Daily Musings

April 30th.

I rode Daisy and the Snail to the Royal Naval Cemetery out towards Dockyard. The Island is so paintable right now that I could have stopped a dozen times en route to tackle another subject, but I fancied the cemetary, some ten years since I had last painted there. Although it’s complex with all the various grave stones and what not, the lie of the land lends its self to a clear and attractive design. This meant that my block in and my route map then was fluid. Things get trickier after this with so much going on and I did over fuss with detail towards the end, but by and large it was a good session in a beautiful spot in nigh on perfect conditions.

April 29th.

My muse, Daniel’s Head, viewed through the coconut palms that fringe the bank and the beach below. Strong low light pulsing through the solid classic shapes of the palms. Standing observing and painting, I noted the nuances of colour both within the low key silhouettes of the trees and also in the high key areas of the water and the sky. The trick is to work in those interesting varieties of warms and cools without them jumping out of their respective elements. Today went well.

Stream of consciousness.  Painting, or the shortest route to insanity.
Tidal rocks.
Maze, interlocking, ancient, timeless, solid, inert, dead.
Weed, alive, green, bright. Water, moving, changing, fluid. transparent, counter point.
Light. Changing, dancing, confusing.
Sand, the glue.
Design. Sliding into the sea, angles, edges.
Too many rocks, keep it loose.
Too sloppy, commit, bring out elements, push contrasts.
Losing harmony, reestablish suggestion, take out detail, soften edges. So many rocks!
Heron, watching, company, nice!
Sun up, scene changing radically. Stay with the plan.
Good visual things happening though. Include some?
Brush strokes. Keep variety, no fiddle. Lay it down.
Nice stuff gone, don’t despair, keep faith, stay true.
Perfection not an option, embrace the imperfect journey.
Stop.

April 27th.

Although I think I have produced some of my strongest work to date in the recent dailies, I felt that I was tightening up and in danger of losing some of that lovely loose suggestive quality that can be captured in a good plein air painting. I spent this afternoon looking at the work of Julian Merrow Smith’s “Postcards from Provence”. The outdoor scenes are very loose and some are just gorgeous. Well, for all my study this afternoon, it didn’t help any! I marched out to the garden full of ambition, set up and went to task on one of the Norfolk Pines. I like their abstracted shapes against the sky, their towering qualities that give the garden an extra dimension and the fact that they are roosts for crows that are intriguing creatures.  The work started out loosely, but I kept turning the ratchet and tightening up the detail, gong against all I had set out to do. Oh well, there is always tomorrow 🙂

April 26th.

A similar view to several of the previous dailies, but I headed further along the beach this morning than previously. That’s the beauty of plein air painting, nature offers you something different each visit. The morning shadows were longer when I began and, after the initial block-in, I selected a mid-way point for them to reach, somewhere tangled amidst the winter weed. Some really good things happened while I worked this morning. Not all of them remained by the end but it was one of those times when the creative spirit is flying and new ground is being broken. I probably used too many brush strokes ultimately, perhaps said a little too much, but I’ll take it.

April 25th.

The morning shadows on the beach making a complex pattern around the chairs, that themselves seemed to have more arms and legs than a bag of octopi. The relaxing scene required some studious focus to keep all the elements from drifting into cubism. I struggled for a while to find the right value of the water. It was reading so bright, and partly due I think to the turquoise loungers taking top billing in the chroma stakes. In the end it sat about right and it all clicked.

April 24th.

Drama off shore and the bay a flat windless light blue/green. I chased around the sky after the clouds trying to get a sense of that drama, amazed by how high I had to key the light areas of the clouds. While there was always the threat of the rain drifting in, I got lucky and was so captivated by the conditions that I stayed on to work up a long panoramic piece. This was changed back and forth too. At one point I added some specks of long tails as they darted around against the bruised sky, but they were distracting and I pulled them out.

April 23rd.

