The other day I did a very silly thing. Liz and myself went to La Ronda, an amazing house on the River Ex estuary. The idea was to relax, have some lunch and for me to sketch a little.  The relaxing and lunch bits went fine, it was the sketching bit that went pear shaped. I took my paper and drawing board with me, but when I looked inside my bag, I had forgotten to include my pens, inks, paints, brushes and pencils. Silly old me. After a growl, I managed to scrounge a blunt IKEA pencil stub from the gift shop, with no means of sharpening it.. Not by any means a perfect tool, but it did the job. 

So the day wasn't wasted, we relaxed, had a nice lunch and I was flexible in my artistic endeavours; not a great piece of art, but good fun. Don't take yourself to seriously!

We have just had a few nights in Sidmouth, again; we love the place. As usual we went sketching in Beer, see above. No pencil, straight in with the pen; if you look closely you will notice the rain (drizzle) drops in a few places with very small blots in some areas. Well, maybe with the water splodges on it, it might not qualify as a masterpiece, but I think the blemishes add to the work and give it a strong reality factor. So don't be put of by the weather.

As usual when out painting I met some lovely people. Firstly. a very pleasant if rather strangely unkempt and unwashed individual with well worn clothing, a thin totally unkempt beard and a hat, which for originality would win any competition. It started as a cowboy hat before it was destroyed by the weather and many years of use. Then it was covered by badges of many music festivals; only ones where he could manage a free entry, he does not believe you should pay to listen to music at events. But the crem-de-la-creme was a small plastic model toilet glued to the top central part of his hat. I did enjoy listening to his philosophy on life for a few minuets, the details of which I will not bore you.

Then a lovely elderly lady trundeled past with her wheeler. A nice lady totally out of touch with reality. She just can't understand how the economy was tight and how ordinary people did not have enough to live on, thereby finding life hard. Sometimes there is not point in disagreeing, so she wandered on in her own little world with a smile.

This week I relaxed and could not be bothered to argue.

 Good morning everybody and it looks as if summer has arrived. A blue sky, pleasantly warm sunny morning and a good forecaster for the next week; now that cheers the heart.

 Above is a just finished piece of work which took three weeks to create. The aim is to show light moving through the woodland. I'm not sure, but it might merit another visit from my pen to increase the contrast and as a result the drama of the view. So it is possible that this picture will reappear again in a few weeks looking a little different under a fresh guise.

Not much planned for today, maybe relax a little. A quick jaunt into town, then we are free, maybe a walk in the woods with a picnic; sounds good.

Duncan

Last week we actually had a free day so we wandered along to Windsor and Epsom. The view above is of Windsor castle from the Eton side.

However last night was very illuminating and contained a large learning curve in my experience of life. We both went to the URC church, to attend the "Hustling", were all the local candidates for the general election met and spoke. J am not going to say who I will vote for, but I will give my observations about the candidates.

Green, a very nice and pleasant lady, but weak, she can't see beyond the immediate presence of her experience.

Labour, very presentable, she spoke politely and always kept to her point without being rude to anyone.

Reform. Blinkered angry opinions. Not a diplomat or understanding person.

Heritage. he came across very badly, intolerant, not a nice man at all.

Conservative. aggressive and rude to his opponents. Several times speaking rudely when others had the floor. More interested in criticising others for his own faults. He felt that it was ok to vote in parliament with regards to brexit against his constituency's wishes. Did not come over well at all.

Liberals. Calm, polite, put his opinions forwards without accusatory anger.

You need to choose, last night told me certainly who I will not vote for.

 

Over the last weekend Liz treated me to a painting/sketching couple of days around Bexhill on Sea, because in a few days it is my birthday. On the Monday we ventured into Hastings and the area around the old fishing huts, where the small sea craft are beach launched and landed. The weather was perfect for water color painting; warm in order to dry the work quickly, but not to hot to be unpleasant.

Strolling around, these two boats caught my eye, so I sat on the shingles and out came my paper, pencil and brushes. The simplicity was caught with a few very loose water-colour strokes, which were tightened up with a water soluble HB pencil; a very quick way of working. Now it is not intended as a great piece of art, it's not, it is but a sketch, or a quick impression. The whole thing took less than ten minuets to produce, it was all about spontaneity and how I felt. I was enjoying the sun, surroundings, painting and the people whom I met.

Over the morning several folks stopped as they passed by, watched me painting, then chatted with me. First it was a local fisherman, then a lecturer from some Australian university, a few tourists and finally a local character on a mobility scooter; he was brave to drive that thing over the shingles, I wonder how often he gets stuck and needs dragging of the bank. Five sketches were produced and several conversations enjoyed in about an hour and a bit; all because I paint! 

Now that is what I call a pleasant hour or so!

 I am so pleased to be able to tell you all that Liz and myself are fine following our recent covid infection. We are both amazed that we had gone so far through this pandemic and not been infected.

Above is another A2 drawing, this time of the Bocage in Normandy, France. With about forty friends we all stayed in a chateau about half a mile from this lane. In modern times it is a lovely area to walk in, with lanes, paths, all in deep woodland, interspaced by tiny fields; like I said "Lovely", but during the second World War the fighting through this area was awful. As we think of the Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, plus many more areas of conflict and tension, it is a salutary lesson and reminder for us to be appreciative of the peace we enjoy in a deeply unsettled world.

The Bocage is so beautiful; we must remember as Liz and myself often have, traveling with my paints is such a privilege and honour. Paintings are such lovely memories; so why not plan to take a sketch book with you, as our planning for holidays and trips are thought about for summer. 

 

The other day I posted an image to you all of the Coble landing at Filey and asked you all as to if it needed colour or not. Unanimously the verdict was for colour. Well the original being drawn in water soluble ink; it would not take any water colour without making an awful mess; so start again.

Re drawn, big bold and loose, water colour very freely splashed on, does it work?

As many of you will know Liz and my self have Covid so are isolating for a few days. we are well, but bored. Roll on being free again!