Oil on canvas, 19.75 x 27.5 inches
This painting was done on clear-primed Honsell Naturelle linen canvas, rather than my usual universal white-primed choice. If anyone would like to try these canvases (they are medium-grain texture, not fine-grain as advertised) have a look on Great Art's website by clicking on their red and white banner at the top or on the right. They have a sale on until the end of October, with lots of other materials, they pack things very well, delivery is swift and I thoroughly recommend them.
I've spent days on this painting, but I'm pretty pleased with the result. The view was a good composition as it was, without any manipulation, and begged to be given a decent sized platform to depict the scene. The beck meanders through from front to back, with moss-laden trees in the foreground and middle distance, with the hills progressively more blue as they recede into the distance. The right hand bank, devoid of trees has two handy stoppers to stop the eye flying out of the picture, namely the rocky outcrop a third of the way out into the beck and the man-made walls with the gap between to invite the viewer through. I also loved the mauvey shadow of the foreground tree across the sunlit white water.
Yesterday, I heard the terrible news from across the pond, that my friend Carol Marine and her husband David and son Jacob, had their beautiful house in a pine forest in Bastrop, Texas, burnt to the ground in an awful forest fire, which even made the news over here. Thankfully, they're all okay, but escaped with just a few small paintings, hardly any belongings, and their two cars and camper. Carol's new custom-built studio, together with a huge collection of still-life objects....all gone - can you imagine it?
You can all help Carol by looking at her very entertaining Blog (link on the right) and see her beautiful paintings with her luscious brushwork. I've bought five of her little paintings and they are all available on the Daily Painters Auction site - she will still be posting the new paintings she's already done, so have a look and help her out by bidding on them and get yourself some superb artwork, too. She will post to the UK for $30.
Peter, just so you know, there are many of us looking out for the Marines. I've extended an invitation to them to come and park their trailer at my place, which will not only get them out of the RV park, but more importantly allow Carol to continue to paint in my studio, which David tells me she just cannot do in the trailer. In his last note to me he writes "We may take you up on it at some point." Just wanted you to know that there are many who are "on point" to help them when we're needed.
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