Wonderful Life

Return to Loch Craignish

26 May – 1 June 2013

Following a gap of 5 years, a long overdue return to Argyll and a peaceful week spent walking, reading, drawing, painting and beachcombing along the shoreline of Loch Craignish, from the marina at Ardfern to the Point looking across to the isles of Lunga, Scarba and Jura. It’s a special place, one of fond memories shared with good friends and which has provided a rich source of material since my first visit just over a decade ago. It’s good for painting and good for the soul. Life at Loch Craignish really is a wonderful one…………

A Salty Dog

Sounds of the Sea

A collection of North Norfolk seascapes on show at the Right Angle Gallery, Brackley.
A distant horizon, the taste of sea salt, the call of sea birds and the running tide, with a soundtrack by Elgar, Debussy, Britten, Glazunov …………………………………… and Procul Harem

A Salty Dog

Elgar Sea Slumber

Shorebound Flocks with Echoes of Debussy

Dusk Approaching, Seabirds Gathering – Light on the Horizon

Seabirds Soaring and Calling

A Storm for Peter Grimes

Shifting Horizons

For Alexander Glazunov

A Salty Dog
Oil on Board    30 x 61 cm
Haiku:
Giant transporters
Matchsticks on the horizon
Swamped in a deluge

Elgar Sea Slumber
Oil on Board    30.2 x 30.2 cm   

Shorebound Flocks with Echoes of Debussy       
Oil on Board    30.1 x 30.1 cm   

Dusk Approaching, Seabirds Gathering – Light on the Horizon               
Oil on Board    30.1 x 30.1 cm   
Haiku:
Recession ahead
Sombre forecasts prevailing
Uncertain future
– Light on the horizon

Seabirds Soaring and Calling       
Oil on Canvas    56 x 76.3 cm   
Haiku:
Fearless, majestic
Seabirds soaring and calling
Braving storm force winds

A Storm for Peter Grimes           
Oil on Canvas    61 x 71.3 cm   
Haiku:
Amorphous backcloth
Sculpted by strong northerlies
Drapery at sea

Dark, overladen
Flying, floating containers
Jettison their cargo

Shifting Horizons               
Oil on Foamboard    59.5 x 84 cm   
Haiku:
The closer I get
The further away it feels
– Shifting horizons

For Alexander Glazunov           
Oil on Board    61 x 91.5 cm   
Haiku:
Clouds monumental
A stormtrooping chorusline
Drenching the skyline

Rock Island

A Postcard from Crete

10 – 17 April 2013

A first visit, a new landscape to stimulate the senses and much to learn. An invitation to visit Agia Pelagia, near Spili, in the centre of the island. A landscape filled with the clamour of goat bells and the ‘singing’ of crickets and cicadas; the dappled shade and sunlight filtering through glittering leaves of ancient olive trees; a sky of clean, crisp azure unpolluted by the chalky scrawl of vapour trail graffiti; waves lapping lazily on multi-coloured pebbles of deserted and secluded beaches; wind and rain lashing through deeply cut weather beaten gorges; the cool, damp atmosphere of liberally scattered miniature chapels adorned with decaying wall paintings and icons; the distinctive flavour of locally brewed wine and raki; villages woven together with ramshackle houses swathed with character; battered cars, battered roads and an economically battered population – but the warmth and convivial nature of the Cretan people is an inspiration. To return is a must. It’s a different pace, and another world!

How do I deal with this???!!!! A first impression. 6 adjoining notebook scribbles of the extensive panoramic outlook from Peter & Monica’s terrace

     

     

    

Travelling toward Ligres

     

    

Working on the deserted beach at Ligres

     

Notebook scribbles from the patio of the Villas, Agia Pelagia

The Sea through the Gorge, from the patio of the Villas, Agia Pelagia

  

Looking south from the Villas, Agia Pelagia

  

The Sea through the Gorge, from the patio of the Villas, Agia Pelagia

  

From P&M’s terrace, a preliminary scribble

  

Looking toward the White Mountains from P&M’s terrace, with a strong breeze blowing!