It was good to get in front of my easel yesterday. What with moving, holidays and winter weather, inspiration has been hard to find. However I have a demonstration for a local art society coming up in a couple of weeks so realised I would have to do something pretty quick. Whether it was this deadline that sharpened my mind or what I couldn't say but out of the blue inspiration struck. We now live out in the midst of the glorious Yorkshire Wolds so every journey home is now on a country road. One of the few good things about cold winter days (for a painter that is!) is that the sun starts to set early in the afternoon and on our way home we found ourselves driving straight into a fabulous sunset. I had to paint it and this is my recollection of the entire journey home - a distillation if you like, of all the wonderful things that so inspired me from the colours in the sky and road down to the puddles all along the side of it. I am very pleased with the way it has turned out and, with spirits lifted, am now looking forward to meeting up with Bridlington Art Society on February 5th.
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This is an oldie that I have found again while sorting through old photos and files. I'm not sure what happened to the original but I've a few more boxes to sort yet.The subject (believe it or not!) was the incredible display of rhododendrons in an old Edwardian garden near where I used to live. I think I got a bit distracted because the flowers, such as they are, have been swamped by the colours and techniques I was experimenting with at the time. I used plenty of masking fluid, lots of wet on wet washes and sprinkles of salt to get those interesting textures. Finally a bit of red and wash out the sunbeams "et voila!" as Monet must have said. I have to confess that I like it more now than I did at the time!
Hidden away in the deep East Arncliff Woods near the North Yorkshire Moors village of Danby is a mysterious stone which has the power to grant wishes. In bygone days maids (and lads too I suspect) would secretly go and stand on the stone to make a wish for a rich and handsome partner to marry and other blessings such as wealth and long life. The problem is that over the years the exact location of this stone has been lost. So it's lying there somewhere waiting to be rediscovered and start granting wishes again. A good few years ago Merice and I spent a happy afternoon strolling through these lovely woods armed with a copy of an old photograph by Frank Sutcliffe. He was one of the very first photographers to chronicle the life and times of life in Victorian Britain. He was based in Whitby and the surrounding area and claimed his photo featured the ancient stone. We reckoned this was the nearest match we could find. The photograph was over a hundred years old so the scene was very overgrown. I had to do a bit of 'pruning' for my painting and here it is - "The Wishing Stone". Now if you fancy having a look for it yourself just park near Beggar's Bridge and head up into the woods following the old 'stone trod' - another two legends before you even set off......good luck! More 'legends' by Glenn Marshall
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AuthorProfessional artist now semi retired and enjoying being eccentric! Archives
September 2022
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