Adventures in colour in Varanasi 1

I arrived back in London over a fortnight ago and still digesting the dazzling and wonderful colours, movement and light that India has in copious amounts!

Varanasi from the Ganges

It is the most inspiring of places and I was lucky enought to be with the most inspiring group of painters. 

Varanasi was electric; I have described it as sticking your fingers into a plug socket! The energy is extraordinary; colour is bright and harmonies and clashes unexpected.

Crowds, Prayag Ghat, Varanasi

You can never expect anything to stay still for long and have to make decisions fast!

By the Rashmi Guest House

I will be putting up the work in a series of different blogs but here is a selection:

Flags and Crowds, Dasaswamedh Ghat

Bathing , Prayag,  Varanasi

Washing and railings, Prayag Ghat

Work post India. London Spring and Chelsea football

The painting trip to Varanasi has sharpened me up to the colours of London! I was lucky enough to arrive back just as spring was beginning.  Spring brings very subtle colours and I've been seeking out the electric, bright ones in the spectrum.

On Saturday I pastelled the Chelsea crowds at Stamford Bridge.  The light was fantastic and the blues on the Souvenir stand were magnificent

Chelsea Match Day, Crowds Arriving

The noise from the stands as Chelsea scored 6-nil win was deafening.  Nothing could prepare me for the crowds leaving the stadium into the brightly lit Fulham road.  It was rather quieter than I was expecting but the atmosphere was fantastic.

Crowds leaving the stadium, Stamford Bridge

The light in march has been good and there have been some great sunrises and sunsets.

First light, Old Church Street, Chelsea

Bolton Gardens, Earls Court, late afternoon

Even when the light is dull and fading, the flowers glow.

Narcissi, Kensington Palace, Late Afternoon

 Daffodils, Tite Street

This is the small board I have done for Wimbledon Art Studios open show in May www.wimbledonartstudios.co.uk

Back from India!

Work from Varanasi to follow - what an incredible place!

London at Christmas, Medici Winter Show

A long time has passed since my last blog - it's been perhaps the busiest I have known in my painting life - I have participated in five shows, from Medici in Cork street to my Wimbledon studio show.  It's been a great and inspiring autumn too - the light has been superb and I have been out and about loitering under lamp posts working away.

A selection of Regent street lights will be in the Medici Winter Show, Cork Street 10 December - 30 January  (www.medicigallery.co.uk/next_show.htm)

 I  am working on a series of Christmas lights at the moment in the run up to Christmas.  London is ablaze with dazzling colour and looks glorious.  One of the advantages is the constant light, which just doesn't happen during the day,.  A disadvantage is the cold! It is happily a lot milder than last year but thermals feature. I pastelled away at the opening of the Oxford Street lights - they are amazing this year - snowballs careering around the street.

On Friday I went to Trafalgar square - I enjoyed the contrast of the tree lights against the silhouette of the lion. It's always a surprise to find out how big those lions are

Future work will include Bond street, Sloane Square and ice skating and will be posted up shortly.

In October I went to Dubai and found the new architecture astounding in scale and ambition - so exciting!  The light was was very beautiful.  I was, however, much in my discomfort zone - it was something I had never seen before.  More images to follow.

Dubai

Dubai Old Fort

Dubai Creek, late afternoon light

 

 

Sheik Zayed Road, Dubai  at Night

Burjaman, Dubai

Late Summer Light and new exhibitions - Thames Festival, Pump House Gallery, Battersea Park 4-15 September

The summer has sped past quickly and it's rather a surprise to find myself well into September.  There has been some glorious weather and I've been out and about around the west end of London.  I love the noise and excitement of the place - from the bustle of crowds to large red buses.  The light was particularly dazzling in Oxford Street last week.

Oxford Street, late summer afternoon

 There was not a moment to waste! Lights change and traffic moves on!  It forced me to utterly concentrate - strangely enough I found it rather peaceful as everything else needs to be blocked out.

One of the things I most love about London is the early morning - when the day is just starting and people are on their way to work.  I find mornings so positive - life is starting anew.

Piccadilly, Early Morning towards the Ritz

Parliament Square, Early Morning

 

 

In contrast to Piccadilly and Oxford street I have also been along the South Bank.  I feel that this is the nearest equivalent to Paris we have got.   I love the laid back, holiday feel of the place as well as the sheer joy of the arts. 

