Land’s End Sunset

The weather forecast was amazing for the weekend so we hastily booked a hotel for two nights in Cornwall  to walk a little of the coastal path and enjoy the warm summery weather (in May!?).  The images here are from the very tip of Lands End where the sunsets are off the scale beautiful.  As much as I am always inspired to paint them,  I’m not sure how well they would translate to a watercolour, but I do have the images and memories if I decide to have a go at a later stage.

Tuesday – a quick trip to AceArts to restock cards and to hang a couple of new paintings.  Mr Otter is putting in an appearance alongside the other paintings.  “Otter Shy” is an original acrylic on canvas.  He looks lovely in amongst the other paintings and may be there until the end of this month.

Appleblossom is quite an important thing here in Somerset as cider is something the county is well known for.  The photos here are from a walk with a friend nr Keinton Mandeville later on in the afternoon, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen quite so many apple trees in one place…absolutely beautiful!

And back to the studio – here are some cornflowers that I’ve painted this week.  They are a favourite subject of mine and this particular way of painting is something that I think I could share in a tutorial or workshop.  This could be in the pipeline 🙂

And here we are with the latest greeting card, now available on the website.  Spring flowers and blossom are appearing everywhere, it is all so beautiful and uplifting.  So, this week was another lovely one and very summery indeed – I hope yours has been good too.  Look forward to sharing another blog post next week.  Happy May!

Spring exhibition and Easter

Spring Exhibition – “ACEarts” The Old Town Hall, Market Place, Somerton, Somerset TA11 7NB.  Ends 31st May 2025.  

The house is full of paintings ready for a small spring exhibition at ACEarts in Somerton. All the hard work in creation comes to fruition when you see the paintings hanging “en masse” on the walls. The exhibition has fondly been named “Spring Fling” and is a colourful collection of paintings which should look lovely accompanied by flowers, cards and bookmarks.

Here we are :). I’ll share a few more pics as the exhibition goes on – the display is likely to change periodically. It is on until the 31st May 2025 and, so far so good, the reception has been wonderful. I think visitors are finding the colours and subject matter uplifting which is lovely to hear. The paintings are within the cafe part of the gallery so, if you fancy a visit, there is always a yummy treat close to hand!

I notice that my little hedgehog can’t really be seen in the above photo, so here he is now (one of my personal favourites). He is framed in a little white wood frame (total size A4) so just right for that little bit of wall space :). The painting isn’t on the “originals” bit of my website quite yet but he will be very soon.

Easter was totally wonderful, we had a houseful of family and it was a lovely few days of fun and laughter. It was all over far too quickly but it this is most definitely one of my favourite times of year – we now have two May bank holidays coming soon and the weather is looking to be lovely next week. Spring has sprung!

I am travelling back to Herts with Mum and we are visiting Hitch Wood to see the bluebells as mentioned in previous blog post. Here is a pic…I must admit, I do struggle a bit with my new iPhone as the camera doesn’t seem as good as my last – this photo is unedited and the bluebells don’t quite look real! But they were, as usual, totally stunning. This is a very special place to us and we try to visit every year – late April seems to be the best time. Thanks for reading my blog :).

 

Spring beauties

Monday (packaging this little one up to post).   I loved painting this hedgehog and he wasn’t on the website for long.  These paintings work so well as they fit into a standard size A4 frame.  I work with watercolour in a loose way that is hard for me replicate so every piece will be completely unique.  I am going to paint another hedgehog this week, so we’ll see in which direction this next one will go :).

Tuesday – and the start of a new blue-tit painting. I always like to start with a preliminary sketch but these really do only give guidelines for me in what is a very loose painting process! The eye is something I like to give good detail, but the painting strokes tend to get more “energetic” moving away from the focal point.

Wednesday – I’m up at my mum’s in Hertfordshire this week and this is a magnolia tree outside the house. Look at that sky! The weather has been truly remarkable these last few weeks and on the news today, we seem to have many wildfires breaking out across the country, so weird when it’s only April. A little bit of rain is on its way, which might help. The magnolias are beginning to bloom now and I thought I’d share my painting here. If this pretty tree is a favourite of yours too, prints are available, click image to view more.

Thursday and all things bluebells! I will be returning to Hertfordshire in just over a week’s time and will be visiting “Hitch Wood” near Hitchen to see the bluebells. Wherever I travel, I take my paints with me – if there is room in the car, I can take bigger pieces of watercolour paper and boards. If space is an issue, I go small! That’s the beauty of watercolour, it is all very transportable!

And Friday, what a day to end the week. It was a special birthday for my mum and we had a lovely trip to Luton Hoo for afternoon tea. I thought I’d take a photo of the cakes, they were delicious. Thanks so much for visiting my blog, I’ll be back next week.

