I’ve been working on local views to see if I can produce anything from landmarks close to home.

Its been amazing to travel abroad and work from the wonderful sights and memories these trips have generated. But I need to be able to get inspiration from sources closer to home. So on a sunny summer’s day I walked around Leatherhead looking for the history, character, colours, the light and shade of the town. I launched into creating pictures from the photos I took and the feelings I felt from viewing them.

Leatherhead Station is a lovely Victorian building with plenty of interesting features. Its placed high, overlooking the ring road and car park. So the setting is a little challenging. This view will be recognisable to those commuters using the station daily. I’m not sure they will want to be reminded of this building but I think its makes an interesting subject.

The next painting is of a row of cottages running off Church Street. I liked the simple subject, colour of the brickwork and the perspective. I’ve treated the trees in the background slightly differently and feel this has worked.

I moved on to this view of Church street, with its large trees and Victorian buildings. It may not be to everyone’s taste but I like the colours and wanted to get the feeling of arriving in to the town from the Dorking Road, with town’s history and character. The style is a little looser and I’ve treated the trees in yet another way.

The final painting of Leatherhead, for now, is of the River Mole as it passes under the railway bridges and on to the water meadows downstream. I was looking for a scene that captured the water reflections, the shadows under the bridge and the curve of the river. I’m not that happy with this painting as the trees are too uniform in colour and the sky too yellowish. But its worth showing as a comparison to other work on this blog.

Following a gap in posting on to this blog I’m back with some new art, thoughts and intentions.

I’ve moved house again, travelled to Lake Garda and returned back to work part-time. So a busy month, where I’ve managed to paint and sketch a little.

The trip to Italy started with Verona. I had a day to wander around, draw and dance, before meeting up with the rest of the group. Its a beautiful city, with many sights to photograph and draw. I found a spot by the river to sketch the spectacular bridge and castle.

I moved on to the main square in Verona and had a bite to eat and drink at one of the cafes around it’s edge. I started a sketch of the arena and finished it off at the hotel. With so many arches the wonderful arena is tricky to draw but it was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. Built by the Romans its still used today as a music venue.

In the evening I managed to find a local Tango group, after getting lost a little. I had a lovely time with the local tango dancers but had a long walk back to the hotel.

The next day I met up with the group at the airport and travelled to Lake Garda, close to Malcesine. The weather was really warm and we swam in the hotel pool and a couple of us in the lake, its was beautiful. We danced in a castle overlooking the lake in the evening , which was magical.

I managed to draw by the lake side a couple of times and in the town of Malcesine.

I sat and chatted in the harbor with Sheila as I sketched for this view and was pleased with the finished work.

During the short stay at Lake Garda we wandered around the towns, drank coffees and ice creams at the cafes and took trips on the various ferries crossing the lake. A wonderful relaxed time. And in the evenings we danced!

On returning home I have worked up some of the sketches and photos into paintings.