Ice Melt, oil painting, 8” x 8”

‘Ice Melt’

 As I get older I find myself getting much more nostalgic and enjoying reminiscing. Whilst working on  this oil painting in the studio I found myself remembering when I was a tiny tot way back in the long,  hard winter of 1963.

I was in the infant class and each day for weeks we faced a long trek through the snow to school and back. The snow went way over the top of my wellington boots so they never seemed to dry out before the next time I had to wear them. My legs were permanently chapped, but that snow was so beautiful, and such fun to play in, we children hardly seemed to notice all the discomfort of permanently soggy wellies and gloves!

If I was lucky one of our teachers, who lived near me, would give me a ride home after school in her bubble car. I don’t think bubble cars were really designed to drive on snow and ice, but I would squeeze into that tine car with Mrs B and all her teacher’s paraphernalia and we would very slowly make our slippery way from one end of the village to the next. It very probably would have been safer to make the one mile journey on foot through the thick snow, but I can’t tell you what fun it was, sliding gracefully and slightly sideways, on the icy road, whilst somehow avoiding all the snowdrifts which were built up on both sides - it felt like a slow motion version of the Cresta Run!

Once safely back at home Mum gave my sister and I hot drinks to thaw us out and we settled down to toast cooked in front of the blazing fire in the tiny front room, which was wonderfully cosy on a cold winter’s afternoon. There is really nothing quite like the taste of a piece of bread which has been placed on a toasting fork and presented to the flames until it browns, and then buttered liberally and eaten hot. 

It was a hard winter and must have been so hard for the adults, but for us children it was quite magical.

This painting will be on display as part of an exhibition at West Ox Arts Gallery in Bampton, Oxfordshire, from 9th November to 23rd  December.

Autumn Field

 It’s been such a long time since I posted here, so I thought it was high time I was back here again. The  beautiful warm weather lulled us all into a false sense of security I think, but autumn is most definitely here now with the rain lashing against the windows as I write this. The views across the fields are changing too, with that soft focus murkiness taking the place of intense blue skies and dark shadows. I think there is still a lot of beauty in the murkiness (which is just as well as I’m sure we’ll see plenty of it over the next few months)! 

New Year resolutions

Over the decades I’ve lost track of how many New Year’s resolutions I have made and promptly broken, so this  year I’ve resolved not to make any at all.  New Year is always a good time to reflect on the past and to look ahead though, and I’ve been doing plenty of that in between all the busyness and enjoyment of the past couple of weeks.

The last six months haven’t been as productive as I had hoped; some of that was due to looking after a poorly dog (who is now thankfully full of beans again, and has just celebrated his 9th Birthday with lots of treats). A lot of the problem though, was that I lost confidence in myself and have had a very long dose of ‘artist’s block’.

Now that I’ve had a bit of a post-Christmas rest and had a bit of time to think things through I’m ready to face 2020 with fresh enthusiasm. I’ve entered a couple of art competitions, and got through the first stage of one of them, with another stage still to get through (not holding out much hope of the other, but will know one way or the other soon enough). I’m also going to try to manage my time much better, especially while the daylight is still so limited, so that I can get more painting time in. I’m going to concentrate more on painting the things I love this year, no more commissions or anything like that (which that I find super-stressful), but spend the time trying to improve instead.  I’m already looking forward to Artweeks in May too, that is always a lot of fun, and as usual will creep up on me before I know it!

There are so many blessings in life, and so much to look forward to - not least, the brighter, warmer days of Spring not too far off now, with all that it promises.  I wish you a very happy, peaceful, healthful 2020 🌸x

Cloud Study 6” x 8”

I am trying to keep up the momentum of getting out and painting small oil sketches on location as much as I can, but today was not a day to be out much in my wheelchair. As beautiful as it has been at times, at other times we’ve had rain, hail, strong winds and black skies - today is a prelude to Storm Hannah’s imminent arrival tomorrow. I decided the safest, driest way to do any oil study today was in the shelter of the open conservatory doorway!

The clouds were whipping along at a real pace, so I had to move very quickly while painting, whilst also still trying to focus on the colours, shapes and values of the swiftly changing sky.

I was really glad that I didn’t let myself feel that today was a day wasted as far as getting out and painting was concerned, and that I’d made the effort to get out my kit and sit there studying the sky; it was a great lesson in observation for me and a lot of fun on a blustery day.

‘Towards Leafield’ 8” x 10” oil sketch

Today had been set aside for a short car drive and a spot of Plein air painting as the weather forecast had been for a warm, sunny day - what a joy for February! Well, warm it certainly was (a mighty 17 degrees this afternoon), but lovely hubby and I woke up to fog which showed absolutely no sign of being in a hurry to shift. We waited in vain until lunchtime and decided to go for it anyway - even though the sky was still pretty murky looking - as I’d got all my painting gear ready. 

So, flask of coffee made, we set off in the car in the hope that the promised sun would break through the murk. We drove through the Wychwood forest heading towards Leafield looking for a promising scene, but with the softness of the day nothing really looked interesting. In the end I settled for the view across the rolling fields towards Leafield, with its broad Church spire on the skyline peering out through the mist. 

On a sunny day this view is glorious, but today it just looked flat and uninspiring. Even so, all practice is good and, as the murk started lifting a little and the light started changing, the fields became slightly more interesting and I started to enjoy myself. 

I only spent an hour on this little oil sketch, but the pleasure was in being in a quiet spot, and experiencing the sights, sounds and scents of the countryside around me. Of course, as soon as I had finished painting and packed away my painting gear, the sun finally decided to come out and the whole scene before me was transformed! That will be a painting for another day. . .