I love painting the fresh, bright greens of early springtime. With the first sniff of warmth in the air and a hint of green on the trees, I pack up my oils and favourite brushes from Rosemary’s Ivory Range and head to the woods to paint the bluebells. A couple of long filberts and a no.4 rigger are all I need for working on location.
Studying at the Florence Academy of Art, there are many painting techniques to be mastered through intense practice and through following the methodology of the school. But there are also many things to be learned concerning one’s materials. For example, a great variety of edge qualities can be achieved in a painting simply by varying the kinds of brushes used—i.e. sable versus hog-hair.
My first visit to Cornwall was in 1966 whilst courting my now wife Eileen. I remember the excitement of such an adventure, the impact to my artistic eye of this stunning county never has left me. The clean beaches, the aqua coloured sea with bright light bouncing and glittering on the waves, the unique luminescence of the light, the warmth of each day.
It became a desire of ours to live and paint this wonderful part of the country, but life at that time in the commercial art world dictated I stay north. Many, many trips and many hundreds of paintings of the area later we finally made the move.
