Gosport Bridge
Oil on canvas board
For a painting day out led by Gregory Mason ROI we were asked to paint the old brick bridge spanning the River Otter. I used a limited colour palette on a canvas board, painting over a four hour period. Good exercise to do though I finished the painting in the studio, adding a little cerulean blue to the colour palette.
2022
Unframed
46cm x 61cm
£620
Inveraray Castle
Mixed Media
While on holiday at Loch Fyne, Argyll, we visited the grand house at Inveraray. The castle is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll with lovely gardens and grounds. It is a mid-18th century, added to 100 years later after a fire. There has been a building here since the 1400s.
2022
With glass plus decorative dark wood frame
44cm x 65cm
£420
Old School House Poppies
Oil on board
Every year these orangey-red blowsy poppies fill a corner of my garden. They are always welcome and contrast well with the bright blue and purple perennial cornflowers, centaurea montana. I enjoyed painting is a slightly more stylised way detailing the leaves and flowers.
2021
Dark wood tray frame
39cm x 26cm
£540
Packhorse Bridges
Bolter's Bridge
Acrylic Ink on board
One of a series of four pack-horse bridge paintings:
Bolter’s Bridge is an ancient bridge in the Somerset hamlet of Hornblotton, (horn-blowing), where travellers were warned if the river was too high to cross the bridge safely. It is still used by riders, on the 625 mile Monarch’s Way, a path closely following the escape route taken by Charles 1.
I liked the way the paving stones were laid to follow the bend in the old drover’s route.
2018
36 x 43 cm
Dark wood tray frame
£515
Bow Bridge
Acrylic ink on board
The narrow bridge in Bruton is one of only 16 single span packhorse bridges left in the country. The name Bow Bridge aptly describes the shape, although the name is no longer in use. It is now a footbridge over the River Brue only not used by horses.
I liked the colour of the stone heightened by the late afternoon sun, and enjoyed the application of layers of translucent inks.
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2018
49 x 65 x 4cm
Dark wood tray frame
£630
Crossing the Yeo Pill Bridge
Acrylic ink on board
Pill Bridge is a well-documented 17th Century packhorse bridge on a drovers’ road between the parishes of Ilchester and Long Sutton in Somerset. It is only 4’ wide with a span of 54 feet. It replaces an earlier 13th Century bridge and was the unloading point for goods destined for Ilchester. There was also a warehouse at the site until 1805. Now it is still used for horses along a well-trodden bridleway.
2018
43 x 36 cm
White tray frame
£540
Local Landscapes
Early Morning Mist
Gouache on canvas
An early morning walk up Chalice Hill catching the late autumn mist separating Glastonbury Tor from the ground. A magical moment with the Tor and a cluster of cottages gradually emerging from the sea of mist.
2017
33 x 33 cm
Dark wood tray frame
SOLD
Acrylic on board
2017
White tray frame
47 x 61 cm
£790
Abbey Kitchen
The medieval Abbot’s kitchen that survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries is a rare building. It houses 4 huge fireplaces, and only men were allowed to work there, as they would need to strip off when it became intolerably hot! The herb garden has recently been replanted using plants commonly found in Tudor England.
Gouache on board
2017
45 x 58 cm
Dark frame under glass
£680
Living History
In 2017 I exhibited with the Areté Visual Arts group for the 'Rescue Our Ruins' at Glastonbury Abbey to raise money for English Heritage.
The herb garden has recently been replanted using plants commonly found in Tudor England, and I loved the colourful marigolds in the foreground.
Oil pastel on board
2015
32 x 32cm
Dark wood tray frame
£330
Past Reflections
I always love walking round the lake at Stourhead, which is our nearest National Trust place. Also I show my work at the First View Gallery in the courtyard. This view of the Lake is one I enjoy whenever I go for a visit.
Acrylic/mixed media
2015
32 x 32cm
Dark wood tray frame
£350
Small Cave Entrance
I came across this tiny cave near Fussell’s Iron Works on a popular wooded walk along the Mells River from Frome. It is lovely any time of the year, with the ruins of the Iron Works an added, though rather precarious attraction!
Late Autumn Trees
Oil on board
A field near Alfred’s Tower, Wiltshire where I sometimes walk with a friend and her dog. I enjoyed painting the ploughed field and the autumnal colours of the trees against the cool blue sky.
