British trip - London, Green Park

*

Green Park, London, Avenue, oil on card, 24 x 30 cm   SOLD

There is only one picture from London.

 But it is a good one- of Green Park- the simplest and most graceful park of central London`s parks.

*

British trip- Oban

*

Oban

Oban, afternoon, September, in carrier oil on card, c. 28 x 24 cm   SOLD

My painting above is shown as it was displayed in it`s carrier at the recent exhibion in Gallery 5595, Portobello. The carriers are very popular with viewers.

Oban, evening September 2019, No. 2,

 oil on card, 21 x 17.2 cm unavailable

Oban, morning, oil on card, c. 21 x 17. cm (available)

The rain and wind were so bad in Oban, so much so that I was more or less confined to my bed and breakfast room except for occasional excursions for meals.

All this was something of a pity as the surrounding landscapes are quite magnificent and the town itself is charming.

I painted the following, however from the comfort of my room, very much in the way of Monet, following the times of the day. Usually I don't think of myself as a painter of light effects. I think of myself as more attentive to colour and shapes, so to work from this position is a little unusual for me.

*

British Trip, 2019 - Glasgow, travel and painting

*

Paintings from Glasgow

 A bridge over the River Kelvin, oil on card, c. 28 x 24 cm unavailable

Trees, River Kelvin, Glasgow

 oil on card, c. 19 x 17 cm    SOLD

This, above, was photographed in its carrier and you can perhaps make out the pegs holding it in place/

 A synagogue, Glasgow, oil on card, c. 18 x 22 cm  aVAILABLE

My  last picture was painted from the south side, specifically Cook Street, on a brilliantly sunny day.

Warehouse, Cook street, oil on card, c. 24 x  29 cm - unavailable

My time painting in Glasgow was hampered by rain- a real pity as I would have enjoyed having had more time to explore this strange city, so full of absences,  in painting. Ergo, I spent my time in Art Galleries and wandering around. I shall post some photos of these visits later. 

But all the trips are incomplete, necessarly so, every place having an infinity of facets and my own subjectivities varying besides. For this reason I have been exploring fewer and fewer completely new places, instead revisiting to add to existing explorations. 

In the context of such thoughts, I question the upcoming Ecuador trip, wondering if it might be wiser to go back to Peru to revisit previous locations. There is an additional argument for revisiting, which is that a large part of what is stressful about travel revolves around basic matters such as finding hotels, orientating oneself and suchlike, and these travails are lessened.

 I am a rotten traveler and dislike much of the experience. But I`d rather travel than stagnate artistically or in character .

Please note that as these pictures are in Scotland, and I forgot to measure them, I have only approximate sizes for them. The margin of error is low, however..

*

Pine forest, Ordiequish

*

 

Pine forest, Ordiequish, oil on card, 12 x 10 cm  - available

This was painted some years ago in Scotland.

It wasn`t put on Blogger then but I can`t think why not.  As time passes I can see more clearly which of my pochades is successful and which are weaker, and this seems to fall in to the former group.

*

British trip, 2019 -Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire- three paintings

*

An oak, Drum, oil on card, 30 x 25 cm - available

Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire

These were painted in Drum Castle grounds, and on the beach promenade in Aberdeen itself.

I`d like to have spent more time going out to Drum as the variety of vegetation and views it offers is so rich. The light is both clear and soft. In the mornings it was sunny but then invariably it became overcast.

View from Drum south, oil on card, c. 30 x 24.5 cm SOLD

Aberdeen, beach promenade, oil on card, c. 29 x 23.6 cm - available

The picture was photographed in its carrier- you can perhaps make out the wire clip holding it in place at the top edge.

*

British trip, 2019

*

In the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral

I went all over, from London to Canterbury to Aberdeen to Glasgow to Oban then Edinburgh and London.  

I didn`t do much painting either because of the weather or because I was involved with the Exhibition at Gallery 5595, in Edinburgh, or socialising.

My trip to Oban was a foolish. I knew that it rained heavily there, but I ignored this because the place offers such glorious scenic variety. In future, when visiting people in Scotland, I'll also get a cheap flight to Spain, thus ensuring some days solid painting.

But there are nice paintings from  Aberdeenshire, Oban, Glasgow, and London.

The exhibition was a success and I will publish photos over the next few days.

 I also enjoyed seeing British art collections, and special exhibitions and meeting people I hadn`t seen for ages. 

*

Painting in the woods

*

Painting in the woods

I reckon most of these were painted in the afternoon. I didn't plan it that way, it is just how it happens because of my schedule and because it is somehow easier to go painting after lunch.

It`s not a long drive- up the motorway then curving swiftly inland and down that a winding unpaved road from Vargem Grande to Rio Vermelho. 

It takes just over half an hour, but it`s long enough to satisfy that need for a sense of transition between one place and other which is both a need for a ritual and also a process that allows me to arrive in a different state of mind before working. The journey is a transition to my work. The ritual is a way of possessing the work and the place, slowly pulling thoughts together. While I'm driving my mood often changes from annoyance or despair to a more constructive emotion. 

But I rarely leave the location much happier except for the feeling that I have at least tried, because so much of the work misses the mark. But that's the game, to fail and continue. The process of mixing colours is very enjoyable and a compensation for failure. I try to experiment with one thing or another each session- a new colour mixture or format or place or composition. That way even if the work is a failure at least I have learnt something.

I usually work in or at the edges of an area of planted pines which are close into the forest entry. The spacing of the trees is fairly regular and this contributes to the calm. The orderliness of the space is very gratifying as are the limited colours -russets, pinks and emerald greens. The slender trunks rise beautifully and they are not so closely packed to be indistinguishable. Their spacing varies here and there as does their maturity. Here and there a tree has fallen, as if to make some declaration. 

Excessive order is not gratifying, but sterile. In these woods there are also undulations of the land, occasional clearings and paths. But it is peaceful indeed especially in contrast to the natural forest which is much more anarchic and jungly.

Nobody bothers me much when I am working, which is a real plus, though there are some idiots who drive motorbikes through the woods to get to the sea that lies on the other side. There are also people who talk very loudly and their voices echo unpleasantly. And there are dogs which bark and this is not nice at all. I want to immerse myself in the woods, like a character in Hamsun. I need to be alone to follow my thoughts.

Basically this is as happy as I get in life. To paraphrase Matthew Parris (as I can't remember the original quote or where to find it)  a positive aspect of aging, and a compensation for the loss of energy or the sense of failure that any imaginative or normally ambitious person is likely to feel, is that one knows oneself and the world better and thus knows what works for one and what doesn't. Of course, that might lead to a lifeless conservatism in taste or action and one should indeed challenge oneself occasionally. But even in such forays into the new one departs from a point more secure than in one does in youth and the experience is more likely to be received positively. 

*