The final day of May and at last a bit of sun. Into the park this morning and it was well worth the trouble as the gardens look lovely. The little Mediterranean garden is awash with yellow. To me sketches are a bit like maps giving you a fix on where to go. Why not just…
I came across a wonderful display of Cow parsley and Campion in a wild area of Hotham and perhaps rather foolishly I have started on a painting of it. Sometimes I think I have a perverse gluttony for punishment! This is the first stage and it all looks rather pasty but no doubt after several sessions…
I always think finishing a painting is the most difficult part of the process. Knowing when to stop and assessing what still needs to be done is crucial as it is so easy to over work a piece and lose something in the process. I worked on this yesterday but this morning felt it still…
This afternoon I attacked this painting again and this is the result.There is still a bit more to do but It has got to the stage where I will have to be careful not to overwork.
I can’t resist posting a picture of the Lodge house border again with the lovely species wild gladioli bulbs in flower.
This morning I’ve had another go at this and I think it may be finished but as so often happens after the work has dried and hung around in my studio for a while I inevitably see something I need to correct.
Hotham Park Lodge has a wonderful little mixed border which looks good all year round but is particularly attractive at the moment. I spent a long time drawing some of the plant textures in pencil and at last the sun was warm enough for me to sit for an hour without getting cold.
Today starts the second weekend of the Chichester Art Trail but so far today no visitors have appeared but there is time yet, probably when I stop to have lunch. I have managed to spend time in my studio working on two pictures. Having several pictures in progress means that I can alternate between them…
Today is bright and sunny, a lovely spring day but I sat in the shade to draw a yew tree trunk and got very chilled by the time I had finished. I hadn’t bargained for the wind. The greens in the park are so vibrant especially against the bright blue of the rain washed sky….
What a scramble to get ready, busy right to the wire vacuuming studio at 7 this morning unwrapping canvases to stack in the browser. Help I didn’t wash the kitchen floor and it’s not going to be done now. Rush, rush, rush to blow up balloons put up signs lay out sketchbooks, cards notices and leaflets.What next?…
ritasspot, a blog about Hotham Park by it's Artist in Residence 