View from Pwll Deri YHA (6)

This is a painting from a photo I took while walking with Ally on the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path in the summer of 2006. We stayed at Pwll Deri youth hostel on the first night. We arrived at this remote hostel perched on a cliff top after a days walk to find that it was closed. So we sat down on the grass and enjoyed the magnificent view while we waited for it to open.

This is another naïve and sketchy painting, but the teasels silhouetted against the sunlight reflected off the sea give this peaceful scene a feeling of drama.

Overstones Farm, Stanage Edge (5)

My fifth painting was of another ‘edge’ – a scene taken from Mum’s trusty Peak District photo book. Stanage Edge in Derbyshire stretches for about 6km and is the largest and most impressive of the gritstone edges, and a popular walking spot.

I was drawn to the photo because of the autumnal colours and the hazy, dream-like quality of the landscape. The farm buildings seem to blend into their surroundings. This is another sketchy, naïve painting but I think it suits the subject very well.

Gritstone Edge (4)

My fourth painting was taken from a photo in a magazine which was called 'Gritstone Edge' I thought this was the name of the place but further research showed this to be a generic term for a type of rock formation. The northern Peak District is bounded on the east and west sides by scarps known as ‘edges’, which are made of coarse sandstones, referred to as ‘grits’.

I painted this scene in record time while waiting for Mum to take me to catch a bus. The time pressure means that this is more sketchy than the first three, and the grain in the paper showing through the pastel gives it more of an ‘unfinished’ look. The painting has rather a naïve feel, which Mum loved - she immediately framed it and hung it on the wall in her conservatory!

Arbor Low stone circle (3)

This was my third painting – another scene from the Peak District photo book. Arbor Low is one of the most important prehistoric sites in Derbyshire and is sometimes referred to as the 'Stonehenge of the Peak District'. The henge was constructed about 2500 BC. No one knows why it was constructed or what it was used for, but it must have been an important focal point for the people of the time.

Like many Derbyshire beauty spots, it can be bleak in winter and stunning on a fine spring morning. This photo was obviously taken on a bleak day, but I loved the unusual black, mauve and lemon sky in this photo.

Hand stone, Beeley Moor (2)

This was my second painting after reconnecting with art in 2006. This scene is another one from the Peak District photo book – of a hand stone on Beeley Moor. On this heather clad moor, some 1,200 feet above sea level, there are over thirty pre-historic barrows and cairns.

Beeley Moor can be bleak but I was drawn to this photo by the strong colours, particularly the dramatic purple sky. I also liked the way the hand stone sits in what resembles a nest.

William Clough Valley (1)

The next batch of blogs will focus on my early work. Those of you who have been following my blog may remember that in my first post I mentioned that in 2006, on a visit back to the UK when I was staying with my Mum for a while, I picked up her pastels and did a painting. This is that first painting.

The subject, William Clough Valley in Derbyshire, came from the trusty book of Peak District photos. Although it is quite simplistic in style it was enough of a likeness to the photo to inspire me to take up art again.

By comparing this painting with my latest work (the cat portrait below) you can get an idea of how my style has developed over the last four years.

What’s new pussycat? (62)

Sorry for the long delay between posts – I’ve recently returned from an unexpected trip to the UK. This is my latest painting and my first pet portrait. I decided to do it as a present for my brother-in-law who celebrated a birthday a couple of weeks ago while I was in the UK.

I couldn’t think of anything to buy him so decided to paint him a portrait of his favourite cat, Sweep. Mum claimed she had taken a photo of Sweep some weeks before, so I printed it off and set to work. Sweep has very unusual and pretty markings and I worked hard to get them right. When it was finished I was confident it was a reasonable likeness.

However, when John opened his present he looked bemused and asked whose cat it was.
“It’s Sweep, your cat,” I said, amazed that he couldn’t tell.
“But Sweep doesn’t have any white on his face,” John said.
At that moment, Sweep came into the room and John picked him up so I could see. And he didn’t.

So whose cat had Mum taken the photo of? That remains to be discovered. It certainly looks similar to Sweep … but not similar enough! So my first pet portrait worked at an artistic level but not on the most important level – an exact likeness to the subject.

Shane 2009 (59)

Had to post my latest painting as I’m pretty excited about it. This is my first portrait and I’m really pleased how it turned out. It’s of my nephew, Shane, who was three at the time the photo was taken. He’s very cute and his rosy cheeks come from growing up on a farm and playing outside.

Pembokeshire coast (8)

This painting is another scene from a photograph I took when walking the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path in 2006. This was one of the first pieces I painted in Australia, at a time when I had a limited choice of pastels.

