As Autumn approaches the flowers my garden are making on last effort to show off their colours and turn their heads to the sun whenever they have the chance. The bright pink Cosmos are stealing the show this week and have inspired this painting.
Last weekend as a birthday treat for Alan I hired a little car and we went for a potter from Penrith to The Langdales, Ambleside, Hawkshead and Grizedale Forest. It was such fun even though it rained for a good part of the weekend. A brilliant combination of fantastic scenery, fresh air, walking, great accommodation and most of all a happy, smiley Frog Eyed Sprite which turned heads wherever we went, she was such a character. In fact she was a bit of a show off as she had a tendency to peep her own horn whenever she felt like it which made us laugh as it seemed she had a real sense of humour. We loved her! I can see her featuring in some of my paintings in the future.
We hired her from www.lakesanddales.co.uk and can highly recommend them.
Well, I have been as busy as ever this summer and I can't believe that the children are already back at school all in their bright shiny new shoes and their smart new uniforms just a tiny bit too big but just the right size to grow into. We have a primary school just at the end of the road, so mornings and afternoons are busy with chatting mums and enthusiastic children so at drop off and pick up time our street is full of young life and bubbling personalities. During the day the atmosphere changes and the pace slows down enough for me to enjoy the to and fro of our more mature neighbours passing the time of day and discussing the weather, it is lovely to have friends that fall into such varied age groups.
I have been producing fewer paintings over the summer holidays as I have enjoyed all manner of distractions. However, I was still able to run the Harlow Carr Summer Exhibition with the help of other artist friends. Such a great opportunity to network with other artists and to meet and talk to so many people who visited the show. With a mixture of technique and subject matter the show had something for all tastes, very inspiring.
Here are a couple of photos which show how we squeezed as many pieces as possible into the study centre.
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