to capture it.
Here is my last painting of the day:

Cardiff Bay, winter sunset    oil on board   10"x8"

The picture doesn't tell the whole story...

Andrew Taylor was facing the other direction
and did a lovely marine sunset piece


That's me starting the painting 

7 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Thanks for your kind comment Andrew! I'm not sure why it appeared to have been deleted now but nevermind. Glad you like my Cardiff paintings. I like the combination of working on the spot quickly for the main part of the painting and finishing it at home to add more definition and take advantage of the painting being dry so you can add more layers to it.

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  3. Another great painting, you do such a great job on painting structures. I'm actually taking a plein aire workshop on painting buildings with an English artist, Jill Carver, on Monday. I can't wait. I'm going to study your paintings again before I go.

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  4. Hi Valerie, Thank you so much for the kind words. I enjoyed the chance to visit your blog. Your work is lovely! Wonderful brushwork and sense of atmoshpere. I will definately visit again.
    Cheers!

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  5. J'aime beaucoup!!! J'ai hâte de te voir à l'oeuvre en France!!!

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