OCTOBER 2009

sketching at How Hill, Norfolk Broads

The long warm sunny days we enjoyed this autumn, found me sketching in a favourite spot along the banks of The River Ant, near the How Hill study centre. The soft colours of the marginal reeds provided inspiration for a number of small oils, each one painted on small, ready primed, gesso panels.

The reeds are already changing colour, especially as the sun lowers.  Later on in winter they will provide a real focal point for my sketches, their golden colour reflected in the water.


NOVEMBER 2009

sketching trip to Thurne



In November I took a trip to the remote Broadland village of Thurne. A walk up the hill and beyond the village and church brought me to this panoramic view of the river and mill. 

The warm and subtle earth tones of the fallow fields and marshland beyond, provided me with an ideal backdrop for the bright highlights of the mill and yacht sails in the distance.


DECEMBER 2009

Pre Christmas snow, North Norfolk

During the pre-Christmas cold snap, I travelled to the north Norfolk coast with my paints.  I was taken  with this view looking towards the village of Wiveton, just a few miles inland from Blakeney.

I enjoyed attempting to capture the clear winter air, with sunshine and cool shadows, also the plough lines where the snow had blown clear.

 


JANUARY 2010

View towards Salthouse

With the winds set in the north-east, it was bitterly cold when I came across this subject on the north Norfolk coast at Salthouse. 

Every so often the church tower would be obliterated by yet another snow flurry, moving in from the sea. One such wintery shower cloud can be seen in the painting I produced.




FEBRUARY 2010

Banks of the Bure, winter 

The last of the snow scenes?  For much of February we had a good covering of snow and freezing temperatures.  I was drawn once more to the Bure Valley, parts of which often flood during periods of heavy rainfall or melting snow.  

This watercolour sketch was the result of my visit to a quiet stretch of the river, where alders, willows and oaks provide a wooded margin to the northern edge of the river bank.

The dark inky reflections of the trees in the water contrasted so well with the snow.

Also inspired by woodlands was the late Roger Deakin, a wonderful nature writer, whose book 'Wildwood - A Journey Through Trees' I am currently reading and enjoying enormously.  A 'must read' for any lover of trees, woodlands and wildlife.

 

MARCH 2010

Southwold from the cliffs, Dunwich


This is one of my favourite Suffolk views, painted at different times of the year.  The view from Dunwich towards Southwold from the cliffs is at its best when there are broken patches of light, and cloud shadows racing over the landscape along the beach.
APRIL 2010

Anglers, last light, Overstrand

 

When the first green leaves of Spring appear, I tend to head for the beach.  Although I love the springtime, I find the acid greens of the fresh foliage not to my liking to paint, my preference being the late summer and autumn colouring in the hedgerow and fields.  This is a typical North Norfolk beach scene of anglers and wet sand - the simplicity of which always appeals to me.
MAY 2010

A run on the beach, Walberswick


The north easterly winds have dominated the weather recently. This is a fresh day on the beach at walberswick, the figure and dogs braving the white surf driven in on the keen easterly wind.




coming soon......
              
JUNE 2010















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