Fishermens shelter and London workshop

Fishermens shelter
Oils 14" x 18"

I had the immense pleasure of spending a couple of days in the fishermens shelter in Portscatho last year, when I put on a little pop-up exhibition with The Harbour Gallery. I was really inspired by the large window overlooking the sea and the way the sunlight came into the room. I did paint this view while I was there but I always felt that I had another one in me. 

Now I've painted this larger version in the studio and I'm really happy with it. It's one of six paintings that I'm framing up at the moment to send for selection to the Mall Galleries for the annual Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition. 

This August I'm going to be running a day workshop at the Mall Galleries in London about 'Capturing the essence', talking about the ways I use simplification in my work. What is important to include and what can be left out?

Find out more and book yourself a place here :-)

Happy Christmas time

Snow at the Roseland Inn

I hope that you are all having a nice Christmas and New Year break. I'm loving the way that everything slows down and you can spend time relaxing with friends and family and not worry that you should be doing anything else. I love checking my emails and seeing hardly any new ones - except for all the January sale ones which I'm deleting straight away.

This painting of a Cornish pub in the snow - oh how I wish we had snow on the way - is now on show in the winter exhibition at the Harbour Gallery, Portscatho. 

You can have a look at all the paintings in this lovely exhibition here.

Blue sail

Blue sail
8" x 10"

Here's another new and exciting small work that features in my exhibition, one of my favourites. I love the dynamic shadows and the lines of the ropes that appear and disappear, like a dance of sunlight. It's got all the ingredients that keep me on my toes with painting - shape and suggestion, lost and found edges. 

If you'd like to enquire about any of these paintings before the exhibition opens next week please get in touch and I can happily reserve them for you.

Solo exhibition in Nottingham 'A lighter touch' opens on Friday 13th November until Sunday 22nd November, at 71 Friar Lane Nottingham NG1 6DH. I will be in the gallery each day and showing around 70 new paintings. We will have late night openings until 7.30pm on Friday 13th, Saturday 14th and Friday 20th. All other days opening hours are 10.00am to 5.00pm. Ten days only, don't miss it! 

Evening sailing

Evening sailing, St Mawes
14" x 18"

This is one of my favourite painting spots so you may well recognise this view. I was particularly keen to abstract and soften the buildings to focus attention on that dazzling light on the water. The action in the harbour is represented by a few strokes of light and dark and a couple of more intense spots of colour. 

I'm really busy getting ready for my new solo show in Nottingham, which opens in just a couple of weeks! There is so much 'last minute' preparation underway but it's all very exciting. I really hope you can make it!

Solo exhibition in Nottingham 'A lighter touch' opens on Friday 13th November until Sunday 22nd November, at 71 Friar Lane Nottingham NG1 6DH. I will be in the gallery each day and showing around 70 new paintings. We will have late night openings until 7.30pm on Friday 13th, Saturday 14th and Friday 20th. All other days opening hours are 10.00am to 5.00pm. Ten days only, don't miss it!

Redwings at Looe

Redwings at Looe
14" x 18"

One of my favourite paintings of the year so far. I feel that the vigorous sketchy nature of the brush marks reflect my excitement and passion for the subject. I lay in wait for hours for the racing to finish and the boats to come ashore and then I ran around with my camera like a woman possessed, in and out of the water. Moments like this are so special and so fleeting that I didn't think I would achieve very much if I attempted a plein air piece. Instead I decided to gather as much information with my camera as I could which I could then use for a series of studio paintings. This is the first and it all came together so easily, I was right back there on the beach with wet legs and a silly grin on my face :-)

This painting is currently on show in the Barn gallery at Patchings Art Centre. I have six paintings in a group exhibition with other artists who won the exhibition prize at The Artist magazine exhibition there last year. It's a smashing exhibition and it's on until the 22nd November so do make a trip to see it if you can. You could even make a day of it if visiting from the 13th November because my solo show 'A lighter touch' will be open in Nottingham city centre a couple of miles away.

Warm evening waves

Warm evening waves
6" x 12"

I was recently interviewed by my friends at New Wave Palettes in Pennsylvania. They make the best palettes, as anyone who's ever seen me demonstrate with my 'grand view confidant' will know!

