I like this motiv a lot. It was fun to paint. I am experimenting with Daniel Smith high granulation colours. I think this has the feeling or the mood I want to attain with my paintings. It’s not often I am happy with my work but I like this one. 😃
Scandinavian coastal pine 26 x 36 cm
Click the image below to see the full-sized image.
The story behind this painting is that it just wasn’t working out.
So I ripped the picture in half horizontally and saved the top half, the sky along with the tops of the trees. There used to be houses along a shoreline on the bottom half. It was this that sucked and had to go.
I was left with some clouds and tree tops. What to do? Well, I used a flying duck to try and save the watercolour. It was the first time I ever painted a duck. I need to practice a bit more.
That’s the story behind this painting. ☺
I returned to France after a four year break.
I love spending time in Brittany. I get on really well with my mother-in-law, and the scenery there is just fantastic.
This painting is of the view from the garden. It’s the first of many watercolours that I painted during my stay.
It’s so easy to be inspired when visiting far off places. It’s a little harder to get excited closer to home.
I painted this from an old photo I took 15 years ago. I can’t remember where it was, somewhere out there in the archipelago. It was a grey day, it was peaceful, this is all I know.
The calendar promises summer will arrive soon. Long, warm evenings. It never really gets dark here in Sweden. I’m looking forward to it. 🙂
Summer evening in the archipelago : 36 x 25 cm
This is one of my first studio paintings since 2019. Kinda had to believe, but it’s true. My seasonal depression has prevented me until now. I painted last week and I added a few more islands to it yesterday. I’m happy with it. So nice to be painting during the winter months again. 🙂
If you have been following this blog, or my Patreon page or even my Facebook page you’ll know that I suffer from seasonal depression (SAD). It has held me back enormously over the last three years. Thankfully, I am now getting the help that I need and therefore feel pretty positive.
This is where the small paintings come in.
It is way too much for me to paint a large watercolour right now. I’m a person in recovery and so my ability to focus is pretty shot. This is why I think small. 18 x 13 cm usually. If you know about painting on quarter – sheets then you’ll understand when I say, I paint on quarter – quarter – sheets. For the rest of you, it’s about A5 in size.
This little watercolour is from a reference photo I took a few years back when we visited Trosa in the southern Stockholm archipelago. I’ve painted it before, I like the composition. Yes, it’s 18 x 13cm in size.
Take care of yourselves.
It was a very windy summer. We spent so much time trying to find protection from the strong winds. Survival stuff it was sometimes. After two and half weeks we had had enough.
So this watercolour was the last of the paintings from my holiday. It sums up the the end of our adventure pretty well. We were in a small natural harbour on the island of Kallskär which is in the outer archipelago. After this we headed west towards Stockholm dodging strong winds and squalls that hunted us.
Kallskär 18 x 13cm
I have been accepted into the Water Colour Society of Ireland. It’s a great honour and it means a lot to me. I grew up there and part of me will always be Irish – even after 36 years away. Damn, time flies.
Being accepted into the society means I will be asked to submit work for the annual exhibition held in Dublin. So I need to get painting those Irish scenes. What a great excuse for me to spend some time travelling along the west coast of Ireland for my art’s sake. ( After the pandemic of course. ) 😉
This watercolour is of Ireland’s Eye. A dear friend of mine took a lovely photo and posted it on Instagram. Thank you for letting me use it as a reference Barbara. The view is from Malahide, outside of Dublin. It’s where I grew up as a teenager.
To see a larger image please click the thumbnail below.
