Blog

  • The finished piece.

    An old working boat on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm.

  • Meeting a friend, and the return

    Last week I met my artist friend, Daniel on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm. We had a great day and we found a lovely compostition to try and capture. We gave it a go and had some fun. My watercolour wasn’t as good as I would have liked. Just then it didn’t matter. It was a social day, we had lunch at the Architectural / Design Museum and chatted in the beautiful sunshine.

    Later, at home I felt that I could have painted a better watercolour. It was a missed opportunity I thought. So I decided that I would return the next day and really try and capture the scene. I am happy with the result, I hope you like it too.

    The first day.

    The second day

  • 3 of 5 watercolours I painted while on the Camino de Santiago

    This was painted in the town of Ponte de Lima along the pilgrim trail of Camino de Santiago. 36 x 26 cm

    Click the thumbnail below to view a larger image.

  • 2 of 5 watercolours I painted while on the Camino de Santiago

    It’s the town of Tui again. I painted on the Portuguese side, while the town itself was on the Spanish side of the river.

    Click on the thumnail below to view a larger image.

  • 1 of 5 watercolours I painted while on the Camino de Santiago recently.

    If you would like to see the video of my experiences, please click the Youtube tumbnail below.

    Click the tumbnail to see a full sized image.

  • My experiences on the Camino de Santiago – Porto to Tui.

    Here is a little video of my time in Portugal when my friend and I attempted to cycle to Santiago from Porto. It didn’t work out, we had to cycle so much there was no time for painting. Painting waterolours was the highest priority, so we slowed down and found a balance that made the rest of the trip a joy.

  • I painted while on the Camino de Santiago pilgrim trail

    Here are some watercolours from Portugal. I painted them while on the Camino de Santiago pilgrim trail last week. I was with my friend David Powell . We cycled with our Brompton bikes that we brought from Stockholm in our suitcases. We stayed in hostels along the way.

    We traveled from Porto to Tui in Spain, ten days in all. Our bikes weren’t suited for the old Roman cobble roads. Still, it was an adventure and lots of fun.

    There were some tough moments like when we got stuck on the side of a mountain because we ran out of road. Luckly for us, three young men helped us carry our bikes and gear until we found some road again. I think they were saints. We bought them lunch.

  • A calm day in the outer archipelago

    Recently, I have been painting from photographs that I have taken. As I write this, there is sleet falling to the ground. It’s not quite spring yet. Or, this is spring, it’s just a Nordic one.

    The story behind the watercolour is that we took ourselves to Svartlöga on a ferry from Rödlöga, two islands in the outer archipelago. We wanted to visit Svartlöga for a long time but it’s difficult to visit with a sailing boat. We decided to take a ferry from Rödlöga and leave our boat behind.

    This probably doesn’t make much sense to you, but it’s when I took the reference photo for the watercolour. I’m happy with the painting, but maybe not the explanation.

    Svartlöga is surrounded by rocks, making it difficult to land there with a boat.
    Click to see full size.
  • Painting the familiar

    I’ve painted this old ferry before. It’s called Storskär, it was built in 1908. I wanted to paint a subject that I was familiar with. Painting something new can be scary as well as exciting. I’m trying to start painting in the studio again. I’ve installed my field easel to help me over the line. It’s working, I’ve started painting. White paper and scary monsters, it’s not easy being a watercolour artist. 😁

    Storskär 36 x 26 cm

    Storskär