Saturday 4 April 2009

Old slate quarries, water, reflections and woods


update on the waterways project: Vivien

I've been looking at those old flooded slate quarries and the reflections in the water. We've had some lovely spring weather and the sky was a vivid blue so the water was too :>)

3 of these are of the little quarry near Swithland Woods. It's on private land so it's impossible to get different viewpoints. The reeds and tangled branches against the blue water are Groby Pool, a much larger ex-slate-quarry that has been dammed and is a lovely wild life reserve.

I'm really enjoying these and with the warmer weather hope to get out and do more sketching as soon as possible.

The coloured pencil one is too 'tight' I prefer the watercolour and I'm planning a 40 inch square canvas of those calligraphic reeds and branches against the rippling blue water of Groby Pool.

I've just come back, exhausted, from a very good exhibition of watercolours at the Mall Galleries in London - well worth visiting, with some lovely inspirational pieces. Also some naff ones and good paintings spoilt by truly AWFUL framing but lots of interesting stuff in a very diverse range of styles and concepts.

6 comments:

Making A Mark said...

I still really really like that very strong one at the end. For me it sits somewhere halfway between your series on birches and the one of the vertical strips of the coastline.

Lindsay said...

Lovely to see all of these together and I can't wait to see your large canvas. Your trees are always so lyrical.

annie said...

I agree with Katherine and Lindsay about that painting and your lyrical trees. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I have never seen such lyrical tangles. As a child, I use to explore, with my dogs, those Long Island tangles that lie in an area between marshland and suburbia. They fascinated me (and the dogs who greeted each one with muddy bliss). So it awes me to see how you always untangle the tangles into great patterns, and also capture the atmosphere of places so full of light and reflections.
annie

Gesa said...

These are beautiful - there is something so rich in the marks and hues... very energetic. It looks you´ve been very busy. And the ponds are great inspirations. Very nice!!!

Laura Frankstone said...

I'm in love with every one of these!! Each is so graceful, so full of the kind of calligraphic shapes I like so much. Your color range is so wide, your mark making so various---there is are very compelling and very, very lovely.

vivien said...

Thank you everyone :>)

Lyrical I like!