Monday 28 January 2013

Old Houses and Rooftops








It's cold, grey and wet here and not much fun out so I chose to paint these higgledy piggledy old houses from a photo I took a couple of years ago.  The antique terracotta tiles are so colourful especially when you can view them from above.

This little town has winding roads and steps to get up and down the hill  giving lots of interesting view points.  Of course having a medieval castle in the middle of  town is always a bonus!




Monday 21 January 2013

Fly Away Peter, Fly Away Paul























Looking out of my kitchen window my eye was caught by a large flock of birds (starlings I think) all sitting along some old electric wires that span the valley. 
The next morning the birds were all there again but this time sitting in a large pine tree in front of my house.  They were making a real racket but as I opened my door, suddenly they all stopped in unison.  It went eerily quiet for a few seconds... I stood and waited then the noise started up again, obviously it had been decided that I wasn't a threat.  

Thursday 17 January 2013

On Top of the World (almost)


















I climbed to the top of the hill behind my house, the road is steep... very steep.
From the top you can look down on a nearby town, the same town that normally I look
up at from down in my valley.
A good way to make the most of a beautiful morning!

Monday 14 January 2013

Lost in Time



















Down a back street in a run-down part of the city you can find some beautiful buildings but they are totally unloved.
This boarded up 'palazzo' dominates a little square, but it's not an area where you would like to linger.  Who knows who once lived here and how the square once looked.  It has a lovely little fountain in the middle  and I'm told that the square is very lively in the evenings but I'm not sure I want to find out nor will I be walking the backstreets at night!

Wednesday 9 January 2013

Blue Bottle



Oil on stretched canvas,20x20cms

























No not the fly type of 'blue bottle' but a little oil painting of a bottle and jar I have at home on a granite shelf.
Now I know how hard it is to paint granite! 

Saturday 5 January 2013

Slower Pace of Life






















There's a little fishing village not faraway where you will always find someone has a card game going on a makeshift table between the  fishing boats pulled up nearly onto the road.




Or just standing around chatting as the sun comes down.
I've sketched some of them more than once and even noticed that the man on the right in the top sketch has grown  bit fatter over the years....if only they knew they were being observed!

Wednesday 2 January 2013

Metal Apples
























Not real fruit, just some Christmas decorations made of  fake gold metal.  I wanted to try my new paints and these were the first things I found.  They had just enough colour reflected in the metal to satisfy my desire to try out all the little pans of colours.