April is here!

We left the Lake District (previous post) in the rain, so that didn’t feel quite so bad! Mother’s Day on Sunday was lovely but both our sons couldn’t make it back to Somerset, so I’m really excited to see them at Easter in a few weeks time. Instead, I found inspiration from the beautiful violas in our sunny garden and painted this little bookmark. I don’t tend to put these on my website but if you are interested, please ask me and I can send more pics/price to you. The colours are all so deep and rich, the tiny flowers certainly make themselves known to the world in a big way. 🙂

Monday – and a new painting! Here is a little peek into my working day and the first wash on a hare painting. It is always the most exciting thing to create that first wash and then see how it dries. If I can, I look to maximise the effects that can appear in watercolour – it’s a fast moving thing when reacting to what is happening on the paper. The finished painting will soon appear on the “originals” section of my website.

Wednesday – and it’s off to the Smokery where I exhibit my paintings and cards on an ongoing basis. It’s always fabulous to call over and swap things around and treat ourselves to a coffee and breakfast or lunch (any excuse!). There is a shop which sells their smoked food and a cafe which is really popular so it is advised to call in advance to book. (Smokery, Bowdens, Hambridge, Somerset TA10 0BP (01458) 250875

And Thursday I’m off to deliver greetings cards to some of my trade customers. I am so pleased that the greeting card industry is still surviving despite so many things going “online”. I personally love to receive a card, particularly on a birthday or special occasion. So I’m really keen to continue producing cards from my artwork and I’m busy working on new designs to keep the stock changing.

And to finish off for this week – here is a cheeky robin that delivered to the Smokery this week and it flew off to a new home yesterday. I hope he brings lots of pleasure for the future, I know robins are a firm favourite with many for lots of reasons. So with more than enough to keep me busy, I’ll sign off for now, and see you next week! Have a fab weekend.

Lake District sunshine

Friday 21st March 2025 – we arrived for a week’s holiday in the Lake District and this is the view of the Langdale valley from the living room!  It was originally planned that our two son’s and partner were going to join us but commitments meant that they couldn’t.  We had already invited a friend to join us  so it was nice that she could still make it.  The garden wraps around the house and is full of birds and animals:  Squirrel, pheasant, nuthatch, stoat, jackdaw to name a few.  The house is an absolute gem and is in a fabulous location for many walks from the door, it’s possible to go in any direction and end up at a pub or tearoom :).

 

From the house, we also walked towards the nearest village (Elterwater) where there is a pub and gorgeous coffee shop where you can buy the most amazing ice cream (Blueberry and Cream my favourite). This is the view on the way back, the sun shining on the Langdale Pikes in the distance, truly beautiful.

And here is one last picture – we parked up near Elterwater and walked up to Loughrigg Tarn which is quite a popular spot for wild swimming. Too cold for me but it was a lovely spot to sit and enjoy the view with such a lovely blue sky. We really hit lucky with this weather in March and hoping it’s not our summer arrived early! Happy days in the Lake District 🙂

Commission from a loved photo

Happy New Year!  2025 has arrived with a cold snap in the UK and many areas have had snow and temperatures as low as -20°c.

Prior to Christmas, I worked quite intensively on commissions and, when I received the photo of the skier, I was excited to tackle this new subject.  I have “skied” and am relatively late in life to try and develop the skill (my friends would be smiling now as I’m probably one of the few who have got worse the more times they try, I blame my age and possibly a damaged ligament on the third trip!).   Having been on the slopes, I can get the feeling for the atmosphere – the cold, the turns, the backdrop, the colours.

 

This year, I’m keen to receive commission enquires and your favourite photos.  It’s an area that gives me a lot of pleasure – capturing a special moment and hopefully the painting can be treasured for many years to come.  I guess most frequently, I’m seen for painting pet portraits, probably mainly dogs, but hopefully this painting will show that I pretty much love to paint anything.

If you have a favourite photo that may translate well to a painting, please do email over a photo and we can have a look together to see what would work.

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Butterfly wings unfold

Today I painted butterflies.

Whilst working from resource images for the butterflies, my vision for the painting as a whole was in my imagination.

With a touch of artistic licence anything is possible and, from the tip of our brushes, we can bring our imagination to life – how exciting is that? There is an infinite combination of colours, ideas for composition and a choice of any subject that we wish to paint. We also have an array of individual mediums or the potential to mix them – there are certainly some decisions to make in the creative process!

I started painting this watercolour piece as part of a demonstration to Yeovil Art Group and then finished it later, adding a hint of white lilac in the background. A simple white wood frame completes the look that I had in my mind.

For a while now, I’ve been mulling over a much larger painting with an elaborate loose background of flowers and foliage with fleeting butterflies visiting. For now, this is just a tiny idea in my imagination, but with this painting, I feel that I’ve taken a step forward – butterfly wings unfolding.

