Landscapes

Gosport Bridge over the River Otter

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

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

Keyford-Poppies-Kate-Cochrane

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', Hornblotton

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

Prints Available

'Bow Bridge', Bruton

Prints Available

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, Ilcester

Prints Available

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', Glastonbury Tor

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

Prints Available

abbey-kitchen

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. Prints Available

'Living History', Glastonbury Abbey

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. Prints Available

'Leaf Trail', Stourhead

Past Reflections

Oil pastel on board

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.

2015

32 x 32cm

Dark wood tray frame

£330


Prints Available

'Small Cave Entrance' Mells

Small Cave Entrance

Acrylic/mixed media

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! 2015

32 x 32cm

Dark wood tray frame

£350


Prints Available

'Stubble Field', Alfred's Tower

Prints Available

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

'Beneathe the Bulbs', ostlebury Woods

Prints Available

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', Postlebury Wood

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

'Forgotten Corner', Witham Friary fishponds

Prints Available

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', pastel 15.5 x 15.5cm 2019

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.

2019 Painting is 15.5 x 15.5 cm

Prints Available

The Woodland Garden Next Door

 Oil pastel on paper

My neighbour planted her garden from scratch over 20 years ago. It is now 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.

46 x 34 cm Framed behind glass £375

'The Woodland Garden Next Door', Keyford, Frome

Prints Available

Seascapes

'Orange Rocks', St Abb's Head, Scotland

Orange Rocks Acrylic on paper

St Abb’s Head is a wind-swept rocky promontory in Berwickshire, protected by the National Trust for Scotland, and 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. 2016

27 x 34 cm Dark wood frame under glass

£250

Prints Available

'August Sea', St Abb's HeadHead

August Sea

Oil pastel on paper

Although not very windy, there were 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. 2016

Mounted under glass with a black frame

32 x 37 cm

£250

Blackstone at Kimmeridge Bay

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 Cove', acrylic on canvas, 3' x 4' 2015

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', The Borders

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 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', Cheviot, Borders

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