Category Beaches.

LYNMOUTH & BEACH COMBING.

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A great day in Lynmouth and not too busy, the tourists must be at the beach! We spent a few enjoyable hours again looking for sea glass and found some great finds, even a few rare blue pieces. We then met up with friends who live in nearby Lynton and imbibed in some coffees overlooking the beach; a couple of surfers were enjoying a clean left hander. Then followed some beer and wine at the Rising Sun Pub on Mars Hill. As with yesterday the sea mist swept in cooled the air and stole the light, a planned visit to the Watersmeet Tearooms for a cream tea with whortleberry jam was abandoned, it’s a hard life!

LEE BAY & SANDY COVE.

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An enjoyable four hours searching for sea glass amongst the rocks and crevices of Lee Bay and Sandy Cove. A little sun was to be had at time but sadly the Grampus was closed until later in the day. We had a little fun leaving Lee along the very narrow farm roads, having to reverse when oncoming cars approached. Finally the sea mist, which is quite common at this time of year, bought a chill to the air so it was time to return home.

GOOD SEAGLASS HUNTING.

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Another day with my wife Donna hunting for more sea glass. A cold but wonderful day walking in the spring sunshine on secret beaches looking amongst the tideline stones for jewels. A lot of the rock formations here are somewhat reminiscent of the paintings by Roger Dean. Finally this was finished off with a cream tea and latte at Watermouth Harbour at a café called Storm In A Teacup.

SEA GLASS & BEACHES.

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A few beaches visited today with my wife. Broadsands, Hele Bay & Ilfracombe and you can tell the tourist season is almost upon us. At Broadsands a gang of Sports Direct clothed lads were there with disposable BBQs, packs of beer & larger. When they were finished they walked away leaving this beautiful beach like a toilet! The trouble was they weren’t the only people to do so! The adjoining campsites should be held responsible for the clean up!

POTTER’S HILL TO PUTTSBOROUGH.

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What a wonderful day with my wife Donna searching secret North Devon Beaches for sea glass. Donna is returning to jewellery making using washed up colourful nylon line and sea glass. We spent the latter half of the afternoon on Barricane Beach where the beach café has recently been dropped in by crane. Here during the day you can get tea, cream teas etc but in the evening they serve Sri Lankan veg and chicken curries to the masses. This beach used to be a local secret but sadly no more so it was lovely to have it to ourselves today! Finally I parked at Marine Drive carpark and walked up the steep Potter’s Hill to the cairn at the top. From here you can marvel at the panoramic view out over Woolacombe down to Putsborough Beach.

TROUBLED SUNSET AT CROW.

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Troubled Sunset At Crow & Sundown At The Point 24 x 30″ acrylic on canvas. I had a terrible dream about waking up in the night and hearing repetitive thumps in the dark. I looked out and could see distant nuclear mushroom clouds glowing on the horizon it was Russia’s last gambit. In the dream I nudged my wife and said that I loved her and our time had come! After photo-montaging and adjusting several of my images the outcome is the preliminary image above. I tend to work with Adobe on my laptop or Procreate on an iPad and work up the images, a kind of preliminary sketching before finally stabilising the final image! Now to the canvas and paints.
I’ve decided to paint two pictures one with my usual process the other with looser more spontaneous brush strokes. In progress…

Below a triptych almost. The middle, and much larger painting already sold from last year.

LEAVING HEDDON’S MOUTH.

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An acrylic painting inspired by a walk down to Heddon’s Mouth from Hunters Inn. We walked North up along the South West Coast Path from the Heddon Valley and had a picnic there amongst the rocks enjoying the views up and down the North Devon Coast. This view is looking toward Crock Point, Lee Abbey, Valley of the Rocks and in the distance Countisbury. 750 x 500mm acrylic on canvas.

FAIRLINCH CROSS.

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A mixed media composition using Acrylic Paints and Bideford Black. Inspired by a drive back from Putsborough Beach on a winter Sunday when we came across Fairlinch Cross. The cold winter light shone off the wet road with the windswept trees bowing over the hedges, I was struck by the stark contrasts of dark, colour and the shadows of the hedge crossing the road.

It’s always very therapeutic slowly removing the masking tape on a completed painting! I just love that clean white edge; or is it just me?

THE PATH BESIDE THE MARSH.

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At the end of the beach boardwalk heading towards the Crow Point Carpark there is a a little pond of brackish water on the left. It is here where the brightly coloured damsel and dragon flies hover during the warm spring and summer. With this painting I’m trying to capture that Tulgey Wood sense of dark foreboding. I’ve also made a dark brushstroke across the sky to hint at a starling murmuration. This composition is in Bideford Black on thick cartridge paper, with some scraping and pigment removal.

When using this medium I often apply the paint using twigs, rags and stiff brushes with which to spatter fine specks. I also use scalpel blades, course and fine sandpapers and cotton buds to soften and remove pigment, in fact anything to create depth and texture to the composition. It helps to have a strong resilient paper with which to do so.