Carmarthen Courthouse

The watercolour above is of the Courthouse in Carmarthen. A portrait of Sir Thomas Picton hanging in the courtroom was the subject of debate last year. Now there is no doubt that Thomas Picton was by our standards pretty much a man to be avoided and a tyrant and dictator during his days as Governor of Trinidad. On the plus side he fought for his country and died at Waterloo for his troubles.
To remove his portrait because we disapprove of his actions seems to be the start of a slippery slope. Do we knock down the Picton Memorial? What about Boudicea do we remove her statue in London. She slaughtered  every man woman and child when she sacked London and burnt it to the ground killing around 70,000 people in AD 61.
I guess she might end up before the war crimes tribunal today. Anyway this is all a bit political. The portrait is actually very good. Today I finished an oil painting and got to the gym. Alex has been busy framing.

The Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh away (Job 1.21)

Here is a watercolour of cattle that I did in Harlech. It is a simple painting pretty much in the tradition of Thomas Girtin or even John Sell Cotman.
One of the highs and lows of our trip was when we went to the Lion Public House in Harlech. We went at lunchtime for a pub lunch. We knew that they allowed dogs in so Jac was welcome. It was an old fashioned pub with an open blazing fie tiled stone floor and an assortment of different wooden tables and chairs. The brewery hadn't managed to turn it into a theme pub. There were two beers on tap draught Hobgoblin and Tiger.
I have never drunk Tiger and was a little put off that it was from Leicester (Leicester Tigers are an anathema to Scarlet supporters). Nevertheless I have to say that the beer which was a pale bitter served warm and flat was gorgeous.
It was the best beer I have had in probably 40 years. Beer as it should be from a barrel at room temperature. It took me back to beer when it was 1 shilling and 10 pence a pint about 8.5p in new money.
I was stunned I quickly drank the first pint and ordered a second. Meantime our food had arrived. Unfortunately so had the couple from hell. As we were quietly eating our dinner and washing it down a couple sat at a table on the other side of the room and started talking to or at us. They had a camper van and were on the same site although we hadn't seen them before.
The male proceeded to inflict upon us his life story in excruciating detail. Jac was under the table rolling his eyes at me and making gestures with his paw down his throat. Alex was encouraging the irritating man by staying awake.
My visions of a quiet afternoon by a blazing fire swilling down nectar of my youth were gone. I couldn't take the monologue anymore. We decided to forgo our pudding got up and left.

Harlech Castle

We recently spent a week away in Harlech in our camper. The watercolour above is one I did of the Castle. It was a great break, sketching and walking. We walked between 5 and 10 miles a day which suited Jac. Our van was next to a field of cows. It was interesting seeing the additional calves being born every day. One day Alex was quite concerned as one cow was in the act of producing  calf and seemed to be taking some time. She informed the camp warden who rang the farmer. They also had a good sense of humour as they gave Alex a pair of glove scissors and a bowl. Cows are generally quite happy to allow nature to take its course but in fairness the farmer did come out. The farmer named the calf after Alex. (no not really!).
The advantage for me was that there was a ready made subject for sketching. Cattle are very good as subjects as they move quite slowly and will maintain a pose for a good time.
Today I started on an oil painting which is a commission. Alex has been turning her attention to prints.

En Plein Aire

I was talking to Nick the other day. He has taken up painting and pastels (good luck they are great but are too messy for me). We got on to the subject of painting and drawing outside. It is infinitely more difficult to paint outside than in a studio. Inside you have a stable secure surface, with plenty of room to arrange your materials.
You are also not at risk of the elements. I can recall any number of occasions when I have set up my easel on a clear day with a blue sky and started to paint only to see spots of rain appearing on my watercolour.
The picture above was done standing holding brush water watercolour pad and paints. Yes you need to be a juggler. Consequently although you can see what it is (Brecon Cathedral) it is less precise than it would have been had it been painted in doors from a sketch. The moral is simple choosing a subject with  less detail and more distance is a lot easier to paint outside.

Jumping Jack Flash

The picture above is of a chalet in Pembs. We stopped on the farm with our camper. Not a very interesting picture but it was something to do. To be honest its pretty bland but the trees are ok.
I was given an ipod dock as a present the other day. Isn't technology a pain? As a boy I made a crystal set with ex army headphones to listen to music with yards of earth wire and aerial wire strung out across my bedroom and garden. Then I made a radio with a battery. I later made a stereo system athough I had to buy the deck. I spent years collecting LPs and had a great collection. Finally they stopped making LPs and I changed to CDs. I have finally got a good collection and now it is has all gone digital MP3.
That's progress. Well my ipod was second hand and holds about 200 tracks not much considering.

So choosing which tracks to include is a task.

One firm favourite from my youth is Anandar Shankar. I saw Ravishankar live along with T Rex once (introduced by John Peel)  but I have never seen Anandar Shankar.

Anyway in case you haven't heard of his work  here is a link to one great track and a lot more interesting than the picture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnFci5UQKuU

Morning Sun in the Towy Valley

Here is the finished painting. I hope it conveys the effects of the strong morning sun and long shadows across the valley. There are sheep in one of the fields but they are hard to see at this scale. I intend to do a sister painting of the valley going in the other direction shortly.
Alex made a pavlova (a cake/fruit thing with meringue on top) last night. She didn't shut the door of the oven and asked why she said she didn't want the oven too hot as it could burn. Quite logical I guess and it didn't burn but unfortunately it didn't cook either. This may only be worthy of note as it is one of her few culinary failures and I know she wont take it to heart if she reads it here, like hell!
Anway if I am still around tomorrow I will blog again.

Gooseberry

The painting above shows the first days work of a view of the Towy Valley from Dryslwyn castle looking towards Llandeilo.
I try to work cleanly although I still get the odd thumb mark here and there. Working top down is a useful way of keeping colours clean. Although it is not the only method of working I use. Sometimes I will cover the whole board and go from there. It depends on the subject and effect I want.

I remember the day I went up to Dryslwyn Castle for this painting I took a sketch book and a camera. It was a lovely day and I was looking forward to an hours sketching. Initially I was the only presence there apart from the sheep. Shortly after I climbed the hill I saw other people coming. It was quite muddy and I was wearing wellingtons. I noted that my company consisted of a gentleman of my age complete with large camera and a young lady with a short skirt and high heels. When they arrived at the top it became obvious he was using her for glamour shots and was more interested in her contours than that of the valley. I decided not to hang around sketching as I felt like a gooseberry. (That's a good old expression). Anyway I did get some good photos (of the valley) which I have used for reference.