I set up at the far end of the beach looking back towards the umbrellas and the hotel cottages on the hill. It was a great shady spot to work on a glorious day. I had bottled out of taking on this view before on the grounds that there are so many elements to consider, but things have been going well lately so I thought Why not!  Ollie, my Jack Russell, settled at my feet in the sand to keep me company.  The sounds of happy vacationers splashing in the water receded into my subconsciousness as I went to that other worldly painting place in the brain where everything is spacial, tonal, interlocking shapes and you build what is there in front of you in something of a trance.

April 22nd.

I rode up through Cambridge Beaches towards Kings Point, home of the Tucker family and the famous diver and treasure hunter, the late Teddy Tucker. It was a new vantage point of Mangrove Bay that I had not worked from before. I zoomed in on the H2O water sports shop with some of the boats in the foreground and a complex interlocking maze of trees and houses stretching off into the distance. It needed simplifying and it was tricky to keep everything in harmony without getting lost. There was a lot of information in the little painting and I have started a larger (12 x 12) studio piece from it, just using the painting and no photographic reference, shown below, There is a degree of artistic license.

April 21st.

Tucked in against the bank and painting over the heads of the holidaymakers lounging in the glorious Easter weather, I painted towards the point, pushing the land up towards the top of the picture and flooding the meat of the painting with the shallows. A large shoal of fry (little sardines) have currently taken up residence in the shallows and they make for interesting swirls of darker patches as they move as one Lava-lamp like mass through the clear water in the foreground.

April 20th.

I’d seen longtails, a small tropical sea bird and the national emblem of Bermuda, flittingaround the rocky outcrop at the beach this morning and I thought they tied in nicely with the Easter kites yesterday. However, when I returned to the beach to paint, I got sidetracked by the surreal and abstract vision of the bathers sitting on lounge chairs in the shallows of the extreme low tide. To be honest, I don’t even know if there were any longtails around in the afternoon, I was so focused on the figures. One by one my subjects left the scene or radically changed position, but I got enough information down right off the bat, opting to work up the background in my own time and adding figurative details from memory.  Of course, the setting changes with time too. As the sun dropped and the tide flowed in, the colours changed. Paint fast!  The first painting has a healthy portion of tree debris showing in the photograph. It will safely brush off once the painting is dry.

April 19th.

I went out on the bicycle in search of a sky full of kites. Kite flying is a long-standing Bermudian tradition on Good Friday. There was a buzzing community event set up on the Naval Field down the road. Perfect! Tents, crowds kites, colour. I stopped to set up in the bus stop opposite, which would give me a good view and some shade from the hot sun. An anxiety episode got the better of me though, and I pedalled on, disappointed and frustrated. I rode a loop up nearby Scotts Hill and had a talk with myself, returned and set up at my chosen spot. Once underway, the act of painting, like pedalling, calmed my nerves. I chatted with some off duty Gombey dancers and several curious passers-by as I worked on capturing the feel of the day.  Rather than filling the canvas with purely sky, I added the festival scene below and the strings of the kites, connecting everything together. It was very like painting the regatta scenes I have done in the past, of yachts and flags and lines.

April 18th.

I wanted to continue with the oleander, but with a less busy setting. I had noted this bush over the last few days, just outside the gate that leads down to the beach, where I was able to juxtapose the plant against the blues of the sea. I still had to decide on design elements such as where to place the horizon, what shaped canvas to use, (I seem to be using the 6 “x 6“ pretty much all the time at the moment). I thought about adding the rolled umbrella for a while but decided against it, as it would be distracting. The key to making the blossoms pop is to get some darker, strong hues in there with reds to contrast against the pinks. This helps modelling and stops the painting looking flat. I’m dialling back the use of white all the time too (my white is actually a tint called warm white). This helps to strengthen the colour of the paintings and stops them tending towards chalky.

April 17th.

