My British trip: conclusions

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Detail: Near Berwick-ipon-Tweed, fields  SOLD

My British trip was short and frustrating. I didn't give enough time to each place: I broke my own rule about spending at least three nights in any one place. You need to give space and time for painting to develop. 

Also, I  became tired and a bit sick from not allowing myself enough time to get over the flights from Brazil and by socialising as soon as I arrived. I'm used to being alone much of the time besides which I'm fairly misanthropic, so spending time with others can be rather taxing.

The weather was not bad-  predictably unpredictable, spitting down first thing in the morning to make you pessimistic, then showers or, in Berwick, wind in the afternoons.

 On the plus side, I think I've discovered a place where I can bed down for a solid week next time: Galashiels! It isn't as pricey as Melrose but it has some of its prettiness and the location is also delightful. 

It's difficult to travel in the UK because the costs are so high. A single room anywhere is a minimum of 50 pounds- and we are here talking about no frills hospitality in remote or unfashionable places.

 So my instinct is to prefer to make British trips shorter and use that money in Latin America where it goes so much further and the weather is kinder. That's an instinct that beats against a need I have to sustain links with the UK and with the artistic traditions there. But I don't much enjoy being in the UK- there is a robotic quality to the lifestyle, and it seems that every aspect of life if mediated by some authority or other so that little, including the endemic drinking, is truly spontaneous.

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Melrose

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Three Melrose pochades

Melrose is a pleasant, if twee, town in the Scottish Borders,close to the river Tweed and featuring a ruined abbey, elegant gardens and innumerable tea shops.

 It nestles in some hills and is a fine place to go painting, though I think next time I would go up the road to Galashiels where there are more affordable options in terms of hospitality and catering and is a bit less up its own arse. But, had I had more money, I could have stayed in Melrose a month and worked on paintings, easily.

Melrose, a bridge over the Tweed, oil on card, 15.5 x 17.5 cm  available

The fields above the town provided me with material, as did the river. I try to respond frankly to the subject, in an unfussy style. I don`t think it's a sentimental affectation to seek truthfulness in art and to judge its effectiveness by that. 

White houses, Melrose, oil on card, 19 x 17 cm unavailable

I love those white-washed houses that so characterise Scotland. This one is good, it has some of that sadness that so prevails in October in Britain. Should I have gone for more detail?

Hills behind Melrose, oil on card, 17.5 x 18 cm unavailable

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