Cornwall trip - Part 2

Here are 3 more beach paintings from the Cornwall trip (see last week's post for the 3 first paintings). The first one below was done at St Michael's mount on Marazion beach in the morning. Funnily enough I saw (and painted) the Mont St Michel in France a few months ago so it was interesting to see the english version of it.

St Micheals Mount, Marazion beach    6"x8" oil on board

I decided to go for a small board to be able to work quickly and keep it spontaneous

I love my pochade box (guerilla) as it allows you to work on all sizes of boards

Tim King did a lovely painting of the same view next to me

Tim and I then joined the rest of the group which was doing a painting of the beach so we decided to join in and tackle the same scene.

Marazion beach   7"x10"  oil on board

The light kept changing but I tried to capture a bit of the sunlight when it came out

from left to right: Tim King, me, David Bachmann and Michael Richardson 

Everybody working hard (apart from Tim having a snack)

The painting below is the dunes at Carbis Bay. As we arrived we were walking towards the beach and the stroke of light between the dunes caught my eyes. David and Tim carried on walking to get to the beach but I decided to stop there and paint this. I had a really good time painting it (well, apart from the rain and my palette falling in the sand) but wasn't really happy with the result so I decided to start it again on the studio today based on my painting but trying to avoid making the same mistakes. Here it is:

Dunes at Carbis Bay   10"x8"  oil on board

The original painting at the beginning of the session (just before my palette fell in the sand!)

David Pilgrim and Tim were doing a scene on the beach a few meters away

I really felt inspired by that place and would have loved to stay there all day to paint those dunes but I suddenly felt really tired after it and went back to the car to have a quick nap instead. I really hope I can go back there again one day to do more paintings.

To be continued...

Cornwall trip - Part 1

Well, I haven't posted anything for a month but I was away painting in Paris, Cornwall and busy finishing a commission. I will post it all gradually in the next few weeks.
To start with here are 3 paintings from the Cornwall trip. What a great experience! It was organised by the talented Plein Air painter David Pilgrim and also a part of the group were Tim King, Michael Richardson, Roy Connelly, David Bachmann and Anthony Bridge, all very inspiring artists.

Cliffs from Pendeen in a sunny morning       8"x10"  oil on board  

This one above was actually my last painting, done the morning before I caught my train back home. I think it's my favourite because I had such a good time painting it, probably because I knew I had to go in a few hours.  As I was painting this, I really thought "this is the life!"

The water had the most beautiful colours

I didn't paint right on the edge but still close enough to feel the height of the cliff

David was painting a lovely piece of the same view a few meters away from me

This one below was painted on our way to St Ives. Tim, David and I stopped the car on the roadside to have a look at the beautiful countryside, and before we knew it we were all painting like mad. Nothing better than those unplanned ones!

Views of the countryside between Zennor Head and St Ives   8"x10"  oil on board

What caught my eye was the little triangle of sea showing behind the hills

David and Tim painting a beautiful tree a few meters away

Tim and I exchanging serious painting tips (thanks for the pic David!)

This painting below is an other moment of bliss. It was painted at sunset, the last effort of the day after a pretty long painting day. It was also a bit of an effort to get there as it's a steep walk up in the cliff from Sennen beach. But once up there, I suddenly forgot the fatigue and just enjoyed the moment. And for some reasons, I was happy with the painting form start to finish, through every brushstrokes, which has never happened to me before.

Lands End at sunset (Dr Syntax’s Head)      8"x10"  oil on board 

The beautiful golden tones in the rocks caught my eyes

I had to work quickly as the sun gradually disappeared

Here is a picture of the group to finish this post. From left to right: Tim King, myself, David Pilgrim, David Bachmann and Michael Richardson. (In case you wonder the lovely painting on the left is David Bachmann's - although I wish I painted this myself!) As you can see I was the only girl in the group but managed to survive!

To be continued...

My garden in the spring

Here is a quick post while watching the Royal Wedding...
I have just finished a couple of paintings of my garden which I'm madly in love with. For those who remembered I did a painting of my garden in the snow a few months ago and decided now to cover all seasons...

My garden in spring after the rain     oil on board 12"x10"

This one was done in the late afternoon from my living room window. There had been some heavy rain all day and suddenly the sun came out and warmed up all this luxurious greens.

view from the window

I didn't tell my boyfriend I dropped some paint on the carpet
but since I managed to clean it up and I'm pretty sure he doesn't read
my blog he will never know!

My garden in the snow - The painting I did last winter

Here is an other one I did last week end as I just came back from a week end away. It was sunny but a bit misty and I couldn't resist the shades of purple in the distant hills.

