I found a photo of Laura riding her horse during a cross country competition.

I liked the simple (but complex) background, with a glimpse of the distant hills. I also liked her posture even though its not traditional ‘form’ but it is action packed, along with Candis profile.

My painting ‘Autumn Light over Headley Heath’ has been shortlisted for the Wild Surrey Wildlife art and photography competition.

My painting will appear in Guildford House Gallery from 25 May 2019 for three weeks.

Autumn Light over Headley Heath

I’ve just returned from a lovely holiday to Dorset.

I managed to find time to sketch some of the places we visited

Athelhampton Manor

Corfe Castle

Weymouth Harbour

I also found time to paint an oil at Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis

On a lovely spring morning I walked Molly down a towpath of the Wey Navigation. The River Way joins the Thames at Weybridge with a complicated network of streams, rivers, canals, locks and islands. The National Trust conserves the stretch at Weybridge with its quiet lock and keepers cottage. On the other banks are large gardens and expensive houses with their own moorings.

This area is well used by the local sporting enthusiasts especially rowers, canoeists, runners and tennis players. Of course the Dog Walkers are out in force and enjoying the unexpected warm Spring sunshine.

I took some photos on the walk and I’ve produced a couple of paintings from them.

Weybridge Ladies preparing for the morning row on the Thames

Thames Lock at Weybridge

I visited the 180th Chertsey Ploughing Match on the 24th March and took my plein air oils. I set up under a huge electricity pylon on a wonderful clear sunny morning. The old tractors, horses and mechanical ploughs were all setting up on a large open, flat field close to the river Wey.

A line of tents held refreshments, boy scouts and judges, ready for the exciting day of competitive ploughing. Over the course of the morning I received interest on how I was getting on from the visitors and organisers.

This is the picture I painted on the day, with a little finishing at home.

On the day painting

I’d taken some photos of the the event on the day and used some of them for more finished works in the studio.

Below is an oil painting of the horses Sid & Sam with their owners and dogs.

The painting below is of Sid & Sam again but painted in watercolours

Another source of interest for me are horses. I’ve painted them a few times in the past and find them fascinating to draw. These two studies are experiments to see if the media and techniques would work if I took on the challenge of taking them further.

Over the last couple of months I’ve been working on a series of watercolour/ink paintings of the bridges across the Thames. I’ve still one more to paint (Chertsey) .

Hampton Court

Kingston on Thames

Walton on Thames

Richmond on Thames

The Art Club has hosted a couple of animal artists recently and this has pushed me towards trying my hand at painting pets. Of course Molly has been painted before but she is a difficult subject as her colouring doesn’t reflect light that much. Her eyes often get lost under her brows and some of her features hidden beneath her curly coat. So after her latest grooming session I thought it was a good opportunity to try painting her again.

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at painting a cat for a while but I’ve not had any references to work from. I was looking for specific attributes, such as posture, colouring, light and dark. I found the photo after much searching and paying the artist reference royalty fee. I love the composition and colouring of the cat plus the look in its eyes

Below are the pictures I’ve painted over the last couple of months.

After a snowy spell we turned up to a misty Plaistow in Surrey. I found the morning very frustrating as the day turned out to be a lovely sunny afternoon. Too late for the painting.

The following week was Shamley Green and I did struggle getting a composition going. This is an extract from the painting, the rest was scrubbed out.

I really enjoyed Hambledon after a serious gripe about the narrowness of the Surrey lanes. I spent the morning in the graveyard with the grave digger and daffodils, and a  good time in the pub with the other artists afterwards.

Great Bookham was cold and grey, with the easiest place to paint – another graveyard! And no food at the pub.

Finally I spent a fascinating morning at the 180th Chertsey Ploughing Match.

A view of Denbies and Box Hill