The oleander is at its most profuse right now, although after the next big rain, there will be carpets of the fallen pink flowers all along the edges of the roads, which is pretty brilliant too. I painted at ninety degrees to my subject to keep the easel in some shade. It always causes consternation when passers-by look at the painting, stare at the way I am pointing and they can’t fathom what it is I have been painting!  The session went well and I was so charged by it that I returned home and used the information gathered in the panel to continue with a larger, previously started studio work. It was a great session that drifted into the evening. The plein air stuff is allowing me to unlock the techniques, vision and ability to take the studio paintings to the next level. No doubt today will be Karma reinstating the balance with some humility.

April 16th.

A little further afield this morning, to Church Bay in Southampton. I stopped en route to Hamilton at this beautiful spot. I was struggling a little with anxiety today which has the effect of throwing a weight over my motivations. It really helped manage my mood as I lost myself in the myriad of intricate moving parts; attempting to recreate the harmony before me on to the small panel.

April 15th.

April 15th.  I took Daisy and The Snail (bike and trailer) around Mangrove Bay to a new favourite spot with a good view of King’s Point. It was before noon, which meant that I would have full sunlight on my easel, which is not ideal,but I can’t be faffed with the extra paraphernalia of shade umbrellas and stands etc. I sucked it up and got down to business. I was undecided on whether or not to incorporate the foreground reef until quite late in the process. I’m glad that I did.

The daily painting process and a generally busy life at present has meant that any additional works outside the project have been few and far between. However, today I stayed on and tackled a larger work after the “loosening up” exercise of the Daily. I popped it on the easel when I got back (pretty wrecked, to be frank) and started to make studio “improvements” However I soon stopped doing any further work, choosing instead to live with the little location transgressions and imperfections. I increasingly opt for the warts and all feel of an unadulterated location piece, likely because I’m tuned into my daily project but also perhaps the shortcomings made are fewer as my skill levels improve. Either that or maybe I can’t see them. 🙂

April 14th.

A Sunday night raft up off the beach (well, two boats makes a raft up, doesn’t it?). I painted quickly, more so than usual, full in the knowledge that the happy contents of the boat could haul anchor and disappear at any moment. I met Glen who is here on holiday and staying close by. He was interested in watching me work and also asked me if I knew where the “David Bowie House” was. I do I said, it’s our home, so I gave him a tour right after completing the painting.

April 13th.

After a tiring morning’s bicycle racing and an overnight stay with friends at the other end of the Island, a walk along the beach back at home blew out the cobwebs and allowed me to select something to get my teeth into for the daily. I chose the sun loungers and an umbrella graphically blocked against the sea. It was a painting of two halves as I got chatting with a friendly couple on holiday from NYC, Damien and Mackenzie. I gave them a tour of the house and the studio while we talked and returned to finish the painting afterwards. It’s a graphic piece, kind of Alex Katz style. I like his work a lot.

April 12th.

Back to the nasturtiums. A deeper investigation. Closer, more intimate. Pattern, abstraction, texture. (this one will take a good while to dry.) I feel a larger painting coming on.

April 11th.

Looking for some colour on a grey day, I had another session with the nasturtiums in the courtyard. They are fun to make shapes and designs with and pretty open to your own interpretation. Colours can be pushed all the way, with the vibrant primary notes of the flowers and the lemon green leaves.  Maybe a large painting of the subject would be an interesting project.

April 10th.

A muggy afternoon, the air heavy with the threat of rain and filled with the sound of hummer kites as we approach Easter. I coasted the neighbourhood on my bicycle and snail (trailer) looking for a spot to paint the foliage that’s spilling into the lanes right now. I set up on Mangrove Bay Road and went about taming the undergrowth. Today I met Pat, Victoria and their friend, snowbirds from Canada who had just arrived and were in search of Long Bay Beach. They had checked into their vacation rental happy to be out of the cold North.

April 9th.

