Wednesday 17 August 2011

Allotments at Sion Hill in August, Bath

Last week-end fellow painters David Pilgrim and Tim King were staying in Bath. On Saturday I joined them at the preview night of the Gallery LeFort's new show where David has some lovely work on display (and sold two in the first hour!) and got a chance to check out some great work from other artists like Peter Wileman and Peter Brown. We met the day after for a lovely painting session at the allotments on Sion Hill.

Allotments at Sion Hill in August, Bath   14"x10"  oil on board

I simply can't get enough of the "tree with a view" theme (David calls it with humour "a typical Pirlot subject") and Bath is certainly full of those sceneries.  When I arrived on the spot, they both had been painting for an hour already so I really had to go for it and not waste any time (no naps on the grass this time for me then).


My painting at the end of the session. There was no sunshine
but I HAD to wear my cap to feel in the painting mood

David produced a lovely painting of the scene
with a tall portrait format


Tim -that you can see at the back- produced a great painting
too which you can see on his blog

8 comments:

  1. I love those sunflowers Valerie, super painting too (somehow you make it look like Belgium or France).
    Oh heck! I was invited to the opening at le Forte, but got dates mixed up and double booked so wish I could have been there. I'll have to go along and see the paintings anyway.

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  2. Another beautiful painting, but what is an allotment? I love how you simplify shapes and colors to really bring a feeling of harmony to all of your paintings. We are expecting another day at 105 degrees.I believe we have had 54 days over a 100 this summer so far, and no end in sight. Our outdoor painting is restricted to the mornings. It looks like you guys had a glorious day.

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  3. Hi Valerie.
    As usual, a beautiful painting. I love your colour scheme, what is your palette? I thought I was happy with mine, but your colours are brilliant. I love the pictures also. They really tell the story. I do look forward to your postings. All the best Valerie.
    Vic.

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  4. Thanks Andrew, Douglas and Vic. I think that harmony you are talking about Douglas comes from the fact that I use a limited palette. For this painting I used Titanium white, 2 blues (cobalt and cerulean) and two yellows (Cadmium and Naples) plus burnt umber and burnt and raw sienna. All my greens came from a mix of these and actually every area of the painting is a mix of these as I don't clean my brushes and always keep a bit of the mix to keep the harmony but just add a bit more of this or that. Vic it's funny how the grass/palette is always greener on the other side as I tend to be tempted by other's artists palette but for the moment I'm sticking with it as I'm still discovering new mixes every time... Douglas I can't believe it's so hot where you are. Today the weather is depressing here, it feels like November...

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  5. I knew this view had plenty of 'Pirlot potential' and you didn't disappoint :o) The moment I saw it I sensed you were onto a winner. I was convinced the scene would be best served with a long thin portrait format but you somehow picked out a solid composition in landscape format....well worth that little preliminary thumbnail sketch you made just to check the essentials. A nice journey through the landscape to the distant hills with subtle colour balance. I've just started using Burnt umber a fair bit myself.....a lovely mixer and I like the transparaency/consistency of the W&N variety.

    You should be very happy with this one :o)

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  6. I love your blog and David's. Of course I love to see your art but I also truly enjoy reading about your painting outings and seeing the photos. Can you tell me what Tim's blog is? I tried to find it but couldn't.

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  7. Thanks Douglas. I really recommend Tim's blog, You should be able to click on his name in my post or just click here:
    http://timkingsartblog.blogspot.com/
    By the way, allotments= a piece of land made of a group of vegetables/fruits/flowers patches - usually for people who don't have the room to do it in their own garden.

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  8. Brilliant Work!
    Good to see you all working together, I am jealous, I'm yet to have a chance to paint with you. Please book me up in September.

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