It was quite a complex picture and I had difficulty getting the angles right for the cliffs falling to the sea. The result is rather abstract and looks to me as though a lumpy quilt has been laid out over the peninsula … but I like the quirky feel of this painting.

Pinnacles, WA (28)

Another photo from a tourist brochure inspired this painting of the Pinnacles, located about three hours north of Perth near Cervantes. Thousands of unusually shaped limestone rocks rise up to 3 metres from the sand like ancient ruins. They are believed to have been created from seashells which were broken down into sand and then eroded by water and wind.

The Pinnacles Desert is best seen at dawn or dusk when the rocks, which have been likened to tombstones, termite mounds and even fingers, cast long, eerie shadows over the rippling yellow sand dunes. Although I faithfully reproduced the scene, the uniqueness of the subject matter led to a rather abstract-looking painting.

Cosy Corner, Albany (7)

I came across this scene of Cosy Corner near Albany in a book of photos of Western Australia and loved the delicate pastel colours and the simplicity of the composition. I also liked the fact that I didn’t need many different colours, as this was one of my earlier paintings and I didn’t have a large collection of pastels at that time!

I painted on the grainy side of the pastel paper as an experiment and used pink pastel paper. If you look closely you can see pink flecks showing through - I quite like the effect.

Chain of Lagoons, Tasmania (10)

While staying with friends in Bridgetown one Christmas I was flicking through their outgoing calendar of Tasmania when I spotted this picture. The scene really inspired me so I got my pastels out (luckily I’d taken them with me) and got cracking. It came together really quickly and I’d finished it before dinner!

The angular rocks, solid clouds and strong colours give this painting an abstract feel.

Sailing (35)

This is a picture I made up while I was messing around with a canvas and lime wash. The background looked so sea-like that I just had to add some boats. They were done in acrylic.

The boats look to me like they’re having fun, skidding freely across the waves. They’re probably technically inaccurate but, hey, this is not a realistic painting!

Ladybower Reservoir (40)

This picture of Ladybower Reservoir in Derbyshire is another taken from my Mum’s trusty book of Peak District photographs. It was taken at a time when the fields and trees surrounding it were ablaze with rich colour and the water looked deep blue.

Ladybower Reservoir was completed shortly after the end of World War II to supply drinking water to the north of England and the Midlands. The idyllic landscape surrounding the reservoir belies its history. To build the reservoir ancient villages had to be submerged, including the seventeenth century Derwent Hall, farms and the parish church. For a while, the spire of the church was visible when the water levels dropped, but eventually it was demolished.

Although I don’t intentionally set out to do abstract paintings, at times my art turns out less than realistic!

Riber Castle (15)

This painting is from a photo I took of Riber Castle. The impressive looking ruin stands on top of a hill near Matlock in Derbyshire.

The building was never a real castle - it was built in the 19th century by local industrialist John Smedley as his country house. After the death of Smedley and his wife it was used as a boys’ school, during WWII it was a storage facility, and in the 1960s it became a wildlife park. I remember going to Riber Zoo as a kid. The zoo eventually closed in 2000 and has been empty since. There are plans afoot to turn it into apartments.

The view of Riber from the Matlock road is very impressive - the black ruins dominate the skyline and the fields are spread out below it like a green patchwork quilt.

The Crooked Spire, Chesterfield (14)

This painting is from a photo I took of the fourteenth century St Mary’s and All Saints church in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The church is commonly known as the Crooked Spire because the spire is twisted (45 degrees) and leaning (2.90m) from its true centre.

The twist is considered an original design of the spire, but the lean is believed to be due to the absence of skilled craftsmen because of the Black Death, insufficient cross-bracing, and the use of unseasoned timber.

Of course, people have come up with alternative explanations for how the spire came to be crooked. One story tells how when a virgin got married in the church the spire was so shocked that it bent down to get a closer look. Legend has it that should this ever happen again the spire will straighten up! Another story is that a Bolsover blacksmith mis-shod the Devil who leaped over the spire in pain, knocking it out of shape.

For any trivia lovers, there are 72 twisted spires in Europe (though only one in the UK), and the Crooked Spire has the greatest lean and twist of them all.

I have taken many photos of this church over the years because it is such a photogenic subject and stands out for miles around. I found the spire’s twist and lean difficult to paint, though it wasn’t very pronounced from the angle I took the photo. If you ever visit this church my cards of this painting are for sale in the church shop.

