• About
  • Contact Me
  • Disclosure

accentBritain

~ a romance with art and all things British

accentBritain

Category Archives: Travel

The Carousel

30 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by pat in Art, paintings, Travel

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

carousel, Florence

It seems like a lifetime ago when we were able to freely travel.  Our trip to Florence, Italy was part of one of our typical but still special European visits, with a leisurely stop in England at the beginning and end, but with side trips to Italy and Holland included.

I have been to Florence before, but it is still a favorite spot.  I think of it as golden for the light, for the art, for the people.

And so when I came across this carousel on the square, it was one of those moments when it all seemed to come together in rich detail.

I debated when I took this painting on if I wanted to chose a subject with so much complex detail.  But it was the summer of 2020, with a pandemic and the agony of a country in disarray. It was such an unsettling time. I decided that children waiting their turn on the lovely horses might be just the ticket to take my mind off, well, everything.

I agonized over details, right down to whether to add another pigeon landing at the bottom of the foreground.  I eventually decided he inhibited our gaze to the figures further in and so out he came. He flew away.

This piece was a huge challenge for me, just what I needed to make the long hours of an endless year pass.  It took me to where I wanted to go. A return to socialization and joy in a beautiful, complex world.  I really do miss travel.

The Carousel, Florence  oil, 30 x 24″

Seasons, Hyde Park

07 Saturday Dec 2019

Posted by pat in Art, England, London, paintings, sketching, Travel, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

fall, Hyde Park, trees

Whenever I return to England, there are more than a few places that I want to return to again and again.  High on that list is Hyde Park, on the edge of Notting Hill and Kensington in London.

I’ve gotten to know many of the paths, and love blending in with a morning stroll. Inside the Bayswater Gate, down Broad Walk, and near the hotel we often stay at, there is a magnificent tree that draws my attention no matter what season.

But at the end of autumn when the leaves change and fall…it is magnificent.

I often wonder who will wander beneath it.  In this painting, I have placed a young woman pushing a stroller, which I actually referenced from another photo I took in the Bath Botanical Gardens.

I wanted to make the point of future generations being able to enjoy this same vista. She fit in perfectly.

Once the drama of light and dark is worked out, then to the color. It looks a mess at this stage, but it’s how I work out my palette.

And then it is just layer after layer, building up the detail, keeping the mood. I painted the mother’s coat red to draw the eye to her so she could compete with the magnificent foliage of the tree.

And finally, after weeks of painting, a few stray leaves blowing in the wind to add life and motion to the scene.

“Season’s End (Hyde Park)”, 30 x 24″, oil

English Inspiration

10 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by pat in Art, Art Museums & Exhibitions, Bath, Burnham-on-Crouch, Cornwall, Cornwall, England, Gardens, Grasmere, Lake District, Lake District, London, paintings, sketching, The New Forest, Travel, Uncategorized, United Kingdom

≈ 1 Comment

We’ve just returned from three weeks in the UK, our first visit in 3 years.  For Mike, it was a whirlwind tour of meeting up with friends and family, trying to catch up with all the news and rehash old stories. I love that part of these trips, but for me, my goal was searching for enough painting resources and inspiration to sustain me in to the future.

These trips give me the space and freshness that I rely on for months in my studio work.  Often I revisit my photos years later, and find a new vision that I hadn’t seen before. There is something about having the time to explore an unfamiliar environment, away from the daily routine.  You see things in a different way. Connections are made, insights discovered.

Whether on country strolls, or museum visits in the cities, it re-charges me for months to come.  This time I took close to 500 photos! But often I just walked and breathed in the images.

We started in Kent, in the Southeast corner of Great Britain and found a great bolt hole between Dover and Canterbury.  It was a beautiful resort, the Broome Park Hotel. Although promoted as a “Golf Resort and Wedding Venue” tucked in to the countryside, I found glorious walks in the early morning across the surrounding fields with no one else around except the birds and sheep. We had a “lodge” on the grounds with two bedrooms a living room and a washer and dryer!  A real bonus for European travel.  And we could walk to the pub in the main manor house at night along the fields for dinner. It was a mid-week bargain, and we could catch up on sleep.