Under Waterloo Bridge, afternoon

Under Hungerford Bridge, late afternoon light

This selection of  work will be going into Cityscapes show at Medici Gallery, Cork Street, 3-31st October http://www.medicigallery.co.uk/next_show.htm

I am also exhibiting my Pageant work at the Pump House Gallery, Battersea Park 4-15 september.   This is part of the Thames Festival. http://thamesfestival.org/events/info/artists-of-the-river-pageant.  There are works by 50 different painters and it is well worth a visit as it conjures up one of the most spectacular river events ever witnessed on the Thames.  There has been some good press coverage too: http://www.itv.com/news/london/2013-09-03/jubilee-river-pageant-art-goes-on-display/

The jewel of the exhibition is by Julian Barrow, a very great painter who will be horribly missed.

Pintar Rapido and in and around Chelsea

The weather has finally turned and I've been lucky enough to get out and seize the light!  A few weeks ago I was beginning to think London was permanently cloudy and cold (I wore my winter clothes and a hat at the end of June).  The flags were up on the Mall for Trooping the Colour and the Coronation.  I was reconciled to greys and enjoyed it in the skies and flags. Sunday, I have learned, is the best time to be out there as the Mall is closed off to traffic.

I have pastelled in Chelsea too, in streets around the Royal Hospital.  The early morning and evening colours have been a delight to explore.

On Saturday I participated in Pintar Rapido, a painting festival around Kensington and Chelsea.  Work painted on Saturday, between 9am and 8pm was framed and exhibited on Sunday in Chelsea Town Hall. 
It was a magnificent sight to see - masses of painters along the Embankment and Sloane Square.  It was also a great opportunity to discuss and share plein air ideas.  I got terrible easel envy.

I relished the challenge and produced 3 pastels. I put the second one in.  The atmosphere was amazing and I'll certainly participate in more. 

Burton Court, Chelsea Early Morning Light

Ormonde Gate, Mid Afternoon

Chelsea Embankment, Early Evening

Mall - Trooping the Colour

Artists of the Pageant, Turner's House, Twickenham 4-16 June and Chelsea Flower Show

It's been a busy couple of weeks with the studio show and preparation for others.  The weather has been pretty terrible so it has been difficult to get out and work - not such a bad thing with all the admin that needs to be done.

It was however a brilliant Bank Holiday weekend and I was lucky enough to be in Chelsea for the final day of the Flower Show.  Sloane Square was bedecked with bunting and surrounding shops had some brilliant displays.

Sloane Square with Flower Show bunting (in progress)

One of the best sights in Chelsea has to be the crowds leaving the show, arms full of plants and brilliant flowers - a huge variety in shape and colour.  I was there last year and it has a ring of Palm Sunday about it.   I set up my easel in Sloane Gardens, a short cut to the tube station and worked straight into the light. There was a palpable sense of fun but I had to work quickly!

Crowds leaving the flower show (in progress)

Onwards and upwards.... Artists of the Pageant opens next week at Turner's House in Twickenham (www.turnerintwickenham.org.uk).  I was one of the 20 artists on the City of London School roof last year recording the Flotilla.

Below is part of the Press Release which outlines this unique and exciting exhibition: 

Artists of the Pageant

Twenty Artists present on the occasion of  the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in an exhibition to be held at JMW Turner's House, Sandycombe Lodge in Twickenham to coincide with the 60th anniversary of  the Queen's Coronation (free, open daily 10am to 4pm from 4 to16 June, except closed 10th June)

There will be paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures responding to the extraordinary atmosphere of  the day and the flotilla of  boats by artists, principally from the Princes Drawing School, from the roof of City of  London School beside the Millennium Bridge.  Timothy Hyman RA, Susan Wilson and Andrew Wilton are among the artists who recorded the event and follow earlier artists who have been inspired by the London Thames; from Canaletto to Turner, Whistler and Kokoschka.

‘Rain poured down and splashed around our feet as we worked. Students from City of  London School held umbrellas but still the paper got extremely wet. Andrew Wilton reminded me of Turner and made a quip to the effect that like Turner, who ran paper under the tap, the rain was doing the same for me. I had to work fast, really fast to get the images which sped on down the river from me’  Susan Wilson

'On the day we were privileged with the roof of  City of  London School. Suspended over London, the artists were an eye over the crowds, boats and colours of  the event. The excitement was only heightened by the rain,which gave the artists a near biblical determination to capture the events of  the day in whatever material they had. Painters and draftsman stood to easel, picking colour and form from the motion below, while a large collaborative mural, filmed in stop motion, provided a fun and warming exercise' Daisy Millner

JMW Turner is one of  the greatest British painters and his house, located near the River, is
an ideal place for these works which were started at the Pageant, now finished in honour of
the Queen's Coronation.

Please see www.thamescapes.com for further information and details