Kilchurn Castle, Scotland (13)

This painting is of a scene taken from a biscuit tin at my Mum’s house of Kilchurn Castle. This now ruined castle, which was built in 1440, lies beside Loch Awe in Argyll and Bute in Scotland.

I loved the colours of the Scottish hills in the background and how the castle is reflected in the loch. Although this is one of my earlier paintings, and my style was rather unsophisticated at this stage, I think I managed to capture the essence of the place.

Hardwick Hall (46)

This painting is from a photo I took of Hardwick Hall, at the end of a summer’s day when the shadows were just starting to creep across the lawn.

Hardwick Hall is an imposing Elizabethan house in Derbyshire. It was built in the 1590s by Bess of Hardwick, who, at the time, was the richest woman in England after Queen Elizabeth I. It has not been altered since – much of the furniture is original and magnificent tapestries still line the walls of the house. There are a great many windows in the house, which is unusual for the time and a sign of conspicuous wealth. As children we were taught a little rhyme about it: ‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall!’

Hardwick Hall will always have a special place in my heart because it is very close to the village where I grew up. Hardwick Park was our playground - we often had picnics there as kids, I used to ride my horse, Fudge, through it, and my brother played cricket on the cricket ground behind the hall. In those days, the road through Hardwick Park was open to through traffic. That was before trucks started to use it as a short cut, which resulted in it being closed and traffic being diverted a long way round.

I painted this picture last year, while I was living back in the UK. My 12 year old niece, Bethany, and I spent a day together and decided to each do a painting from my photo of Hardwick Hall. Hers was in acrylics and mine in pastels. I thought hers was much better than mine – kids are often amazingly creative.

Seagull (9)

This seagull was painted from a photograph I took while walking on the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path in 2006. My friend, Ally, and I had just sat down to have a rest when it came and stood very near us and started screeching. We weren’t sure whether it was defending its young or scrounging for food!

This is one of my early paintings and at the time I didn’t have many pastels. I also hadn’t learnt the art of blending colours to make new ones, so the palette is more basic than in my later paintings.

Sheep at Badgingarra (29)

This painting is of a scene from a photo in a tourist brochure depicting sheep dogs herding sheep along a red dirt track - a common sight in country Western Australia. Badgingarra is a small wheatbelt town, mid-way between Perth and Geraldton, 200km north of Perth.

I found the light in this scene very interesting and it was challenging to capture the brightness of the light playing on the trees and the track in the background and the huge shadows in the foreground cast by the dogs and trees.

It was also a good exercise in seeing the components of the photo as shapes and tones rather than particular objects. For example, the sheep look like they’re one mass, and the dogs are just blobs of black and white (strategically placed of course!)

Pelican (18)

The Australian pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) is the largest flying bird in Australia with a wing span of up to 2.5 metres. It also has the longest bill of any bird in the world (up to 50cm long). The capacity of their pouched bill is 7 litres.

Pelicans are a fairly common sight in Fremantle and I decided to paint one after I’d seen some on a morning walk along the beach. I sourced the photo from the internet.

Taking the plunge (38)

I like seagulls – but they’re another creature that gets a hard rap. They may be scavengers but they have a lot of courage, and are very handsome and photogenic birds.

I remember reading Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach many years ago (I’ve just discovered it was published in 1970 – can you believe that?!) The tale of a seagull learning about life and flight and wanting to be better than the average gull inspired me.

I took this photo of seagulls stood at the edge of the sea at Myalup, south of Perth. It was dusk and they looked to me like they were lining up to take an evening dip, each waiting for someone else to take the plunge first!

Geese at Bridgetown (19)

I took the photo of these geese under the trees by the bridge at Bridgetown, (a town about three hours drive south of Perth). The light was dappled and I just caught them as they waddled into the light.

This was the first painting I did at my art classes with Brian Simmonds and he helped me to capture the essence of the geese with minimum brush strokes. He encourages his students to view the scene not as a complete picture, but as a series of shapes and tones.

I sold this painting from Talking Cat Gallery in Fremantle during Artopia in 2007 and gave the profits to the Fred Hollows Foundation.

Nosey sheep (30)

I don’t usually specifically paint animals and birds, but nevertheless our furry and feathered friends feature in about half a dozen of my paintings. This picture of a nosey sheep was painted from a photo my Mum took and sent to me. She has also painted a version of this photo.

You can tell this is a Derbyshire scene because of the dry stone wall - a very common feature in that part of the UK. Some of the walls are ancient and still standing up to the elements remarkably well. Dry stone walls do not use cement in their construction and provide a valuable habitat for plants, animals and insects in exposed areas … as this picture shows.

