Morning meadow.

Morning meadow late June

7 x 10" watercolour

One of my favourite subjects to paint. Along the meadows there are always a number of views to paint at any time of the year. No two days are ever quite the same.

Shortly after painting this, the clouds increased and we lost the sun. Just shows you have to grab the moment. Tomorrow is another day, as they say, and there is bound to be something just as exciting to try and capture in paint. The hardest part is deciding where to start!

All set for Summer!

So now it is officially British Summer Time (other countries presumably have to wait a while before Spring is over ) I am all kitted out with paper, sketchbooks and fresh tubes of pigment and ready to hit if not the streets, then the gardens and quiet corners of the Cotswolds and beyond

I have various set-ups from this pocket sketchbook and palette

when I want to keep things as simple and lightweight as possible,through a medium-size 5.5x8.5" sketchbook or 7x10" watercolour block and a medium size palette with a larger mixing area for when I have longer to sketch, and then my larger bag containing 8x12" sketchbooks and 9x12" or 12x16" watercolour blocks when there is some serious painting to be done..

Occasionally I will add an easel to this larger set-up, but only if I know I am going to stay put for a reasonable amount of time. There is no point in taking so many materials that you end up staggering from one place to another in search of something to paint and then being too exhausted to do anything!

I wish you all a happy summer of sketching in whichever part of the world you are!

Last of the lavender

 

Last of the lavender

watercolour on paper

 

This will be the last field of lavender to be harvested and distilled from this year's growth at the Cotswold Lavender farm and yesterday was the perfect day to see it.

Cherries

 

Cherries from our tree

Watercolour

 

The cherries are ripening now and it will be a race between us and the birds to see who picks them first. These are not very nice to eat from the tree but make delicious jam !

Friday lunch

 

Friday lunch

watercolour on paper

6 x 8 inches (image)

 

After yesterday's rain the sun came back today to lull us into believing that it really is summer! At least it persuaded this threesome (and others) to adopt the leisurely holiday spirit. Having painted this sitting on the ground I realised my legs had gone to sleep and for a moment I wasn't sure if I'd be able to walk again...

April 27

 

April 27

 

The Cricket Club

 

What could be more typically English than the village cricket club?

It also reminds us that summer is almost here and hopefully there will be many games played upon this pitch.