Tuesday 9 May 2006

Casting a Wider Net

I posted three small paintings off to a gallery in Birmingham today. We've been in correspondence for a little while. They wanted some pictures which are now sold, but I sent them some jpegs of similar work and they chose three.

Really, it's cost me a small fortune to post them and the potential return is not that great. But I have to keep operating on the principle that exposure in other parts of the country can only be good and might in the long term lead to something greater.

Meanwhile, my new picture of a storm over the island of Naxos is giving me some pain. I think I can see where it needs to go - the manipulation of the original photograph was too extreme and I need to pull back a little to get at the essence of the subject. I should have tackled the problem earlier today, but got involved in the packaging of the three Birmingham pictures and once out in the sun (it was gloriously hot today) didn't feel like hiding away in the studio. Maybe I'll pick it up again tonight.

Tuesday 2 May 2006

The Lakes


















Grasmere Tree (sketchbook, fibre tip)

I just got back from a week in the Lakes. Every year at about this time, I go painting with Compo & Clegg and the rest, but the last three trips to the South-West of Scotland have been Ordeals of Bad Weather. This time we thought we'd give the Lakes a go. I know, the Lake District and rain are not generally regarded as mutually exclusive, but we thought we'd chance it anyway.

As it turned out, we hit lucky. Apart from an overnight bout of rain, and a shower or two the following morning, we had terrific weather. But there were, unfortunately, some desperately cold winds blowing off the lakes themselves, which somewhat restricted the kind of work we might have got done otherwise. I limited myself to drawing a few rotted and blasted trees. One of them (see above) I was rather pleased with, even if it harks back more to my illustration days.
I suspect that next year we'll not return to the Lakes. Walking the hills is always an attraction there, and a distraction from the primary purpose of the trip.