I like sheep. I think they’re cute and cuddly, but I feel they get a hard rap, particularly in Australia. Living in Fremantle, I regularly get to smell the stench of thousands of frightened sheep crammed onto ships to be sent to the Middle East to be killed by halal standards. There is no reason for this cruelty - why can’t they be so slaughtered here and the carcasses shipped overseas in refrigerated ships?

South Western Australia (53)

This is a photo I came across on the internet and felt drawn to paint it. I’m not sure exactly where it is, but you see this type of scenery around the Pinjarra area south of Perth.

I love the colour of the crops and the soft shape of the tree against the Darling Ranges. This scene captures the essence of rural Western Australia – I can almost feel the heat! This is another painting that evolved almost effortlessly.

This painting will be exhibited at Fidels, Essex Street, Fremantle from 26th January to 25th February 2010.

Old Maritime Museum, Fremantle (32)

The Old Maritime Museum in Fremantle is now called the Shipwreck Galleries. I found this picture in a tourist brochure and later also discovered it on the internet. I like the interesting angle of the shot and how the anchor dominates the picture and leads the eye to the old limestone buildings. The prominent position of the anchor also ties in with the nature of the museum.

This is another A3 sized painting so, as my scanner only handles A4 sized paper, some of the scene has been cut off.

This painting will be exhibited at Fidels, Essex Street, Fremantle from 26th January to 25th February 2010.

Solitude (51)

My niece, Sophie, and I have a lot in common – a love for hiking being one of them. She wasn’t even deterred by a 20 mile hike I took her on with my cousin and friends in February 2007 when she was only 12 years old. It was the worst weather I have ever hiked in – light drizzle soon turned into torrential rain – and about a third of the way into the walk, poor Sophie, who didn’t have very good waterproofs, was ready to give up.

‘Aunty Libby, I can’t carry on,’ the little soul cried plaintively.

I (the wicked aunty) told her ‘You’ve got two choices, Sophie. You can either hike on, or stay here and die.’ This retort has since passed into the family annals!

However, Sophie made it to the pub (the halfway mark) and was fortified by a roast dinner and semi-dried clothes. The weather was even worse when we emerged from the pub, but we retaliated against it – splashing in the stream that the footpath had become, shrieking at the sky and daring the rain to come harder. It was one of those days that, although unpleasant at the time, remain in your memory for a long time afterwards. Like anything worth achieving it was a challenge.

On my last trip to the UK, Sophie and I did some weekend hikes and stayed at a youth hostel overnight. One of these trips was to Eyam in Derbyshire. This picturesque little village is infamously known as the Plague Village, because the bubonic plague arrived here in 1665, in a parcel of flea-infested cloth sent from London.

This scene is painted from a photo I took on our walk near Eyam. It was a glorious day and we came across these two trees standing all alone in a sea of heather and grasses.

This painting will be exhibited at Fidels, Essex Street, Fremantle from 26th January to 25th February 2010.

The road less travelled (52)

I’m a big fan of colour analysis, where you find out which colours suit you based on your skin tone. I have an autumn complexion so look best in clothes that have rich earthy tones, such as the colours of autumn leaves … which is great because I love those colours and am naturally drawn to them.

Hence, I couldn’t resist this scene when I saw it. I can’t even remember where I came across it, I think it was on a computer screensaver. The painting looks a bit different in real life because it is an A3 sized painting and my scanner only handles A4 sized paper so some of the scene has been cut off.

This painting will be exhibited at Fidels, Essex Street, Fremantle from 26th January to 25th February 2010.

Caregwastad Point, Pembrokeshire (43)

Wales will always have a special place in my heart for three reasons: one, I went to university in Cardiff and fell in love with the city; two, my maternal grandfather (who I never met) was Welsh; and three, the Welsh accent makes me go weak at the knees!

In 2006, an old uni friend, Ally, and I spent a week hiking on the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path. The walk turned into a bit of a reunion because we met up with three more uni friends en route. Before and after the walk we stayed with Tim, a friend I worked with during my industrial training year in Reading who has now ‘emigrated’ to Pembrokeshire. Tim walks along the coastal path every day with his dogs Jake and (Mad) Mick and was our support crew on the walk.

This scene is painted from a photo I took of the stone monument at Caregwastad Point, where we had lunch on the first day of the walk. It commemorates the failed last invasion of Britain, when a group of French conscripts scrambled ashore in 1797. A more difficult landing place would be hard to find.

