The Artistic Tour

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Ibiza Town on a Very Good Day

Isn’t every day a very good day in Ibiza? Such a beautiful place. I have two Ibiza paintings at the moment. This one is a seascape and as we’re not into summer yet. I’m sharing this one today because it depicts the warm yellow light that permeates on those balmy summer evenings in Ibiza.

This beautiful view is the one you will experience as you stroll along the coast on a walk to the Dalt Vila in Ibiza’s old town. The Dalt Vila itself a Unesco world heritage site so absolutely worth a visit . Take a wonderful relaxed afternoon to visit the Vila and check out these picture postcard views on your way there and back.

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Heather on Roseberry Topping

Legend holds that Roseberry Topping was named after Odin. Apparently the Scandinavians were highly impressed by its might and named it after him when they invaded us!

If you’d like to stomp up to the top and see the purple of heather blooming all around you then head for Great Ayton. The small town is set amid the largest expanse of moorland in England and Wales. Go there during August or in early September and you w see mile upon mile of purple flowers and be surrounded by the scent of heather in the air. You won’t regret the trek.

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Verneuil-sur-Avre, France

“Les plus beaux villages de France”. What a title – a series of towns and villages alleged to be just that. The list makes for a delightful series of trips in France and if you are heading there any time soon, then do check it out. You absolutely should enjoy France just as the French do!

Verneuil-sur-Avre is planted unshakeably in the South of Normandy and is peppered with old half timbered houses like those you can see here in my painting. You will find numerous small alleys where you could easily fritter away at least half a day wandering, before finding a lovely spot for lunch in the sunshine.

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Filey Brigg, North Yorkshire

This one is a little special. Filey is now the home of my family and is the place where I began to paint in earnest. I painted my most popular paintings so far while here and hope there will be many more to come. This one is Filey Brigg – a long peninsula which juts out into the sea at the end of the equally long Filey bay.

A small and unassuming, yet somehow very relaxing town nestled quietly in the busy and touristy borough of Scarborough. Filey is definitely the reserved cousin and the pace of life here is so much more sedate. A walk along Filey front in the evening or along the top in the morning provides a beautiful view of the long and sandy beach. The morning version can only be better if you catch the redness of the newly risen sun and accompany it with a cup of tea at Angela’s Cafe.

With its own mini eco system, Filey often seems to miss the harshness of the wind and rain often experienced on a visit to nearby Whitby. It is indeed a quiet breath of fresh air.

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Senlis, the French connection

As you may have read on my about page, my husband is a Frenchie. Because of this happy situation I have visited some of the most beautiful towns in France. This one is Senlis – a really nice day out from Paris. I painted it at the beginning of last year when we visited this magical Medieval town. The legend, Joan ofArc is indeed said to have achieved greatness here. A plaque commemorates her heroism in the gorgeous Gothic cathedral and there is even a cinema named after her!

This painting shows the typical Medieval buildings of the town and it combines watercolor and oil paint. The oil paint transfer of the original drawing provides a kind of waterproof barrier to the watercolor and I love this method. you’ll see I use it over and over again in different ways. It was used by Paul Klee – he experimented with it on calico. When I read about this method, it immediately called out to me for a try out!

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The bottom of Robin Hoods Bay

This is really one of my favorite places. Robin Hoods Bay is just so quaint, full of character and a real pleasure to visit. This particular spot is so often photographed, but if you know this little town you will know that it is just the delightful view you get when you finish walking down the very steep hill alongside beautiful little Fisherman’s cottages to reach the edge of the sea and look back.

This little town is close to Whitby on the North East coast ofEngland and when I go to visit my parents we so often come here and just walk down the hill, through the cobbled alleyways and steps and simply just take in the wonderful atmosphere. This painting has a very experimental use of watercolor which seems to have captured something about Robin Hoods Bay’s magic.

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Mountains of Gandia town

As I know that initially I’m going to keep you in the UK for a while I’m intentionally dragging you quickly away to Spain. This is the view that sealed the deal on me buying my own home again 12 years after leaving the UK. I eventually sold my home when I realized I would stay in Vietnam and not return. I chose Spain for the next phase of my life for it’s endless sunshine but I chose Gandia and this apartment specifically because of this view! I wasn’t painting at the time I bought the place but these mountains quickly inspired me and as you’ll later see, I’ve painted them many times.

This view is now the view from what has become my studio and I feel happy and inspired every day when I look out of the window!

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Staithes Harbour Office

The artistic tour stays for now in Staithes, also the home of my last post. We are still here because this special place has a long history of art from the 19th century when a group called the Staithes Group of Artists began this now thriving trend of painting Staithes scenery. It is really just such a paintable place! Here we see the boats leaning up against such tiny harbour office that in fact is little more than a hut !

There is now every year a festival of the arts in which the locals open their doors and lend their very quaint cottages to the public as temporary galleries. For more information on this very British coastal event visit the website at https://www.staithesfestival.com.

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Red rooftops of Staithes

Lets begin the artistic tour on the UK’s North-East coast. This is the first ever print of my artworks that I sold. it was painted on this coast and sold on this coast. I sold it in a shop called Ebbing Tide in Filey , A town on the North Yorkshire coast of England. The lovely owner, Lisa was a fan of my work from the moment I cautiously stepped inside her shop to ask her to take a look and see if she might be interested!

Why was I here and painting in the first place? Filey is the home of my parents (although not the English town in which I was born). I was visiting at Christmas in 2018 and had been bought watercolour paints as a Christmas gift. We had been that day to a really cute and quaint little village set in the hillside on this coastline. It features these wonderful higgledy-piggledy cottages on winding streets that lead down to the sea.

I was inspired by the place’s charm and when I returned to my parents house that night I painted this, almost 30 years after leaving art college!

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