My garden in spring in the afternoon   oil on board  7"x5"

This time I set up on the garden table

I take the opportunity of this post to inform you of two upcoming events if you happen to be in Bath:

There is a show starting today at The Octagon in Bath called "inspired" which I will have some work at and which also features talented artists such as Adebanji Alade, David Pilgrim and Shane Feeney to name a few. It will be on until May 11. More info here.

I was pleased to see my work on the invite and the Bath Magazine insert:

I will also be a part of the Newbridge Arts Trail which will be on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th of May. Come and say hello if you're around. More info here.

Last but not least, I urge anyone who hasn't seen it yet to go and admire Peter Brown's work at the Victoria Art Gallery. Absolutely beautiful. More info here.

This afternoon I'm off to Paris to paint for a few days. I will hopefully come back with plenty of paintings to post on my blog...

Now back to the Royal wedding...

Graham and Paul at March Golf course

Here is a commission I just finished. It was for Paul (on the right) who wanted to give this painting for Graham's birthday (on the left). It was done from photographs. They play golf quite often together so it was a good way to have a usual scene with both of them. I'm not used to this type of subject but Paul was very happy with it. Let's hope Graham will be too...
Happy Easter everybody!

Graham and Paul at March Golf course    oil on board  16"x12"

Oxford with the Plein Air Society

A couple of weeks ago I went painting with the Plein Air Society for the third time. After Bristol and Cardiff, this time it was in Oxford. Quite a few people turned up including talented painters such as Andrew Taylor, David Pilgrim, Roy Connelly, Glynis Dray and Anthony Bridge.
Although the day started with a depressing grey sky, the sun didn't wait long to come out - that's the beauty of England; weather changing every hour!
After a quick cup of tea, some of us set up for a painting around the Radcliffe Camera. I loved the light on these golden stones...

Radcliffe Camera, March morning   oil on board  10"x14"

We found a good spot in a narrow pedestrian street. I chatted with a few passers by who were lovely.  

my painting after a couple of hours

David Pilgrim did a lovely painting of the same view which you can check out here. (tough competition going on here!)

David painting the Radcliffe Camera

 At lunchtime we found an other spot for our second painting in Turl Street. (note: I said "at luncthime" and not "after lunchtime" because there is not such thing as breaks in those crazy painting marathons! I actually ate my sandwich while I was painting this - let's hope I didn't leave any breadcrumbs on the canvas...)

View from Turl Street, Oxford   oil on board  7"x10"

I think I was a little bit blocking Roy Connelly's view although he kindly pretended I wasn't ;)

Roy's easel and mine

David, painting from the other side of the street
and making some very convincing painter-style gestures

Finally, in the afternoon some of us ended up painting the Magdalen bridge which was enhanced by beautiful afternoon sunshine.

Magdalen bridge, Oxford, March afternoon    oil on board  12"x10"

It was a lovely way to end the day. I got so carried away by the painting and the conversation with Roy that I almost missed my train back!

Roy painting and my easel set up before I started

Reflections on the river, Bath

A couple of weeks ago I went painting alongside the river just a short walk from my flat. I have just finished the painting at the studio.

Reflections on the river, Bath    oil on board   12"x10"

I found a good spot at the Bridge, well hidden behind a wall, so I didn't have to face too many curious passers by. Don't get me wrong, I love chatting to people and talk about the painting in progress but there is always a moment in the process when I feel like giving up and throwing the canvas to the water so it's in everybody's interest not to be around when it happens!

Grapes on a table

Grapes on a table     oil on canvas  12"x10"

Last year, a good friend of mine got married and asked me if I could paint a still life for her as a wedding present which of course I accepted. Almost a year since the wedding and quite embarrassingly I still hadn't done her painting. As I was seeing her today, I decided on an impulse to paint it yesterday night - better late than ever! I suppose it might not be the usual occupation for a 28 years old on a Friday night but I had a great time painting it! (and the grapes were delicious too so no food wasted here!)

The grapes setting and the painting after a few minutes

The finished painting around midnight

The Bath Artists Studio on a Saturday afternoon

Once a month the Bath Painting group which I belong to meets at the Bath Artists Studio for a still life or a model session. Here is what I painted on last Saturday's session:

The Bath Artists Studio on a Saturday afternoon    oil on board   12"x10"

I'm usually as close as possible to the still life set up but this time I decided to go right to the back of the room and paint people painting. What got my attention was the bright light pouring through the windows (does make you wonder what on earth you are doing inside a dark room on such a beautiful day!) and the bright orange sheet. I must admit this is my very first painting of an inside scene - ever! So far I've only sticked to landscapes, cityscapes, portraits and still life. I'm looking forward to painting more of these.

Here is the view I had from my chair

That's me in the corner looking cold and a bit antisocial!

For those who wonder what is the blue weird looking object at the centre of the table in the middle of my painting, well it is indeed a weird looking thing:

You understand now why I had to take some distance to such a beautiful doll and decided to paint from the other side of the room!