Plein Air meet at British Camp, Malvern.

Another meeting of the UK plein Air Society proved a very enjoyable day, blessed with great weather. After starting the meet with a coffee together at the British Camp Hotel, catching up, and getting aquainted with new members etc., we climbed, recovered our breath(!),  and painted towards the North first, with  a view one of the peaks above Malvern Town  ( the town is below the peak to the right and out of the picture)

We'd all set up first on the NE side looking  towards the Beacon peak.  Peter Cronin - foreground, Roy Wilkinson - far left, Anthony Bridge - far right, GlynisDray -  has just been checking progress on the others and heading back to her easel,

 Moving round the ramparts, a longish walk to the South showed another stunning view from the Black Mountains and round towards Cheltenham and Gloucester.  At the new site, I always seem to be the last to settle and start painting, with the wide choice of open vista. I could see rain towards the Black Mountains so turned my back to that to include the southern tip of the hills;  this painting is a bit literal but I couldn't resist adding colleagues at their work; Roy Wilkinson and  Anthony Bridge, perched against the skyline. . We could see rain in the north, felt  a few scattered drops but the raincloud barely missed us and I heard they's had a good downpour in Malvern. Lucky - it is very exposed on the hill.

My easel, just before packing up at 4.50pm,  the models (posing for free) had long gone for coffee at the hotel a mile or so below so I had to hurry to catch up.

Malvern Hills from Sink Farm Lane

About 5.00 pm Saturday at Sink Farm, Hangmans Lane, Hanley Castle. About twenty  cows surrounded me at the start (quite intimidating!!), but they soon got bored watching and wandered off towards the barns and vanished, milking time. I went back for an hour today . The sky was somewhat different, however reworking a bit the next day certainly helps to consolidate the piece. Painting into the sun creates its problems, with light changing by the minute but I was trying a system of mixed optical grey, it tends to restrain the colour so works well in this instance as the colour gets bleached out in this type of lighting situation with the sun popping in and out of the clouds.

Top of Lavington Hill - in progress

Oil on canvas 20" x 16" Working on  a larger format, 'en plein air'.
The edge of Salisbury plain, looking West, with strange light/colour effects in the sky ..... There's  a also a compositional challenge here ... I wanted to convey something of the richness of a roadside verge, some sunlight  hitting  a patch of brambles etc.. Below shows the progression of the work.

Copper Beech at Longleat

A  magnificent Copper Beech, by the car park near Heaven's Gate. Done in the last hour of fading light, I didn't quite catch the sense of light I wanted here, but somehow like the sense of 'attack' in this one. Oil on gesso panel 14" x 10".

Some Bach  to listen to ........  it helps my mental flow when working.

Jenny Asparro: Partitia no 2

Garden study with sundial, and yellow roses.

Study of a garden for a house commission

The lovely roses were just gone over with petals dropping but enjoyable to paint.

Design for a Roman style mural

Something completely different! I found this in a corner of the attic - one of two designs for an 8ft high building hoarding in North London in the area called 'Little Venice', near Regents Park Canal. This project was being planned for the hoarding of a large building site, just as the last recession hit in the early 1990's and the idea was suddenly scrapped.

 The second design, now lost, was quite different but more relevant to England; it was of a medieval type Gothic cloister, a row of wide pointed arches with pillar supports and a low wall between, (ie Salisbury Cathedral cloister, but less ornate), with views through the arches into a courtyard garden of green topiary shaped bushes and  glimpses of sculptures could be seen. I remember adding a Henry Moore style granite grey coloured statue, contrasting the medieval with something iconic of 20th century. A pity it is lost - anyway very different from the plein air work.

Cheddar Gorge with the UK Plein Air Society.

A day out painting at the Cheddar Gorge was scheduled for the UK Plein Air Society - we arrange to meet on the last Sunday of the Month, all plein air painters are welcome. Fellow painter Valerie Pirlot  and I travelled there together and  if you read her blog too you’ll  hear more of  the story of how we determinedly encouraged and cajoled  each other up the heights of the gorge  - it was very steep with heavy equipment, and the hottest day of the year.  After much climbing and  meeting decending walkers and being told it was another 15 mins to the very top, at 450ft above sea level, we went on ..... but suddenly got to a point (I guess about 350ft)where we sensibly realised any more walking in that heat and there’d be no energy to paint,  so we set up easels and got painting.

Above is my rendering of the view, over the town with the river Severn in the distance,  and a round reservoir spotted with tiny sails of people boating (they miraculously all disappeared at lunchtime - home for roast dinner - or BBQ -  then were suddenly back again in the afternoon). To our left we could see Glastonbury Tor about 9 miles away, no sound from the Festival though we listened  out for it.

Below, a photo of Valerie enjoying a well earned rest after her first painting, showing  the effect of the climb too ....

and one of me, still  hard at work, wishing I had a sun-umbrella too. 

On the way back down, with gravity on our side, we stopped for a shorter time to do another smaller painting. I settled to do an old dry stone wall falling down under a background of trees. it looked very 'Pyranese' and felt it in the heat.

                                                                         
We didn't manage to meet any of the other painters who may have turned up (Glynis Dray was one), so perhaps should be more proactive and exchange mobile numbers with those intending to come in the future.

Market Lavington, evening skies, with jet trails

Some recent evening skies from White Street Hill, at the edge of Salisbury Plain Escarpment - there's a great view North towards Devizes Bath and Chippenham. These paintings  have to be done at speed, the sky changing in minutes, in seconds even, and in five minutes can look totally different. So one arrives at an approximation of what one has seen over the brief time but really it is an attempt to try to catch the sensations of light.  It's interesting now these are laid out together, I can see certain effects working or not working so I might make minor changes to improve them.

No5.  This time used prussian blue in the lower landscape which  packs  a punch when it comes to rendering the  dark shadows.

No4 (below) One distant jet trail to the right of the sun.

 

No3 (below) 

No2 below) 

No1

 

STEEPLE ASHTON CHURCH, WILTSHIRE

All Saints Church, Steeple Ashton, over a new wheat field. (telephone lines now been added!). An impressive and ornate building for such a rural setting. I was aiming to catch something of the weather and light  this April 2011. We have had amazing weather, warmer and drier than any recorded previously since records began. "This good  weather  has lasted longer than any summer I can remember!" says my son. He can't be far wrong as far as UK sunshine goes.
You can see the unisual geological folds in the hills to the right above Westbury, and to the left these are the heights above Edington where King Alfred fought and beat the danes in 878 AD, in a final battle before making  peace.

View towards London, over Sandown Park RaceTrack

View over Sandown Park RaceTrack from Sandown View Hall. I was exhibiting my stained glass wares/portfiolio at the Christan Resources Exhibition (a sort of church trade show). The view was  a source of facination, as the light was constantly changing with bright sunlight and dark shadow on the landscape and planes flying in and out of Heathow Arport (on the left horizon), landing  approximately every 1min 15sec.  so I decided to try to paint it   - it was done in fits and starts, when visitor footfall was quiet, with the ebb and flow of people.