Revived, we found time for a wonderful visit with family in Essex,

and joined up with old sailing mates at the Southampton Boat Show.

And then it was back to the countryside – The New Forest and the Montagu Arms.  The wild horses roam the streets in this unenclosed pastureland, heathland and forest, both in the countryside and through the towns and villages. On one of our very first trips to England together, Mike took me to The New Forest as a special treat, and I still love it.  Perfect weather that first week also helped. Mid-70s and sunny!  Could this really be September in England?

A quick stop at one of my favorite spots, Bath, then we were on our way to Cornwall and St. Ives, a north coast town that is now home to Tate St. Ives Art Museum. It was a challenge to park in the hilly, seaside town and make it down cobblestone streets with luggage in tow to our Inn, The Lifeboat. But when we got there it was worth the challenge. Reception told us it is a right of passage to deal with parking and luggage in St. Ives.  We succeeded, barely, but the reward was a room facing the sea right on the front.

We loved it here.  It was filled with galleries and art for me, and boats and pubs for Mike. It is a huge haven for artists with The Tate in the center of it all.  The exhibitions at the museum focus on the history of many local artists who came here during WWII to escape the bombings in London, and ended up starting a fresh new art colony. The tradition continues with studios tucked everywhere, many of them open during this autumn “Arts Week”.


Mike found a fabulous place in the backstreets of St.Ives, “Olives”, and we did a “lunch” of scones and cake and tea that was to die for. There were winding roads all through the town filled with many surprises, and we often just wandered, seeing where the twisted narrow roads would take us. It was a joy to explore, always looking for a new sea view for dinner.

Finally, we went down to the south side of Cornwall to visit and catch up with more family, and rediscover one of our favorite spots, Charlestown. I actually drove that day from St. Ives to Charlestown on those teeny tiny roads, roundabouts, and confusing lanes through the Cornish country. But we made it without a scratch!

The weather was changing, and fierce winds blew us along our walks from our Inn down the lane to the sea.

We then headed up the west side of England in the rain, across Bodmin Moor

and after a stop in the Cotswolds at a familiar site…The Hare and Hounds…

we were off to the north and The Lake District.

We had four days in the Wordsworth Inn in Grasmere and although the weather finally turned showery and cloudy after over a week of sunshine (very un-British) we didn’t mind. It’s the grey country, after all. And it’s what makes everything so lush and green.

I had brought my rain coat and “brollie” and managed to walk every day, visiting old haunts and discovering new inspiration.

After the best break ever, we headed back down south through Cambridge, home of one of my favorite art museums, The Fitzwilliam, and a room with a view of the punts on the River Cam.

Then on to visit friends at Burnham-on-Crouch, Mike’s old sailing hub,

and finally the last 5 days in London.  Phew!

London meant The National Gallery, The National Portrait Gallery, and The Royal Academy.

We did Notting Hill, Piccadilly, Kensington and Hyde Park…and I even took a rainy afternoon to see a matineee of “Downton Abbey”.  What could be more appropriate.

We even managed to fit in Sunday Roast with friends in the center of London.

Finally Heathrow, and home! To paint…where to even begin?

Now starts the time of looking for connections, sorting through images, thinking of patterns and context of not just the visual images but also the stories that connect us all.  The depth and underlying currents are just as important to me as the visual beauty of our world. Country lanes and city streets with the background sounds of Brexit on the news.  I am already looking forward to the studio season.

Long Hot Summer

09 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by pat in Art, Art Museums & Exhibitions, Books, paintings, sketching, Travel, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

Blue Mountain Lake, conte crayon, graphite, Jardin des Tuileries, Norfolk Coast UK, pastel

I normally think I prefer the winter months to work in my studio.  It’s cozy inside hiding from the cold.  But this summer, I find I am also  retreating from the heat in to my studio.  And I have decided instead of my usual oils I wanted to try something new.  So I have returned to conte, graphite and pastels.

