Home and Away

The painting above is of The Gower, Llangenith Beach and Worms Head, and was sold yesterday.

Worms head is a very familiar shape to us as we have sailed around these waters of the Bristol Channel for a long time. I understand that the word 'Wurm' means 'dragon' and it was named by Viking invaders. The shape as you can see is very like a giant dragon or sea-serpent and marks the westerly end of the Gower. When we camped in North devon recently we could still see the Wurm from our camper van on the cliffs. Ironic really as we had travelled some 200 miles by road and we were in site of home.

Last night we had David Cowdry and Erika round for dinner both lovely people and exceptionally talented. As usual our dog Jac was the centre of attraction and stole the show.

Today was spent making some trim out of oak to finish off our new flooring. Tomorrow is put aside for painting and Alex has a number of paintings to frame.

"Any old iron"

The painting above is of Llansteffan Beach. It was sold to a lovely lady from Caerffili yesterday.
I just got back from walking the dog and I heard a very unusual sound from the estate above the reservoir.
"Any old iron scrap metal pans.." this was a cry I hadn't heard for about 50 years. The only difference was that today it was on a loudspeaker. I have to say though it did get me thinking about the rag and bone man when I was young. He used to come down our street with his old white cart horse pulling an open cart piled with rags and relics from the kitchen. He would have balloons tied to his cart and would give children a balloon for a bundle of rags or an old pan.
Obviously the price of metal is going up at the moment.
When it comes to recycling paintings or canvas I am afraid I generally don't bother. I have previously primed over an old painting and spent time producing a new work to find that the texture of the old painting ruins the work. I do recycle brushes to some extent. Watercolour brushes tend to be used for oils when they are no longer suitable for watercolour. Worn oil brushes are used to scrubble turps or medium onto a canvas. When of no longer use they are thrown in to the scrap wood pile for my friends wood burner.

Whats in a Sketch

The watercolour sketch above is of Druidstone Haven and was done on the scene last week. It was painted on Saunders Hot Pressed paper. I don't usually use HP paper but I had been generously been given a pad. The paper is smooth and similar to painting on thick cartridge paper. Anyway why do people make sketches? For myself I sketch both in pencil and watercolour for a number of reasons:
To make a record of the scene before me for a possible painting later
To keep my hand in drawing and painting from nature
Because I enjoy doing it
A sketch will take about 2-15 minutes normally. The time is generally dictated by the subject, the weather conditions and my wife Alex. If it is wet and windy I paint very quickly but more importantly I judge how long I can take by my wife's look when I say,
"I am just going to do a quick sketch!"
In fairness she is very patient, more patient than I am when she runs into a friend and starts a long conversation.
The majority of my sketches are kept for a period and then culled,(taken to the skip), if I haven't made use of them within a couple of years. So even if I havent used them for reference I have still enjoyed doing them and they have helped to keep my skills honed.

North South divide

We have been away for a week while my family came to house-sit and look after mom. We stopped in Druidstone in a little campsite with views overlooking St. Brides Bay. It was a really nice week which was spent walking the coastal path and reading when it was too wet. I got plenty of material for new work too. Pembrokeshire is divided into North and South by the Landsker Line an invisible boundary that divides the English speaking South and the Welsh speaking North. It is also divided physically by the Milford Haven Waterway.

We stopped South of the Landsker Line in Druidstone and North of the Haven. The main difference we noticed is that in North Pembrokeshire particulalry close to the coast there is a distinct lack of trees. A scruffy windswept bush would be as much as you are likely to see. The other really noticeable difference is that in South Pembrokeshire at night there are literally flocks of starlings in their thousands whilst in the North there are barely 20 or thirty birds in an evening display. It could be that the lack of trees and low numbers of swallows is connected.

Anyway I did a lot of sketching mainly of coastal scenes. On approaching Broad Haven you are quite high and can easily see the Oil refineries in the South of the Haven. The picture above is of the Old Texaco refinery and is sold.

Dinner time now!

Cattle in the floods

The picture above is of the scene I saw of cattle in a flooded field at the begining of October. I didn't get a chance to sketch ot take a photo of it at the time it was just posted in my mind for future reference.

I am not fortunate enough to have a photographic memory but I am able to visualise some scenes and paint without other references particularly if there is no great amount of detail required.

Today I painted in the gallery. I went up the Black Mountains on Sunday and today I painted a scene from the Black Mountains of a stream and waterfall. I may put a red kite in the painting when dry as we did see half a dozen and it may just be what is needed. I will see.

This is my last post for a week or so as I am away. My family are coming down to look after my mom so a week away and a bit of walking and painting.

Nostalgia

I am by nature given to nostalgic phases. As a young boy I used to live within 100yds of the London Midland and Scottish Railway line. My brother and I would sit on the embankment and watch the locomotives thundering up the line. I loved the sound of the big pistons and the smell of the smoke with bits of burning black coal. Occasionally we would place an old penny on the track and recover it after the loco had passed. The resultant mishapen brass pressing would be an item to cherish. We also used to go down to the "sheds" where the locomotives were kept and maintained. As young boys we were often treated to cabbing, that is being allowed on the platform of the engine by a kindly fireman or driver while she was fired up. This was in the days before health and safety.

Anyway later in life I taught myself basic engineering and did make some working model steam stationary engines and boilers. I always felt steam engines were a living thing.

You can now see that I find them to be a good subject albeit I rarely get to see one these days.

The painting above of the Gwili Railway is sold. Today was spent with grandchildren and collecting my mom from the home. Tomorrow I will be painting in the gallery.

"Water under the bridge"

The painting above is of the Bridge over the River Usk at Brecon. I have painted a couple of versions of this subject. There is something quite satisfying in painting bridges, gates, doors etc. I suppose there is a lot of symbolism involved either on a concious or sub-concious level.

Bridges are often used in metaphors. e.g. "Who are the bridge builders?" - Rudyard Kipling

Anyway this is getting a bit heavy - I just like the view.

I painted it today. I also visited my mom, and the local refuse tip to dispose of the various detritus from decorating and stripping various rooms.

We have to get ready for our next exhibition in Carmarthen in December. I have quite a few paintings but there is the matter of framing, prints, marketting etc, etc... So a few busy weeks in store.