Stourhead

My latest project for the New Year has been to start some painting at Stourhead House and Gardens...... I was really wowed at the scale of the place, the lake, temples, grottos and wonderful woods etc.  The first day was fabulously sunny, then three subsequent days I got rained/hailed/snowed off. It is  a bit of a battle with the weather, trying not to make it personal!

  ABOVE  A rather 'zoomed in' view of the Pantheon Temple, catching the afternoon sun, I was painting from the steps of the Apollo Temple, then got rained off. There is a great view of the lake from the heights.

.... painting of the house ...... unfinished  ..... after two cold cloudy sessions. I'm just waiting for the sun to arrive again so I can introduce shadows and highlights to add interest to what could be  a flat looking winter scene. 

unfinished  ......  still in progress .... some sun please

View from behind the easel  - just trying to build a base of paint for when better light arrives  - will it work?

A quick sketch with a bright sun casting shadows on a very frosty beautiful  Monday morning.

 

Below: SUN OVER FROME  

Painted on the way home after being soaked by a heavy shower 

A painting of Great Chalfield Manor, capturing the winter afternoon light from the south lower moat - painted in preparation for having a stall at their Christmas Fair. . (The fair was a nice experience, in the Great Hall hung with 18th tapestries and the adjacent panelled room where I was designated a heavy old carved oak table to display my wares.)

The little C15th church can be seen on the RH side, and a glimpse of the Tropnell Chapel Window mullions, for which I made  a stained glass window "The Seed and the Sower"  (2nd row, 1st on left). The choice of subject was  good reason to  put in a lot of  the Estate's 'Flora and fauna' .The interpretation arose from suggestions of a member of the donor family, his ideas as a farmer/land manager and conservationist. The window reflects his love of the natural world and countryside around his home, where the family have lived for two  generations. His father was also a keen naturalist and the founder of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust in the early1960's

UK Plein Air Society meet in Salisbury

WE were blessed with a fantastic sunny day when the UK Plein Air Society met in Salisbury  on 27th Nov. The group is the brain-child of Anthony Bridge, the idea being we meet up on the last Sunday of the Month in a prearranged town/city. If anyone would like to know future venues and dates don't hesitate to ask.
Moonlighting ---- instead of settling down to paint like everyone else, for a while I was captivated by the river in Salisbury meadows behind the Cathedral, shallow clear running water; so took a few snippets of video of  leaves coursing along in the current. Eventually I did a quick painting of a tree reflecting in the river.

 Video: The secret Lives of Leaves