A Bideford Black painting I finished last year finally in it’s new home. What a great setting and choice of frame! Really pleased at how it looks! Al
Month August 2020
Woody Bay.
An acrylic on 16 x 20″ canvas of the wonderful Woody Bay on the North Devon Coast. I haven’t visited this location for many years and was delighted to find it as impressive as I remembered. A rocky beach with a Victorian swimming pool and remains of an old pier. Well worth a visit if you’re in the location. This is situated in the Exmoor National Park.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Bay,_Devon
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/heddon-valley/features/woody-bays-victorian-heritage
Roborough Hill.
A couple of pictures from my latest foray up the very steep Roborough Hill near Pilton in North Devon. I’ve slightly tinted the black and white images to give them that look of an old school 1930s travel book. I remember, as a boy, looking through those old musty picture books of the world and it was from these very books that fuelled my inspiration to travel. These pictures will eventually become large Bidiford Black paintings.
The main reason why I was there today was to pick a place to photograph the Spitfire flying over the country’s hospitals with ‘THANK U NHS’ under it’s wings. I decided to return down the hill and finally took the picture below.
Man of the world.
A mixed media composition of the late Peter Green who died on the 25th July 2020 aged 73. 540 x 400mm, Bideford Black, Uni-ball fine line pens & Indian Ink. I’ve found this frame on a recent trip to Clifton in Bristol where I discovered it in an antique shop.
Peter Green was one of the greatest Blues guitarists Britain ever produced. His shape-shifting riffs and long, improvisational excursions made Fleetwood Mac one of the most exciting live bands of the 1960s Blues explosion.
He first picked up a hand-me-down guitar at the age of 10 and, like many of his peers, began to devour the import vinyl that trickled into the UK from the US. He studied the greats Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and BB King – combining their tensely coiled playing style with the shimmering vibrato of The Shadows’ Hank Marvin.
But he actually started his professional career as a bassist, until an encounter with Eric Clapton persuaded him to ditch the instrument.
“I decided to go back on lead guitar after seeing him with the Bluesbreakers. He had a Les Paul, his fingers were marvellous. The guy knew how to do a bit of evil, I guess.”
He later had the seemingly impossible task of taking over from Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Fans were unconvinced at first, but after a handful of incendiary performances, he won them over, earning the nickname “The Green God”. Interestingly enough I thought the Green Manalishi was him but Mr Green says it was actually about a wad of cash he dreamt about.
Sandy Lane Poppies.
Sandy Lane Poppies 1220 x 610mm acrylic on panel. A painting of the dusty lane that leads to the Burrows Carpark in Braunton just behind Saunton Beach. I was quite taken by the poppies in the hedge and the stark neon whiteness of the sandy road.
Al Brown Artist. 