Monday 11 September 2017

Gardens and allotments

Here is a little glimpse of what I have been painting this summer - my favourite subjects: gardens and allotments! Below are the wonderful Iford Manor Gardens. I've seen many gardens (my mum is a journalist specialising in gardens so she's dragged me to countless places), but this one really stood out for me. It has an Italian peaceful feeling about it. I was actually with my mum when I painted this. The light was amazing. I had a great time doing it and I think it might well be one of my favourite paintings I've produced. 


Iford Manor Gardens in the summer 10"x12"  oil on board
Available for sale here


Detail


Here are a few pictures of the place and some steps of the painting:




















Next stop: Great Chalfield Manor. It was a very hot day so I escaped in the shade near the water. Felt nice and cool there but I became the target of an army of bugs and mosquitos! I powered through, ignored the flies crawling on my arms and bugs biting my legs, and I'm not too unhappy with the result, considering the conditions.

Great Chalfield Manor  10"x12"  oil on board
Available for sale here


Detail



Next to me, my mum was photographing the place for a magazine feature...



On an other day, I got the chance to go back to my favourite allotments, five minutes walk from my house, and tried to capture this scene quickly before the evening light disappeared.


Last light on Monksdale road allotments 10"x8"  oil on board
Available for sale here


Detail


Here are a few shots of the progress:










Light almost gone! Time to go home!



Finally, here is a very small oil sketch I did from my studio at home, looking down at the garden. Louisa was at preschool and my little one was having a nap and I had an hour of freedom ahead of me. I could hear the chair calling "come an rest and read a magazine!", but I decided to ignore that and paint it instead! I'm keeping this one for myself as a souvenir of the relaxing time I could have had! 


The long chair  5"x7" - Not for sale


Finally, don't forget to save the date 6-8 October for our show in Bradford on Avon. I'll do a post about it soon but here is the little poster meanwhile...




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