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  

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