Birch Tree

This is a copper birch tree at Raglan garden Centre. I love the colour of the bark in the sun. Really unusual, I've not seen one like this before. Fantastic colours. Would make a great painting.

Sunset, Woolacombe, North Devon

Fantastic sunset in Woolacombe, North Devon last Sunday.

Clover on the coastal path in Woolacombe

This is a view from the coastal path in Woolacombe, North Devon. We were down there for the weekend, staying in Lynton. The weather was brilliant with lovely clear, blue skies and lots of lovely sunshine. This is a shot taken of some beautiful purple clover with the sea in the background.

Pink and Purple Hydrangeas

One of the photographs I took at Raglan Garden Centre on Monday of the beautiful pink and purple hydrangeas.

Pansies Painting

I have been hard at work in the studio today putting the first coat on my pansies painting which is for the commissioned wedding present. This coat is done in acrylic paints then the next one will be done in oils. I prefer working in oils as the drying time is longer which is great for blending colours. I always feel a sense of urgency painting in acrylics as they dry so fast. Saying that, I do actually need to paint with a sense of urgency as this painting has to be finished by the end of this month.

Summer, Inspiration Overload!

Great day today despite rain again nearly all day. Went to Raglan Garden Centre to their camping section, then into the garden bit where the rain stopped long enough for me to photograph calla lillies, lavender and lots of beautiful pink, purple and blue hydrangeas. Some had giant flowers on the plants enabling me to get some really close up shots of the flowers. This has definately inspired me to create a painting of large close up hydrangeas. Summer is becoming an inspiration overload for my creative juices, every day there are new subjects for my ideas, it's great. But, even better than the garden centre was, on the way home I found my perfect reference for my wild poppies painting. I had seen a couple of stragglers on wasteland, but these beauties in a wheatfield  were just what I wanted. I think I will be in hibernation over the winter months in my studio painting.

Celtic slates

These are 2 slates I airbrushed today with a celtic cross design. I will be putting these on our website shop in due course. Great to do some airbrushing, I haven't done any for ages. I think the vibrant colours work really well with the slate background.

Yellow flag iris

 Yellow flag iris on a canal side. As part of my nature paintings I am going to develop the idea of having a dragonfly by a yellow flag iris like this one. I love the gorgeous, vibrant blue of the emperor dragonfly and it will work really well against the yellow and green.

Foxglove

Todays photograph is taken on a walk along the canal near to where I live. Foxgloves are so vibrant and beautiful, especially when there is a huge mass of them on a hillside or in a woodland. Apparently they are poisonous though. I will be painting this in the future as part of my wild flowers collection.

Mum and Dads garden

These are two photos taken last month in my Mum and Dads garden. Lovely delicate Welsh poppies and purple allium.  

Thistles

I went back today to take reference photographs for a future painting. I love the beautiful purple of the thistles. They will be a challenge to paint but will be a brilliant subject for my wildlife ideas. The rain stayed away for most of today and it poured down just after I took my photographs.  

Poppies at Nature In Art

These are a couple of photographs I took at Nature In Art, Twigworth, Gloucestershire last week. Two years ago I photographed the same poppies and have recently completed a painting of them. Last week I was there enquiring about having my work there or being an artist in residence for a week. I met a wildlife artist, Frances Whitman who was artist in residence that week. She was very helpful and her work was brilliant, mostly big cats (lions, tigers) also elephants in a realistic style. I asked her about joining The Wildlife Art Society International as she is a member and she said my flower paintings would have to be of wild flowers rather that cultivated. So I am on a mission to paint a few more wild flowers. I have been studying thistles and some beautiful flowers I saw on a walk tonight which I will be photographing tomorrow if the rain stays away. 

Lillies

These are lillies that I have grown in my greenhouse. After my pansies painting I am hoping to work on a large piece with a selection of lillies, so these photographs will be crucial. Usually by the time I get around to drawing them from life they are past their best and the petals have started to fall off. So I tend to work from photographs. 

New Blog

Hello, welcome to my new blog all about my paintings which are mainly of flowers and nature. I will be updating my blog most days with paintings in progress or photographs of things that have inspired me.

This week I have been comissioned to do a painting for a wedding gift. The painting will be based on the photograph I took in Abergavenny last year of some gorgeous purple pansies. Pansies are one of my favourite flowers so I am really going to enjoy painting them. The wedding is on 1st September so I need to get on with it as it will need about 3-4 weeks drying time to make sure it can be wrapped.