A beautiful walk from Hunter’s Inn down to Heddon’s Mouth and then on to Woody Bay. A quiet walk in the Spring sunshine with breath taking views out over the North Devon Coast. One direction out to Combe Martin and on to Lundy Island in the far distance, the other to Lee Bay and on to Lynmouth and the Valley of Rocks. More inspiration for future paintings.
A wonderful visit to Bucks Mills with my wife on a beautiful February morning. The surfers were making the most of the surf break off The Gore, a pebble ridge that leads out to sea. We could see Clovelly in the distance with the winter mist sliding down off the cliffs and after a brief chat with a local lady we discovered a lonely seal surfacing from time to time. I would love to have use of the Artist’s Cabin someday to use as a base to paint pictures here.
A stormy painting inspired by a walk back from Baggy Point in North Devon to Croyde Bay. I was quite struck by the awesome cloud formation over Croyde Beach so have made this a feature of the painting. Pleased with the way I’m going at the moment and staying far away from those fine brushes, a return to my more spontaneous work. Acrylic on gesso panel 750 x 610mm. Al
A review of one of my favourite places to visit to see some original art. There are a few new paintings and what wonderful images. My son was required to take some pictures for his college project so we found ourselves back again, perhaps our fourth time. At some point I must start to paint some of these images as large acrylics.
Acrylic on unstretched canvas 380 x 480mm. A painting inspired by a lockdown walk last week. Quite cloudy although a lot of sunshine to be had. I especially liked the play of shadows on the dunes.
A below freezing day and a trip out with my son Archie to enable him to take pictures for one of his Exeter College projects. This is my offering from the day.
An acrylic painting on 1000 x 700mm canvas just to keep my flow going during the first part of this year. This composition was going to be of a Hercules C130 transporter flying low over Crow Point at sunset, but after completion I have decided to omit it. My wife and I had been walking around the Point from Saunton Beach then decided, as it was getting late, to walk back along the boarwalk before the light went. Looking back towards the sunset the sun bleached boards were almost luminous under the ebbing light. This is my attempt at setting that scene! Al
The first out of the blocks for this year a warm up as I’ve not painted for over a month. Another Biddie Black of one of my favourite walks out to Crow Point in North Devon. New Year’s Day 2010 was very busy here with people observing the latest lockdown. I’m really surprised with this as for many years Crow Point has remained quiet, even in the summer. During the Covid Pandemic locals have reacquainted themselves with this quiet beach and now it’s busier than I have ever seen. It was lovely to bump into a few friends here that I’ve not spoken to in a long time.
Another lock down so my wife and I spent a cold afternoon walking around my favourite section of the North Devon coast, from Bull Point Lighthouse to Morte Point then back into Mortehoe. It was surprising to see so many people out but social distancing was adhered. There was a large group of teenagers at the top of the hill by Mortehoe Station gathered together without masks. The weather was quite warm with no wind, that was until we rounded the Point, then the cutting winter wind reared it’s ugly head. There were some unusual cattle roaming the hills, all black except for a band of white around their bodies. My wife named them the Oreo Cows after the biscuit. By the time we arrived back the light had gone so a slow dark drive home. The Pen & Ink drawing at the top was completed a few years ago, today’s image almost matches the original.
Another visitation to The Cannis, a boat I painted during the summer of 2020 during partial lockdown. It has left it’s secluded mooring and is now on the other side of the River Torridge in North Devon. I was driving past and just couldn’t resist taking some pictures of it’s new setting. After walking across the wet estuary grass I had to jump a muddy tidal gap to make it to the boat. This I managed and took the pictures below, although I have played with them. I just love the dereliction of this scene so perhaps another painting for the future!
Al Brown Artist. 