Sunday, 15 November 2009

My Watercolour Portfolio





A brief look into a half fogotten portfolio of watercolours that have never
been framed or seen




I was surprised how many of the paintings were of subjects from
the English Lake District, this is a view of Wastwater



 A painting of Blea Tarn, a tarn is the local name for a small lake, usually
half way up the Mountains. In the background are the Langdale Pikes



The same Pikes that sweep down into the Langdale Valley



The time is late winter, a favourite time for me. The greens of summer gave way
to the tawney colours of gold and brown. In this detail,  the last of the
winter snows are depicted by just just leaving the white paper unpainted



Leaving the lake District, this scene is Haworth at dusk.
Haworth of course will always be associated with the
Bronte sisters who lived there lives, only a short distance away
from this view point



My choice of colours, or palette as its called dosn't include white (remember
the snow) or black. The detail below shows that by mixing blue (Ultramarine)
with brown (Burnt Umber) I can get a more lively dark






We are now looking at a scene in Ireland, the mountain known as
Ben Bulben. The close up below shows my treatment of lichen,
that covers our trees and rocks in this part of the world.
For the technical minded the colours are Viridian(green)
and Burnt Umber  


Wednesday, 4 November 2009

The Golden Retriever, our favourite breed




 Our lovely dog, 'Cindy' we did'nt know at the time but this
was to be her last spring

She was the reason we started to spend all our spare time
touring the British Isles. I don't think there was ever a time when
she did'nt accompany us on our trips


It took over four years before we could come to terms with her sudden lost.
This was our first meeting with Cindy's succeser 'Clare', she is the one
on the right being greeted with Mum, and Dad (nearest the camera)


Getting another dog reminded us that it can be a change in life style. so the week
before we were to collect her from the kennels, I fullfilled a desire I had long
held. This was a visit to 'Castle Howard' in Yorkshire, not realy a
practical place to take a dog


Castle Howard
is an enormous country house, lived in by the aristocrary, it is full of national treasures
from all over the world, that can be enjoyed by all who wish to visit it


it was chosen as the backcloth of the film 'Brideshead Revisited' This brought a touch of glamour that no film studio could match
                    







In early August we brought 'Clare'  home at eight weeks to be part of the family





We leave Clare on the day she was five months old,
she is growing at a great rate