This painting will be exhibited at Fidels, Essex Street, Fremantle from 26th January to 25th February 2010.

Rottnest poles (22)

A couple of years ago, Maree and I went to Rottnest Island for a day to take photos to inspire our art. Rottnest is a small island about 18 km off the coast of WA, fringed by turquoise bays. No cars are allowed on the island, so visitors cycle around or take the bus. Small marsupials called quokkas inhabit the island and it was these that gave the island its name - early Dutch explorers thought the quokkas were rats and called the island ‘Rat’s nest’.

This scene is from a photo I took of some old poles near the shore. I loved the patterns in the sea but, as this was my first oil painting, I found them difficult to reproduce. I managed to capture the effects eventually and learnt a lot in the process (thanks to Brian Simmonds, my art teacher).

This painting will be exhibited at Fidels, Essex Street, Fremantle from 26th January to 25th February 2010.

Mermaid’s Pool, Peak District (41)

I spent a year living in the UK recently and was there for Christmas 2008. While looking for a suitable photo to paint and use for my Christmas cards, I came across this scene of the darkly mysterious Mermaid’s Pool in Mum’s trusty book of Peak District photographs. The pool lies on the bleak moorlands around Kinder Scout in the Peak District.

My painting, although representational of the photo, looks almost abstract because of the dramatic colours and unusual textures of the subject. I love the way the light shining on the iced pool creates a mother of pearl-like effect, and how the thawing snow surrounding the pool leaves interesting patterns of light and dark.

I find this scene haunting, which is weird because I found out after I’d painted it that there is a legend attached to the pool. It is said to share a mystical link with the Atlantic Ocean and a mermaid appears in the pool once a year on Easter Eve at midnight. Anyone who sees her is either given the gift of immortality, or drawn into the depths of the pool to face their doom …

This painting will be exhibited at Fidels, Essex Street, Fremantle from 26th January to 25th February 2010.

Kaikoura, New Zealand (21)

Another New Zealand scene, this time of Kaikoura on the east coast of the south island. Kaikoura teems with wildlife and is a popular place to see whales, Dusky dolphins, sea birds and seals. Fur seals congregate at the tip of the peninsula and, finding myself with a few hours to spare between buses, l walked out to this spot. I got so engrossed in watching the seals that I forgot the time and had to hitch back to town to catch the bus.

The rugged coastline makes for spectacular scenery and I couldn’t resist this picture. The cloud was creeping up the Kaikoura mountain range so only the tops were visible, and the sky above the mountains was stormy. Despite the dull day, the colours of the sea and grass were really rich and vibrant.

This painting will be exhibited at Fidels, Essex Street, Fremantle from 26th January to 25th February 2010.

Into the wild (31)

Still on the hiking theme, this painting is from a photo I took while hiking the Kepler Track at the bottom of the south island of New Zealand. It was taken on the first day of the hike, heading up through the tree line to the ridge. I actually took the photo by mistake (so have no idea who the walker in the picture is) but it turned out to be one of my best photos!

There had been storms and torrential rain the previous night so the light was soft and had a pink hue to it, the ground was wet, and the plants were lush and glistening. When I look at this painting, I feel the calmness I experience on long distance hikes. The steady plod of putting one foot in front of the other for hours and days on end puts me in an almost meditative state.

This painting will be exhibited at Fidels, Essex Street, Fremantle from 26th January to 25th February 2010.

The Twelve Apostles, Victoria (36)

Over Christmas 2008, I hiked the Great Ocean Road Walk in Victoria to raise money for the Fred Hollows Foundation. I persuaded two friends, Marisa and Mark, to join me and we set off on Christmas Eve. The walk takes 6 to 7 days and we had to carry all our gear with us (including tents) so our packs were pretty heavy. Mind you, we still managed to fit in a couple of bottles of wine and a few Christmas treats!

The walk takes in some amazing coastal scenery and we were lucky enough to share the first camp (where we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning) with koalas - an animal we don’t see in the wild in WA.

The walk ends at the spectacular Twelve Apostles, giant rock stacks in the Southern Ocean. We reached the end of the walk hot, tired, dirty and hanging out for a cold beer and plate of chips, only to discover that there is no food or drink here, despite the thousands of tourists that visit every day.

The scene in this painting is from a photo I took at the end of the walk. This was my first attempt at using acrylic paints and I found them tricky to use at first as they dry much quicker than oils. It’s interesting to see how the scene evolved as I painted it. I started with the cliff and sand on the right hand side, which are almost abstract, while the sea and the rocks on the left are more realistic.