Belfast, Maine

One chilly morning with the mist still clinging to the water and shoreline I came across this
slightly battered truck parked in a boatyard in Belfast in Maine. Couldn't resist doing a wee painting. People complain that it isn't my usual palette of vivid colours and I say no but it was a misty morning...these are the colours I saw. These are the colours that make the moment.
I like it and I'm putting it in my November Studio Sale.

Belfast in Maine is a great wee town. Fabulous restaurants. Good boat builders....wooden sailing boats, sleek and gorgeous.

As for my outburst on blogs and Facebook...well I had responses from the south of England to Glasgow to San Francisco.
How wonderful to think that the old blog travels so far. I usually get some comments from someone in China but they are in Chinese and I've no idea what they say.
They are either very complimentary or terribly rude.

To all you readers out there...the blog has been taken over by Google so if you have a Google account you can leave a comment on the blog. All you need to do is write your comment and put in your Google password.
Previously you had to register with Blogspot which was unlikely.

Lake Trasimeno

This is one of Lake Trasimeno in Italy. If you have never been to this part of Umbria then you should go. It's very beautiful and the lake, which is quite shallow, is unlike any lake I've seen.
The colours and feel of the place are unique. I'm putting this one up because it has the feel I want from a painting I'm planning on a wee fishing village in South Africa. And there the similarity ends. Umbria and the outskirts of Cape Town are very different places.

Does anyone read this? I'm convinced that the entire world is on Facebook and no-one looks at blogs any more. Perhaps I should start writing more on the blog...if no-one reads it then I could witter on for ages. Let's see....well I'm fed up with our pre-occupation with politics. Fed up with
ever tightening laws and restrictions on life. I'd better stop now. Put the kettle on, that's the answer.

More tomorrow

Lake Myvatn

This wee sketch was done at lake Myvatn in Iceland.
The lake has the biggest most ferocious midges
you have ever seen.....

Yesterday was one of those beautiful sunny autumn days. More please.

Florence

This is a tiny wee oil sketch of the Duomo in Florence.

Wee Thai sketch

A friend just bought an old sketch of mine in auction and sent me this image of it.
Done in Thailand on paper bought in Tiwari's Pilgrim Bookshop
in Kathmandu in Nepal the week before.
This lady was cooking in a market.

Spain

Posters on a wall in Spain

Even more Greece

Here's a really old one. Must be twelve years or more....but I still like it. It has some dynamics. Maybe I should revisit that way of painting.

Even more Greece

Can't recall which island I was on when I came across these boats tucked up in a wee harbour.

Greece

I'm still banging on about Greece. That's 3 days now...mind you the real reason is a little wander down memory lane. It's been a while since I painted these and I'm revisiting. This lady is on her way home from market. It's just after midday and blisteringly hot.

Paintings of Greece

As we seem to be looking at paintings of Greece...how about this one? This is in Volissos in Chios. All those lovely shadows. Everything simplified. And that wonderful brick chimney right where it should be. I like this one.

Old Shed, Evvia

This is a painting I did years ago. Don't have a proper image of it but found this old 35mm slide and scanned it but lost a lot of detail on the way. On the other hand...I quite like the effect and will try scanning other 35mm slides to see what happens.

Best Coffee in Town

This is a big painting. Currently on show at John Davies Fine Art in Moreton in Marsh in the Cotswolds.

This is the local shop in a township in South Africa.
Check out the lettering on the Coca Cola sign.
It's wonderful.

Californian tractor

My old pal Robert 'Shady' Oakes sent me this picture taken at the Gravenstien Fair in California.
Obviously Shady, like myself, has a thing about tractors.
I was always amazed at the way many American tractors have their two front wheels so close together.
This one's in cracking condition.

Toy plane against the sky....looks fab

Milngavie Book and Arts Festival

Coming soon is the Milngavie Book and Arts Festival. September 7th - 12th. This painting of vineyards near Moiré in Beaujolais will be there.

The archipod

Without doubt the star of last weekend's Homes&Interiors exhibition was Chris Sneesby's archipod. Everyone was talking about it. I kept going back for a look and eventually asked Chris if he would send me some photos for my blog.
This is a beautiful thing. The interior actually feels larger than you think it's going to be. The finish is really good and there is a feeling of calmness once inside. This is not only the perfect office in the garden but could be a meditation area, a studio or anything you like. There are two sizes and it's fully insulated. All you need is somewhere to place it and a power supply for lighting. Mind you, there's plenty of light inside because of the circular window areas.
Chris says that the outside can have different finishes as well as the cedar finish.

I'd love one.

www.archipod.co.uk