Down on the south coast as we empty my mother’s flat of a lifetime of nostalgia, I started the day by doing a bit of painting on the seafront. Here the beach at lowtide looking towards Hastings.
And on the promenade by the iconic De La Warr Pavilion with the early morning joggers, dog walkers and strollers.
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I had a bit of time to get out and do some sketches in the last few days. This one is a view from Bexhill to Hastings, in the distance, on a bright summer’s evening after the dark clouds had passed.
This is one from Hastings of an old lighthouse ( built around 1850 to replace an earlier one) which stands on the West Hill over the beach where they pull the fishing boats up on. There is also another light below it on the beach. The idea is returning boats line the upper and lower lights up as they approach the beach which means they have a safe passage past the submerged rocks. Now they beach on a different location and this lighthouse is redundant.
Here is one of the fishing boats on the beach waiting for the tide or fish quotas to reset before setting off again.
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I have missed some sunny mornings of late due to other commitments or sheer laziness, so guilt nudged me from my bed the other morning when the sun was shining bright and early.
I had decided to go to a specific spot as there was a scene that had caught my eye on a previous outing. The trouble was when I got there the effect was different. I suspect the trees had filled out and the light effect had vanished.
Anyway, after searching about I found another couple of spots to sit and paint and I enjoyed a tranquil morning in the summer warmth, serenaded by birdsong and fortified by a flask of tea.
It’s a dirty business, but someone’s got to do it.
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Painting opportunities were sparse this week despite the scenery. We walked around Slad, where Laurie Lee (Cider with Rosie) lived but had to dive into the Woolpack – his local – for a cider, naturally, because of the rain. The next day, the sun only started to come out as we left Wells – a fabulous town I’ve never been to before, but it lead to a sunny evening in Bath where we stopped for a meal by the river.
So yesterday morning I took ther opportunity to snatch a couple more sketches of Leighterton before we left.
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Being a bit tied up with family issues I just had time to sketch out this portrait of a Cambodian Lady I spotted when I paused on a cycle ride by a river near Battambang – the second city of Cambodia. The light on her face accentuated her features as she squatted by some sugar cane that she had collected. I have a few pictures of different people of southeast Asia I took on my recent travels and was considering creating a small collection.
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This morning I was roused from my slumbers at 5-30 and the sun was shining, so I went out to do some painting. It’s still cold here, but I took some tea to drink whilst the washes were drying and all was well with the world.
This was the second sketch of the day. I crossed the canal and ventured towards Clieves’ Hills – an area I paint a lot.
Here are some earlier sketches I did when we had a warm spell in April. They are up on the Cumbrian Coast in the Lake District. It took us an age to get there and on the way back the car started to do some very strange things. We limped home but it wasnt a happy day.
This is a view of the area as we climbed the hills behind Ravenglass.
This was a view over the River Esk as it comes to the sea at Ravenglass. The gorse was in full flower with bright burst of yellow all over the hillside – though from the sketch above you might think that they were daffodils.
Other landscape paintings are available for sale on my website: http://grahammcquadefineart.comgrahammcquadefineart.com
In Siem Reap in Cambodia (the city’s name means Defeat of Thailand – no punches pulled there) we sat in the park with the flying foxes roosting in the trees. Groups of tourists were brought to see them and as the guide spoke , enterprising icecream sales people swooped to feed the stationary tourists.
A few days earlier in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam we sat in another park. A group of children sat to my left painting, Tai Chi sessions were everywhere and one man even washed himself,( sorry, I wasnt quick enough with my camera as he shoved the hose pipe down his shorts to clean the nether regions) then cleaned his bike, changed his clothes and after donning a new hat – he wore a grubby old hat whilst cleaning his bike, – rode off into the traffic.
Landscape and townscape paintings are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