2013
White tray frame
44 x 26 cm
£345
Beneath the Bulbs
Oil on canvas
As a young girl I went for a walk in an ancient wood with my mother who reminisced how a friend had been so overcome by the heady sensual smell of bluebells, she’d taken off her clothes to roll about in the flowers!
On a more thoughtful note, Postlebury Wood put me in mind of what lies beneath bluebells – the rich earth busy with new life and the rotting decay of plants & insects - in contrast to the gorgeous colour and scent of bluebells.
2015
63 x 63 cm
Dark wood tray frame
£1080
Shadows in the Wood
Oil on canvas
Bluebells are always a joy to paint with the range of blues, pinks and purples, here in the dappled shade of a spring wood. Postlebury Wood, near Frome, is registered as a SSSI, because of rare self-pollinating primroses found there. An ancient wood first documented in the 13th Century after which it was incorporated into the Royal Forest of Selwood.
2015
Rich dark blue wood frame
94 x 73 cm
£1400
Forgotten Corner
Oil on canvas
Part of a much-loved walk round the fishponds in Witham Friary. This area of the lakes were always muddy but did have king-cups growing every year, brightening up a dark corner. The painting is from the winter showing even a dismal corner can have a bit of magical colour.
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2015
50 x 65 cm
Dark wood tray frame
£810
The Island at Stourhead
Oil pastel on board
The views and colours on the Stourhead estate are constantly changing, depending on the season, weather and time of day. The island on the lake has a few trees, seen here in the soft hues of spring on a clear sunlit day. This was inspired by a recent walk although I have been visiting the gardens for over 20 years on a regular basis as I live nearby.
2019
Painting is 15.5 x 15.5 cm
Sold in a pale frame behind glass
SOLD
The Woodland Garden Next Door
Oil pastel on paper
We are fortunate to have a neighbour who planted her garden from scratch over 20 years ago. It has now grown into a small wooded haven with tall weeping birches and an upright beech. The colours in the autumn are a delight and the trees are always busy with birds and insects. I love the contrast of white bark against the russets and cool blues.
2019
46 x 34 cm
Framed behind glass
£375
Seascapes
Acrylic on paper
2016
27 x 34 cm
Dark wood frame under glass
£250
Orange Rocks
St Abb’s Head is a wind-swept rocky promontory in Berwickshire, protected by the National Trust for Scotland, as it is a haven for thousands of nesting sea birds.
I loved seeing the waves crashing against the rocks, and their colour contrasting with the sea.
Oil pastel on paper
2016
Mounted under glass with a black frame
32 x 37 cm
£250
August Sea
Although not a particularly blustery day when I visited, there were still waves crashing against the tumble of fallen and broken rocks. Sea-thrift grows well here amongst a variety of small plants holding their own against sea-spray and fierce winds.
Blackstone at Kimmeridge Bay
Oil on canvas board
Completed for the Fifty Bees 3 2019 exhibition taking the Broad faced furrow bee, Lasioglossum laticeps, as inspiration
The small black bees range from Seaton to Kimmeridge Bay, living in seepage holes in south facing soft cliffs of sand, shale and clay. They've been affected by the loss of foraging habitats in the flower rich cliff-top grasslands through farming and human activity, plus the Blackstone oil shale workings.
My painting was inspired by the bees’ lives in the soft crumbly cliffs, including seaweed, sea spray and coastal plants, along with hot balmy days and fierce storms.
2019
54 x 44 cm
Dark wood tray frame
£720
Eden
Acrylic on canvas
A stop off point while crewing on the tall-ship Lady Nelson sailing from Sydney to Hobart.
Eden is a typical New South Wales attractive small town located on a headland that juts out into Twofold Bay, surrounded by national parks and bushland. Originally it was a whaling port, though now is a sought after location.
2014
92 x 122 cm
Unframed canvas
£2000
From near The Cheviot
Cheviot View
Pastel on paper
One of my favourite views from a friend’s garden near Kelso in the Borders. I have been visiting since my Grandmother lived there in the 80’s and never tire of looking out over the loch to the foothills of the Cheviots.
Dry pastel on red painted water-colour paper.
2016
22 x 19 cm
Oak framed behind glass
SOLD
Heatherhope
Oil on canvas
A beautiful heather filled valley on a walk near Morebattle in the Borders. Up past Phillip’s Law taking in wonderful panoramic views from the top. My friend and I walked into the painting and up the path in the distance - from the top we had a good view of the Cheviot itself. That day it was brooding in dark shades of purple and grey.
2016
4’ x 3’ (94 x 125 x 5cm)
Unframed
£2900