This year in the UK butterfly numbers have increased which is amazing news, hopefully this will continue.

Combehill Wood – Compton Dundon

 

It’s the day after Boxing Day and time for a walk!  Not too far from where we live there is a fabulous viewpoint of the Somerset levels.  It is called Combehill Wood and isn’t far from Glastonbury.   From the car park,(what 3 words manuals.mailings.hats)  a spin round the woods to two amazing viewpoints will take under 10 minutes.   You can extend the walk further by walking along the ridge to the monument from where you will get lovely views of Glastonbury Tor.  In spring, this part of the walk along the ridge used to have lots of wild primroses that were really pretty – I’m not too sure if they are still there.

In November, December and January the sky, at around 3-4pm can be amazing – the colours are like no other in my opinion.  The clouds are sunlit from below and glow with warm yellows, pinks and reds.

 

As you walk away from the car park the viewpoint above is on the left with a bench to sit and enjoy the view. Past this, there is a second place to stop with a carved wooden seat and this looks over a larger view of the Somerset Levels. The view is less disrupted by trees here and you get a really good feel for the size of the landscape with a large and dramatic sky.

It was getting dark for us and, with a mixed ability age group to walk on muddy terrain, we kept the walk to the shorter version – my car now needs a good hoover!

I guess the only thing I wish I had with me was my proper SLR Camera to play around with exposure. I would have stayed longer to watch the sun set, but our family group wanted to move on 🙂

Another time to get the best atmosphere and sky is most probably early in the morning and it must be lovely to see this again now in January as the levels are flooded – we’ve also had frosts and mist. Time for a return visit while this lovely light lasts.

 

Stourhead autumn colours

Last Sunday morning…..”What a lovely day to go and see the autumn leaves changing colour at Stourhead” says half the Southwest of England!

Thankfully, and unusually for us for a Sunday, we were up fairly early and arrived there around 10.00am. The car park was filling fast. We have been National Trust members for a few months and have been to Stourhead many times before so our visit was literally a quick spin around the lake to soak up the gorgeous autumn colours.

Without a breeze to cause a ripple on the lake and a bright blue sky the reflections and colours were breathtakingly beautiful.

I’m sure everyone has their own preference but we tend walk around the lake in an anti-clockwise direction and, as you walk through the trees you keep getting glimpses of the lakes and reflections. It is a huge estate and seems to be able to accommodate a large audience, no problem at all!

It would be tricky to paint these scenes as any painting may be seen almost too good to be true by way of the colours and reflection. The autumn leaves are always a huge inspiration to me and this year the leaves seem to be falling at the right time. It would be hard to predict after such a dry year! I know our apple tree in the garden has produced an unexpected bumper crop.

It wouldn’t be right to miss the cafe at the end, so it was perfect to round the walk off with a nice coffee and chat. I would recommend setting off early on a sunny autumn weekend to beat the inevitable crowds – we may go back in a couple of weeks, but we have Cornwall to enjoy first. This leaf painting is part of some online tuition that will be available very soon. Watercolour is such a fabulous medium to paint autumn leaves as the colours blend and make beautiful combinations. Please add your name to my mailing list below, to be kept up-to-date with future news.

Beach Babes – Commissions

Bucket and spades, sandcastles – these have to form some of the happiest memories for family beach holidays. We have been lucky enough to have experienced a few of these moments ourselves – and it’s always a joy to be asked to paint commissions to capture “the moment” for others.

The sun, sea and sand make the most amazing back-drop to the main characters. The shadows, colours and tone are really important to create the atmosphere.

The white hat, light falling on the arm and the shadow underneath help to create the feeling of intense sunshine and the stance of the subject shows the concentration focussed on the little pebble in hand.

I can paint in most mediums for these type of commissions, mostly I use watercolour but painting this lovely little girl in the beautiful blue swimsuit, heading towards her cousins in the sea, was my first delve into oil painting on canvas. It took ages to achieve the effect I was looking and I was really pleased with the finished piece. The slightly fuzzy effect around the frill of the swimsuit gives me the effect of movement I was looking for.

Observation, as always, is key. The following painting was a commissioned watercolour on paper and the blue of buckets/spades, clothes, bow in hair , hairband (together with the directon of the spades) all help to keep your eyes moving around the subject area. Sometimes a photo is ready to be painted in it’s existing format but a few artistic tweaks here and there can enhance the composition.

Click here for more details on this commissioned piece

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing these artworks. I did have one more to show you but I can’t find it at the moment – it is one of our boys the sea. When I track it down, I’ll upload to this blog. If you would like to enquire about a commission from your favourite photo, please do email to discuss.