You can read the full interview here :-)

Painting in regency dress with my New Wave palette

This painting is available to purchase now direct from my studio :-)

Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition

Evening light, Polperro harbour

For me when autumn comes around I know it's the time of year for lovely gallery visits to London to begin. 

Firstly it's the Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition which starts with the Friends evening on Monday and then the preview today. The exhibition opens at the Mall Galleries to the public tomorrow (Wednesday 14th October) and continues until the 25th October, on which day it closes at 1.00pm. I hope you can make it. If you love marine paintings you really should try to get there.

I'm extremely grateful to have had two works accepted again in this prestigious and inspirational annual show.

Nothing beats seeing the stunning work in this exhibition with your own eyes but you can get a taster by seeing works in the exhibition online here.

Morning light, Guernsey

Bay view

Room with a view, Portscatho

I couldn't resist painting the view from the window and the whole window and a part of the little fisherman's shelter! Fun to paint my paintings within a painting.
 It was such a wonderful place to spend a couple of days. Can you imagine having a studio with a sea view like this? What a dream :-)

Room with a view

Painting this morning in the fisherman's shelter 

Could this be the most idyllic setting for an exhibition ever? I think so. I'm feeling very lucky to be here with my little exhibition overlooking Portscatho harbour for two days. 

As you can see the sun was shining today and it could not have been more lovely!

You can see all the paintings in the exhibition for a limited time only on the Harbour Gallery website. Which is your favourite? 

Fisherman's shelter

Fisherman's shelter, Portscatho
8" x 10"

Just so that you can find me when you come by for a celebratory drink tomorrow evening (Tuesday 25th August) 6.30 - 8.00 pm, this is where I'll be - at the fisherman's shelter in Portscatho, Cornwall. Right by the harbour and the red telephone box, you can't miss it. 

I'll also be painting at this fab venue on Wednesday and Thursday from 11.00 am - 4.00 pm.

I have a poor mobile phone signal around here and no internet access in the daytime so if you need more information please contact Mark at the Harbour Gallery. We can't wait to see you in this idyllic place :-)

Pendower beach

Pendower beach
24 x 30 cms

From beautiful France to beautiful Cornish seascapes. I love the curve of this creek across the sand at Pendower beach, near Portscatho. A quiet sandy cove, a lucky find, a picnic awaits :-)

Are you on holiday in Cornwall this week? If so please come and see me at the Fisherman's shelter by the harbour in Portscatho. I'll be there showing paintings on Tuesday evening, and all day Wednesday and Thursday. I'd love to see you :-)

The blue carrot shed

The blue carrot shed

The third day of filming in Cornwall was a beauty, and we found ourselves in this south facing cutting garden. It was very hot but I was so happy to be there surrounded by such fantastic subject material. In part my choice of viewpoint was influenced as to where we could find space for three people to stand with three camera tripods. But had that not been the case, it would have been very hard to resist this little blue shed with the pink roses in front!

Again I was working with a little pochade box and an 8" x 10" board. I used to really struggle to paint small sizes outdoors and found that I had a tendency to tighten up and get a bit fiddly. I decided long ago that 8" x 10" was as small as I was happy to go.

I think I've overcome that now as I was very comfortable with the 8" x 10" format. The trick is to keep using a good sized brush and not feel you have to go tiny. Plus I had to make extra choices regarding selection and simplification. There are areas I would have worked more information into had I been using a larger canvas.

Detail

Huge thanks to Susanne of The Blue Carrot for allowing me to visit and paint in her beautiful space. If you are on Instagram look up @the_blue_carrot for beautiful images of flowers and weddings!

And while you're on Instagram, did you know I'm there too? I put more on Instagram than I do on Facebook or twitter, I find it's the perfect place for sharing a quick snap of something exciting or beautiful - without the need to add text! I'm there as @haideejosummers 

Old milking parlour and snapdragons

Old milking parlour and snapdragons
Oils 8" x 10"

I had one of those 'coup de cœur' moments when I came across this scene in Cornwall. I first saw it on a cloudy day when I was struck by the great shapes of the doorways and the mysterious dark within.

When I returned to paint here the sun was shining, which heightened the contrast between the outside and the inside of the barn, and the exterior stone wall that you can see through the doorway on the right.

