I’m very pleased to have a mention in The Gazette this week with regard to the North Devon Art Trek 2019. Please check out their site and see what North Devon has to offer. I was so pleased with last year’s open studio weeks that I shall be doing the same this year. Al
Linhay on the marsh, painted on 250lb Bockingford paper, 700 x 440mm. For my black and white paintings I use my own prepared Bideford Black paint from a local pigment seam and have painted on of my favourite scenes from the Braunton Marsh. Sadly the marsh is under ecological danger from encroaching salt water due to a breached tidal bank. Hopefully this will be repaired before irreparable damage occurs. Al
Above are the earlier stages with the use of masking fluid to keep areas clear of the layers of paint prior to finishing. The photograph of me working is by Adrian Beasley, check out his landscape photography online. Below is an earlier painting of this Linhay.
Hercules C130J over Saunton Sands.
On a walk around the North Devon Coast we spotted some fire trucks from Chivenor Air Base on the beach at Saunton. We knew that they practice landings and take offs from the beach and on enquiry our suspicions were realised. A Hercules C130J from Brize Norton practiced landings and in total made three landings and two aborts. A great day as the beach was very quiet. From some of my photographs I’ve made composite photoshopped images and I will be using them for some future large canvas paintings & prints. Al
Bradiford Water near Pilton, Barnstaple, North Devon. 400 x 400mm mixed media in a recycled frame. The first picture of 2019 have a great new year! Al
This picture was captured on my iPhone on a trip to Exeter to sadly partake in my wife’s Christmas shopping. This scene was discovered in a car park where the usual attendants had been removed, probably made redundant, and an automated process installed. Just a solitary chair with an eerie almost ethereal glow about it. A missed humanity from bygone days. Al
From a plein air acrylic sketch made during the summer, seen below, I’ve added some additional digital layers to plan the progress of this painting. Heddon’s Mouth is a wonderful pebble beach on the coast of North Devon. The National Trust have the wonderful Hunter’s Inn here which is both pub, hotel & restaurant. The circular walk from this place down to Heddon’s Mouth and back is one of my favourite walks. More progress pictures to follow as this composition unfolds. Al
http://www.thehuntersinnexmoor.co.uk/exmoor-restaurant/
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/heddon-valley/trails/gentle-walk-to-heddons-mouth
Over the pebble ridge. An acrylic painting of the walkway over the ridge at Westward Ho beach in North Devon. 610 x 610mm.
Every year groups of locals used to throw the pebbles back onto the ridge to maintain the water defences. This was known as Potwalloping. The term ‘potwallopers’ has been in existence since 1725 and is an alteration of the word ‘Potwaller’ (1701) which meant a man who qualified for a parliamentary vote as a householder in some boroughs in England prior to 1832. The test being his having a separate fire-place on which food was cooked for himself and his family.
In the ancient manor of Northam (which includes what was to become Westward ho!) a potwalloper had the right to graze their animals on the Burrows, but in return they had to help retain the pebble ridge by annually assisting in throwing back the pebbles that had been thrown onto the Burrows by the winter storms and high tides.
This annual ceremony disappeared after a time but is now still undertaken from time to time. From westwardhohistory.co.uk
Wonderful to have been selected to exhibit at The Burton Gallery in Bideford, North Devon. I have two paintings on show and for sale. One entitled A backroad of Bishop’s Tawton and the other Linhay on the marsh. If you get the chance please visit this show as there are some wonderful pieces of work to see. The exhibition runs from the 17th November to the 23rd December 2018. Al
This painting is inspired by a visit to Glastonbury Tor. We were present when we witnessed a heartfelt funeral for Sunbird, a tribal activist who ran the Earth Heart Cafe at many festivals. He had been killed in a car accident near Switzerland. The congregation did a Dragon Roar and when they did so a raven hovered over the Tor! This painting is dedicated to Sunbird and also to anyone who applied for Glastonbury tickets and failed. Al
I was going to bin this canvas and decided to wipe it off to try and recover the canvas. But at I wiped it created a rather appealing effect (top right). This I decided to continue with and partially retrieved the composition.
A few of my five minute sketches made in my Operating Theatre Sketchbook. Speed drawn with a black biro pen.