There is a handy little lay-by on the waterside just the other side of Somerset Village. It’s bicycle and trailer sized with room to set up an easel overlooking the bay. I chose to paint this small casuarina jutting out on a headland by the tiny beach, with Mangrove Bay Road (where I painted yesterday) in the background, the oleander visible even form this far away. The values of the distant shore behind were pretty close to the tree itself and I was painting on the edge of my ability. Several of my cycling compadres went past by on training rides, giving me a shout, as well as two unfortunate young women who were looking for Dockyard after getting off the ferry at Watford Bridge. I couldn’t fit them in the trailer sadly, but it is a pretty if long walk.

April 8th.

The oleander is out in full bloom. I framed this view of Mangrove Bay and the shoreline beyond with a heavily laden bush. Several people stopped to talk, some old friends, some tourists and a gentleman I hadn’t met before. Things consequently took a little longer, but it all added to the upbeat feeing of the afternoon. The light got richer later on and this helped the painting. So make time to stop and chat.

April 7th.

A view towards Eric, the tall Washingtonia palm, and our home, Sea View. It’s not the easiest of buildings to paint from the front. Long, expansive and lots of straight lines, but that in itself presents an interesting challenge. I left out the chimney on the corner but kept the decorative thingy up there.  The sun left during my session, after kissing some of the flat areas of the roof before heading over to the beach and sinking behind Daniel’s Head (we had a cocktail on the beach to witness a beautiful sunset tonight after my painting session), at which point the lights inside the open door at bottom left came into play. I added them in where previously I had painted a darkened cave under the porch.

April 6th.

A ”watercolour” theme, but I incorporated one of the foreground coconut palms this time, so all the elements beyond the tree had to be subjugated in order to correctly read as further away. This is not as easy as it would appear; during the process your eyes pick up lurid colours in the water.  Cambridge Beaches have added piles of composted soil to buttress the sea wall and encourage growth. It was that contrast of the dark soil against the sand that initially caught my eye.

April 5th.

It feels as though Summer is on the way. The atmosphere was fresh and clear as a bell. What a day!  I switched from my initial plan, to paint the several bathers in the shallows, when they got out of the water shortly after I set up and turned to Daniels Head once again, observing the bands of colour in the bay. I snatched a few clouds that were scooting by in the breeze and left out the little huts this time to keep the focus elsewhere.

April 4th.

My first attempt was of the lovely pale pink hibiscus plant we have here at home. It went badly awry, there was no way back, so I turned my easel through 90 degrees and worked on the archway through the buttery. It’s almost a mirror image of the first Daily of the year, into the “secret courtyard” directly opposite from the piece painted that day.

April 3rd.

I took a walk around the lanes after some nasturtiums that were tumbling over a dry stone wall. I didn’t have much success ini that department, probably too picky on my part. Looking for alternatives I settled on this view of Mangrove Bay. Its a little private stairway down to the water. I liked the way it was framed with foliage, very inviting. The sky and the sea were muted, but  as always here on the Island, despite the grey day, the colours everywhere were bold and strong.

April 2nd.

A painting from a painting from a painting. The big ten-foot canvas is a project I worked on with my students at the weekend; I blocked it in and they each had turns painting in the details of houses and boats etc. to get a feel for working big. Yesterday, my artist friend Chris Marson came over and gave me a lesson on using gauche, a medium I haven’t used before but am interested in becoming familiar with, as it is water based, dries fast and is therefore a good option for travelling. Our efforts are snippets of the large painting and can be seen in the photo above it. This morning for my daily I used my gauche study as the subject. It’s nowhere in particular, but has the feel of one of the old ferry stops on the Great Sound. A sense of place rather than somewhere specific.

April 1st.

April 1st, but I’m no fool. I had another session on the nasturtiums in the courtyard, right next to the coffee machine. It’s a big busy ball of tangles and colour, a mixture of the nasturtiums and various lilies. I juxtaposed it against the shadow of the house for contrast. I got pretty sculptural with the palette knife to bring out some of the elements.