Tranquil

There are many sayings that cover quiet like, " as a graveyard, like a ghost town" or words like "isolated, tranquil, peaceful". Well use whichever ones you like but the exhibition today was"quiet". I counted ten people and three of those were builders looking at plans to knock down a partition wall. That being said Town was much the same and those that did come in were very complimentary including the builders. Maybe they were being polite anyway we did sell a framed collectors print of Llansteffan by moonlight as above and cards.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring more people and warmer weather.

Absolute zero.

Well just got in after a longish day. Four trips to take paintings, two dog walks, and then a Private View. Well in fact a very Private View. To be honest if we could have contacted every one we would have cancelled because the weather and roads were awful. Nobody should be out in it. Over the last few days many events have been cancelled aournd here and it is a wonder anyone turned up. We had a very convivial meeting with wine and little things on plates. We actually took some money as well so not the best private view but enjoyable. Oh, I also got a commission.

It is minus 5 outside and foggy. We are now settling down for the evening with another glass of wine and something on a plate that is tasty.

The painting above reflects the scene and was sold last week.

Absolute zero by the way is defined as 0 K on the kelvin scale and as −273.15°C on the celcius scale and is the lowest temperature theoretically possible. So it is a bit of an exaggeration but it is and has been cold!

Cheers

Here is the painting I did yesterday. It went swimmingly well! That is more than you can say about today. Icy roads and the computer went into lockdown. It started when we attached the new printer. After we bought the new printer the errant old one started to behave under the threat of the bright new machine in its box sat next to it. Today however it gave up and we uploaded the software for the new printer which resulted either coincedentally or otherwise in a complete freeze of the computer.

As Alex was in the middle of printing cards labels et. al. for the exhibition this was not greeted with amusement.

In the end Alex went out and delivered three framed prints to a customer and I sat trying to out smart (out guess would be more accurate) this machine. After three frustrating hours Mrs Compaq was working again.

Unfortunately the weather forecast for tomorrow is not great and our Private View could well suffer. Still there's not much we can do about it. Maybe its time to have a glass of pre-dinner wine!

Ferryside

The painting above is of Feryside and was sold today. Ferryside is on the mouth of the River Towy or Tywi. Here Ferryside is seen from the opposite bank, Llansteffan Beach. We have often sailed the estuary and seen some interesting sights. One day we were sailing down the estuary when we saw an old biplane which was clearly in trouble. It sputtered and yawed and landed heavily in a field above Ferryside. We later learned that it had suffered engine problems, no-one was injured fortunately and the plane was later taken away by road.

On another occasion a small yacht had gone aground off the beach. A man was up to his waist in water pushing the boat off the sand. All the sails were up and suddenly a gust of wind blew the boat off the sandbank with the sailor hanging off the stern of the boat being dragged through the water in a spray of water like a drunken surfer. Fortunately the boat eventually turned into wind and stopped with the sails flapping allowing the bedraggled sailor to clamber on board before any serious mishap befell him.

Anway today I didn't take the dogs first thing due to a layer of black ice over the drive, roads and footpath. I did do a painting and then with some sort of thaw taking place carefully ventured out.

The above painting was then collected by a lovely couple from Cardiff. I went food shopping while Alex framed a couple of prints that had been ordered.

Tomorrow we start packing paintings and getting labels etc. for the exhibition.

Bluestone

This is a painting of the Preseli Mountains in Pembrokeshire I did last week. It is a view from Treffgarne a small settlement dating back to Medieval times. The painting is from a sketch I did previously, although I have painted there previously last November. The actual spot is very exposed and I stood, having carried my easel 2 miles in a biting wind. I had to hold down the easel with one hand and paint with the other in between wiping my nose. It was more of an endurance test than a painting session.

The Preseli's are the source of the Bluestone used in "Stonehenge".

Today I have been preparing boards and decorating. I often use MDF boards for painting. Originally oils were painted on wood panels. As paintings became larger a stretched canvas was used. Canvas is fine to use as a support and I do use it occasionally.

Boards however are solid and the brush doesn't move around so much when painting on it. Board is also more stable and there is less chance of paint cracking and peeling. The great advantage for me is that I can choose exactly what size I want to use and I can prepare it as smooth as I wish depending on the painting I am going to do. The sharper and finer I want to paint the smoother I prepare the board.

I generally triple prime my boards and rub them down in between coats of primer. As I was waiting for them to dry today I was painting skirting boards!

Colour Sergeant

All sorts today. I took the dogs for a walk in the snow/ice and then went to the dentist. She was obviously in the Christmas Spirit as she didn't charge me! When I got back I was unexpectedly contacted by my Uncle who was looking into the history of his father, my grandfather. Hence the painting above which is one I did of my grandfather in his army uniform with my grandmother in 1916.

I hasten to add I didn't do it at that time! I then spent some time going through records and forwarding them to my Uncle. My grandfather was a Colour Sergeant in the Hampshire Regt. but confusingly he was also in the Warwickshires. I never spoke to him about the war, a missed opportunity I guess, but then again maybe he wouldn't want to be reminded of it.

My grandfather painted and I have his boxwood watercolour box dating back to the 1920's although it isn't practical to use now.

Anyway after that I made lunch walked the dog's again, cut some MDF boards ready to prime tomorrow and then had a pupil come for private tuition (in watercolours).

This is a watercolour of St David's Cathedral and sold this week. I was rather attached to the painting. I feel it is one of the best views/compositions of the Cathedral and I was pleased with the overall effect.

St. David's is a lovely City, being the smallest City in Britain. It also seems to have the most tourists in Summer! St. David apparently taught, ‘be joyful, to keep the faith and to do the little things’.

Not a bad standpoint. Lets face it no-one needs the negativity of a miserable soul and it is often the little things that mean so much in life. I once went to a talk where I was encouraged to do one good turn a day.

If thats all I could manage I would be a pretty poor human being.

Anyway today I finished the painting of David Lloyd George with a couple of small amendments.

I went to the gallery. My oh my was it cold. I did an oil painting and was fairly amazed I could get the paint out of the tubes. I was quick, very quick.

Alex has been framing and still has a lot to do ( and I keep adding to the pile ), but she is getting there with her normal steely determination.