December, Hungerford, Berkshire

An unusual one for me. With 40 mins to wait for my neice, I thought I'd try a very quick 'town painting'. Got it all sketched out but really froze as there was snow about - I finished it back home - it seems to have too much detail. Never done cars before, interesting, they are full of reflections.

Very soon after I started painting a man arrived to enter the house right where I had set up the easel. "I have a watercolour painted with GIN inside" he told me, and explained that Edward Adrian Wilson had joined Robert Scott's team for the Antartic as 'expedition artist'. Apparently Wilson had used Navy forces gin (I thought they drank rum) to paint watercolours because water would have frozen!! Makes good sense, and very resourceful.
(About Wilson ..... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Adrian_Wilson )

Late afternoon Lavington Hill

Did this in September. A strange sun glowing through the veil of clouds. Oil sketch. 12 x  1cm approx.

AUTUMN POPLARS

The poplars again, always looking splendid in Autumn. Painted this on a bigger format than my usual, Good to work larger and it didn't take much longer.  Could be finished  a little more to define the receding trees .....
Was just thinking,  it interesting how ones work changes over time ..... 
Other views   www.flickr.com/photos/apt_pics/2805804406/
 and here www.flickr.com/photos/apt_pics/3958251724/
Oil on canvas 24" x 18

OAK TREE

OAK TREE IN THE VALE OF PEWSEY

An Oak Tree in the Vale of Pewsey. You can see one of Wiltshire's White Horses on the hill left of the tree.
The embankment of the main railway line from Paddington through to Westbury, cuts across the landscape and every now and then a blue coloured express passes by, but too swiftly to  try to paint in. On te RH is  the clump of trees on Wooborough hill, a familiar landmark in the area.
NB Just went to see this tree  again with a view to painting it again, almost a year later - I was a bit shocked to see that they were bulldozing a large shallow depression  next to it, so a big pile of mud and bare earth looking a bit messy.  Hope they know what they are doing. Possibly they are making a lake,

Roundway Hills, Devizes

View of ROUNDWAY HILL

View of Roundway Hill above Devizes, Where the Battle of Roundway took place in the Civil War.
A very recognisable landmark from all directions. The wide open aspect of this hill and colour somehow remind me of Africa particularly when nearer to it. The clouds were changing light patterns  by the minute so it was a challenge to paint and set the light/shadow areas.

HOUSE BETWEEN THE POPLARS

The house between the  'Poplar Trees'    The house between the 'Poplar Trees'. This small house is dwarfed by these trees, painted from the field space between them. There are trees behind me as well so it is well protected from the wind, although nothing but grass is growing there now. Maybe they had crops at one time but not in the last 10 years.

And some Bach ....

a'Beckett's Vinyard

'unfinished' sketches - a'Becketts Vinyard 
Not many villages  in the UK can boast of a local vinyard. This one it about 10 years old, and produces some fine wines.

Roundway from Urchfont hill 2

Roundway from Urchfont hill 2, originally uploaded by Andrew Taylor1.

 View from the very edge of Salisbury Plain over towards Devizes which lies at the base of the far hill. Two deer walked quiet close to me (within 50 yds) before seeing me, freezing still for a moment and staring as if in disbelief, then bounding off in a flash.

Nr Wrexham, North Wales

 

Morning painting. Looking West from Gresford, Wrexham, North Wales.

I was up there  to hear Nigel Kennedy playing at the Llandudno Festival.

View from the Malvern Hills

View from the Malvern Hills, early spring morning.