Getting the darks in first

There was an interesting shadow from a fence to the right casting diagonal shadows across the front of the barn, and they could even be seen over the foliage of the various weeds and snapdragons that have self seeded right in front of the barn. 

Detail

A favourite spot!

Outgoing tide and ferry, St Mawes
Oils 11" x 14"

Here's another from my Cornwall DVD, one of my favourite places to paint - St Mawes. I love it here when the sunlight is dancing on the water but even on a cloudy day it's a terrific place to find a subject. Pendennis castle in Falmouth can be seen on the distant headland here.

Detail of harbour area

I absolutely loved the sight of the ropes contrasted against the harbour wall. For a detail like this in a alla prima painting I have to use an extremely light touch and a swift movement. It can't be done falteringly. I always hold my breath while I do it!

Detail of sky and sea

St-Just-in-Roseland

The creek at St-Just-in-Roseland
Oils 16" x 26"

I had a great five days in Cornwall last week plein air painting while filming for my DVD with APV films. The weather was variable but we didn't get rained off and one of the days was an absolute scorcher. I found some cracking subjects and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We are going to have a day filming in my studio this winter and then the final editing will take place.

I'm gathering together a list of people who'd like to be the first to know when the DVD is available, and those people will be able to order a signed copy direct from my studio. One lucky person on the list will be sent a free copy of the DVD!

If you'd like to be added simply send me a message or reply to this email and I'll pop you on there :-)

Majestic tall ships

Tall ships at Falmouth

I'm in Cornwall this week, not far from Falmouth, which reminds me of my 'tall ships' series painted in Falmouth last August. This was definitely one of my favourites from the trip, and surprisingly I still have it. I just think it has a terrific mood and an urgency of execution and - oh how I love this word - economy. So I've just entered it in the Royal Society of Marine Artists 2015 exhibition, along with other current favourites. Keeping fingers crossed!

Rocks and waves

Rocks and waves at Mousehole
Framed size about 21" x 25"

Back in the southwest of Cornwall again with this one - and you can see the pretty village of Mousehole nestling in the background. Maisie loves to run around on these rocks and bark at the waves! For now I'm enjoying having it up on the wall in the studio, but if you'd like to purchase this painting you can contact me and we can discuss framing/delivery etc.

Shadows at Bedruthan

Shadows at Bedruthan
Oils, framed size 16" x 19"

Here's another new studio painting of a different view at the Bedruthan steps. Oh my, I'd love to live with this painting. It takes me right back to the hypnotic motion of the waves swirling around over the rocks below, the feel of the sun on your face and the salty breeze. That turquoise water, those scudding soft clouds, and that brightly lit grass on the cliff top... just lush.

Alas, I won't be keeping the painting because it will have a nice home waiting for it somewhere. I am having it made into greetings cards though, so far this is one of four brand new card designs that I will be showing at the Patchings festival in June. There will be many more new ones, original paintings and 2016 calendars too!

But if this gorgeous painting belongs with you, feel free to contact Mark here. I don't think it will be on the gallery wall for long.

Beach at Bedruthan

Beach at Bedruthan
Oils, framed size 19" x 23"

The stunning rugged National Trust coastline on the north Cornwall coast at the famous Bedruthan steps. Really wished I lived closer and could get here at different hours of the day, and to be able to make the most of good weather days such as this one!

This painting is also heading to the Scarlet Hotel which is within two miles of the steps. The price, framed, is £850 and again if you'd like a closer look you can contact Mark at the Harbour Gallery because he's a lovely and helpful chap!

Breaking wave

Breaking wave catches the light
Oils, unframed size 16" x 20"
Framed size 23" x 27"

Here's a change from all those lovely wintry paintings I've been doing lately - I've also been busy painting lovely seascapes so I'll show you a few of those this week. I really love this one, that marvellous green glow as the sun illuminates the breaking wave. This is a studio painting but I have stood on these rocks at Mousehole and painted the waves coming over the rocks from life, so I hope I have captured some of that feeling of urgency and movement here. As always, distilling the information received down to it's essential components, is what counts.

This one is being framed up for the Scarlet Hotel in Cornwall, and will be for sale there at £1100. If you'd like to rush in and grab it before it even makes it to the gallery wall or the Harbour Gallery's website please contact Mark here :-)