Dahlias at the allotments

Dahlias and green shed
Oils 10" x 20"

The last day in October was unseasonably warm, like a mini heatwave. I went out to paint hoping to find either a pumpkin patch or some dahlias, aware that autumn was passing me by and I hadn't been outside to paint for a couple of weeks. 

I didn't find pumpkins but I was rather pleased to see this colourful display of dahlias. The arrangement of the flower bed and the long shed behind did seem to suit a longer format and luckily I had this 10" x 20" board with me, not a size I usually carry around.

I've attached a few photos of the work in progress below -

Ken's fruit and veg

Kens veg, Ludham
11" x 14"

I was on my way to a different painting spot with my friend Mo  when I saw this beautiful sight and came to a screeching halt. Coup de coeur! This kind of subject is just my cup of tea. So many interesting shapes to get stuck into, some terrific shadows, an interesting colour palette and even lettering - tralala! Not to mention the warm feel good factor of homegrown fruit and veg for sale in a humble shed in a village, everything rustic and home made and just right.

I didn't even go into the shed as I was so busy painting but I did sample some very nice produce as I worked with the sun on the back of my neck. Yes it was a great experience for me.

Ken came back in his van and seemed delighted that I was painting his fruit and veg shop. He wandered across the road a few times to check on progress, and I had chats with walkers who were passing by.

Started with marking out the major shapes

Quickly moved onto colour and value, trying to 'nail it' in the first hit

Fun with all the little signs!

Work in situ, beautiful day and great fun!

Apparently Ken would have liked to buy the painting when he saw it in the evening exhibition, but the price was rather out of his league. I asked my lovely friend Kate if she might be able to produce a print of a photo of the painting for him and look what she did - a lovely print and framed as well. He looks over the moon with it! Well done Kate x

Happy Ken with his colour print :-)

Leaning sheds and allotment hens

Leaning sheds and allotment hens
Oils 8" x 12"

Do you see what the hens were doing when I painted this one? They were queuing up to take turns in that lovely dust bath, so funny.

I really loved the strong lean on these characterful sheds and yes, I may have over emphasised the extent to which they leant ever so slightly ;-)

Boat sheds at Brancaster

Boat sheds at Brancaster
16" x 20"

I think the addition of a couple of figures in the background not only lends a sense of scale to the proceedings but also a sort of 'story' which I seem to consider more when studio painting, rightly or wrongly.

With additional work on the trees and grasses I was pleased to decide the painting was finished. (Rather feels like a boat launch but without the bottle of champagne being broken against it!)

Although I've spent lots of time and thought and paint layers on this one I'm hopeful that it still looks fresh and not laboured, and glad I've managed a decent variety of marks too with some areas of the paint being left thin and bare and others more impasto.  The photo above is just an iPad shot as it's a little too dark for trying a decent photo but it gives you the idea, and here are a few 'closer-ups'.

More work on boat sheds

Work in progress

I continued with various thin coloured glazes such as greens on the grasses and trees and blues on the boat and sheds. Each time the painting would be left alone for a few days afterwards to let the glaze dry. Again this is a luxury of studio painting. The whole course of a painting is making a series of changes, and if you have time on your side then one of the options open to you is using a glaze to subtly alter the colour tint of an area. 

I then mixed up thicker, more opaque paint for the bright light greens of the sunlit areas of grass.

I also mixed up an opaque lavender grey for the shed doors. Later I decided this was too light in value and so (when really dry) a glaze was applied to darken it down at which point it 'sat' better in it's surroundings.

The painting was left like this for all of January as I was fully occupied with my Nottingham exhibition. So near and yet still so far!

A return visit to Brancaster Staithe last week gave me the chance to look again at the subject and gain some fresh ideas, and also the impetus needed to press ahead and get it completed.

The plein air study perches on top of the easel

The first change I made was to alter the whole sky area to a sort of light valued warm grey, but I left areas of peachiness breaking through. 

I had also seen the light coming down through the gap in between the sheds this time and thought that would definitely be beneficial to add. Also the roof on the left had sustained further damage and I happily let more sky show through with the new gaps. I had a firmer idea about the shape of the trees in the background too.

Tomorrow I'll show you the end result of all these layers and adjustments...

Whelk sheds, Brancaster Staithe

Whelk sheds, Brancaster Staithe

Yesterday was just what I needed after a couple of frustrating days in the studio. I drove over to Brancaster Staithe and met with my hardy fellow painters who hail from Lincolnshire, Rutland and East Anglia. We have formed a group and try to meet to paint here once a month, and there can be anything up to about 20 artists present which is not bad considering it's been all the 'worst' months so far throughout winter. If you are in this area and are thinking you would like to come along just drop me a line. You can either reply to this email (if you receive my blog posts by email) or head to my website and contact me from there www.haideejo.com

Anyway, as I was saying I was starting to go a bit crazy after two days working in the studio on my own and things not going that well... you know?! 

So getting outside to paint in the bracing fresh air and then enjoying a rollicking good lunch at the Jolly Sailors with my jolly painter friends was just the tonic! (and would you believe it today the studio work went well - yay!)

Near the start of painting

So it was a mostly overcast day with occasional sunshine and high tide when we arrived. I love the mud and rivulets of water there when it's low tide, such as in this painting which was sold in my exhibition last month -

Wet mud and reflections at Brancaster Staithe
SOLD

But yesterday was high tide and the water surface was rippling due to the wind so although I love the boats I didn't find the reflections particularly inspiring. I love the view I did find of the sheds, as there was great structure and shape and colour and the subject wasn't overly reliant on the light.

I was very grateful to the fisherman for letting me stand outside his shed. He was telling me how flooded they were in the storms in December, and about all the debris washed up outside including a caravan!

Mind you, I think he was getting fed up of me in the end when he started to hose his car down right behind me and I had to pack away in the middle of the swirling water!

I've STILL got my exhibition online on my website with prices, but only for a couple more days so if you haven't had a chance to look yet please go there now before it's too late! www.haideejo.com

Backlighting at Brancaster Staithe

Boat sheds at Brancaster Staithe
SOLD

Here's a better look at the two paintings from my day in Norfolk last week. I could have done with a little bit more time on the oil sketch above, but I spent long enough absorbed in it and have a pretty good memory of the scene. This is my new 'red sail', meaning that this subject got me hugely excited and gave me goose bumps just like the moment in Paimpol harbour in August when the red sail went up on the boat.

These days I take that as a sure sign that I can develop the motif further with a studio painting.

It's amazing how our art practice evolves and develops. A year ago I would have told you I had no interest in studio painting whatsoever. That in my eyes all of the excitement and vitality was to be found outdoors. Now I realise what I was missing then. I can get that excitement in the studio but here's the secret - I have to have been immersed in the subject first. I have to have been there, experienced the sights and sounds, and painted there on location. I have to absorb, study, capture the subject from life first.

As I've always said to my students I'm not big on imagination. Working directly from the subject feeds my ideas.

The bonus of my new method of working is that I have the plein air study with me to work from in the studio as an aide-memoire.

This is definitely my new 'red sail' so watch this space, as they say.

My afternoon painting from the day was this quiet one, painted on watercolour paper with a limited palette of gouache colours - burnt sienna, ultramarine, cerulean blue, yellow ochre and white.

Reflections at Brancaster Staithe
Gouache