BOXING DAY BETWEEN THE RAINS.
Category North Devon
DREAMING OF HAPPIER TIMES.
In these dismal and often depressing times of dark nights, cold weather and Covid a thought of warm summer beaches wouldn’t go amiss in anyone’s dreams. This is an old acrylic from the past of my twins Archie & Amelia building sandcastles on Woolacombe Beach on a hot summer’s day. A treasured composition in my personal collection.
AT THE BURTON 2021.
A pleasurable way to spend time at the Burton Gallery in Bideford Park. It gave me time to walk around the exhibition and closely look at the magnificent work there. So today I’ve been stewarding the Christmas Exhibition with yet another stinking cold! Exhibition ends on the 31st December.
BLACK ARTS.
The return of BLACK ARTS, a project I’m involved in with artists Adrian Beasley and Stephen Raff. We create our images in black and white using Photography, the Wet Collodian process and use of Bideford Black pigment, hence the name BLACK ARTS. We aim to undertake this three day residential experience later this year. Below is a link to the webpage with more information to follow!
Below is a link of our first collaboration in 2019 on the closing night of The White Moose Gallery.
https://albrownartist.com/2019/11/02/last-night/
NEVER FORGET THE DAY!
A wonderful poem and video by Dr Emma Fisher, an anaesthetist, who I have had the pleasure of working with at North Devon District Hospital. As a registered Staff Nurse who works in the Operating Theatre Department I have worked with Dr Fisher and many of the healthcare practitioners featured in my sketches in this video. This poem sadly describes one profound experience a team had to deal with during this Covid Crisis!
Below is a link to the original pen and ink images.
BURTON GALLERY 2021.
The start of the annual Christmas show at the Burton Gallery in Bideford North Devon. I am pleased to have been selected again for this wonderful event which will run from the 4th to the 31st December. The paintings I’ve submitted are Bucks Mills and Lee Abbey! Al
Roborough Hill.
I’ve finally mounted this Bideford Black painting of Roborough Hill in Barnstaple, North Devon 40 x 25″ on thick cartridge paper. Throughout the pandemic and various lockdowns I’ve found this area of Roborough to have been a great escape from all that mayhem. To look out over North Devon from this wonderful highpoint is a view to behold. I think this painting would be certainly a talking or focal point to any room! Al
Linhay on the Marsh.
An acrylic of mine from a few years ago. As Picasso once said, ‘Ever now and again one paints a picture that seems to have opened a door and serves as a stepping stone to other things!’ The painting above is one such picture for me.
Over Buck’s Mills.
This acrylic painting is now completed 24 x 30″. I started this composition by using an ultramarine acrylic spray to create an almost uniform blue base colour. I’ve then gradually dry brushed layer after layer to create some 3D depth to the sky. I’m now using some watered down paint to blow in the sea, waves and foreground, then using my favourite Payne’s Grey I’ve accented some depth to the pebbles. I must say I like the vapor trail of the plane on it’s way out to sea. During the pandemic the amount of flights have dropped and this has been evident in our North Devon skies.
May the wall rise up to greet you,
May the wall rise up and lift you,
Let the water elevate and heal you,
To face another day.
Dark waves will always push us back
We dive, evade, get blown off track,
Bless the water that finally heals you,
To face another day
Bless the water that finally heals you
To grace another day.
Beach Beads!
The autumn sun is out and I’ve just noticed the glass beads I made a few years ago! Inspired by our local beaches!
As slow as sycamore seeds thrown from skyrise windows
Our hearts soar and fly then eventually grow
On the winds of whim we hover then fall
Cast to the dirt
Along concrete verges we flow
Away from our dreams of yesterday
Then down to realities vaults
Gone are summers where we used to play
Tears arisen from the sum of our faults
Al Brown Artist. 