Blue Mountain Lake, 11 x 14, conte and graphite on paper

It is like visiting a dear friend whom you haven’t seen in a long time.  It takes a bit of time to pick up the rhythm, but then it slips into the familiar.  Such joy.

Norfolk Coast Dunes, 11 x 14″, conte and graphite on paper

Part of the fun is I get to spend hours going through my images.  I always only work from my own photos, so each journey in to the past allows me to relive the beauty of my travels.  That always seems to be where I find the best inspiration.  The unfamiliar invites wonder.

Jardin des Tuileries,  11 x 14″, pastel on paper

Paris, England, the Adirondacks, Shenandoah…each has its own appeal. And how do I approach the subject?  I have a general idea in my head.  I look at my collection of art books or borrow from my local library for a gentle push of my creative brain…Hockney, Kahn, Bonnard, Porter, Twombley, Van Gogh, Whistler. A quick trip in to the city to an art museum always helps, and often creates its own subject matter.

There are so many great artists to learn from, but my own style always pushes through all the influences. I find the space where I am comfortable, the stroke of the chalk that makes me happy, the color palette that brings me contentment.

I push through the frustration when things just don’t work right.  I don’t give up easily.

Sometimes I only find completion when I’ve given up all hope, and just don’t care if I “ruin” it or not. That’s often when it takes flight.

June (Kousa Dogwood), 11 x 14, pastel on paper

 

Everything is all right in my studio, whatever the season.

 

 

Will the trees still be here tomorrow?

06 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by pat in Art, Bath, England, Gardens, paintings, sketching, Travel, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bath Botanical Gardens

I think about the destiny of the natural world for the next generations. With the climate change prognosis so uncertain, I worry that we will miss the window of opportunity to protect such diversity and beauty. I hope it is not slipping away.

My two young grandnieces are the future. They love the outdoors and see it all with that new sense of wonder so common in the young.

I had visited Bath, in the UK, a few years ago in November, when the leaves were falling and everything had a muted, mysterious end of season look to it.

Walking through the botanical gardens, I came across these birch trees, hanging on to their last leaves, framing a gorgeous color palette of greens, rusts and gold.  I had noticed a woman pushing a baby carriage earlier and decided to place her moving in to the distance of this scene.  My nieces, Lilly and Abby, became my models from a photo their mom had taken in a different setting.  I placed them in to this park, put fall jackets on them and had them enter this special space.

This was a difficult one to get the sense of shadowed uncertainty I wanted, but still keep it fresh and hopeful.  I hope I succeeded.

Note my last, final changes in the small details.  There is always a moment when I am not sure I am finished and spend time, often days, just looking, thinking, looking again at other artists work (Doig, Wyeth, Wiesenfeld, Celaya) and making those final decisions that mean it is finished.

I added a leaf over the girls’ head, and a falling leaf between them and the viewer, changed the tone of the green lawn, some subtle rays of sunshine and edited Abby’s hat to be smaller and less “matched” to her jacket.  I was finally finished telling the story.

“Will The Trees Still Be Here Tomorrow”, oil on linen, 40 x 30″

 

 

Hidden Away

15 Saturday Jul 2017

Posted by pat in Art, Bath, England, paintings, sketching, Travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Castle Combe, oil painting

My newest painting “Behind The Hedge” came about a few seasons after I visited a charming village near Bath, England, called Castle Comb. This often happens.  I will re-visit images from past travels.  Certain ones always seem to leap out again and again, and finally I find the time to paint them.

A special place stays amazingly fresh in my memory. This particular morning, after a stroll through the idyllic village, I walked past a hedge that was still changing color in early November.  The colors, the hidden cottage and the water rushing nearby all made for a very fairytale like scene. It was one of many hidden gems throughout the small historic village that seems to have escaped changing times.

It took me a few years, but I have re-visited the images of Castle Combe in the heat of a Washington DC summer, and can almost feel the cool, damp air and smell the fire smoke coming from chimneys.

I have been thinking more and more recently of re-visiting some of these English landscapes that I love.

They are so joyfully simple and beautiful. And the foliage and trees, especially for this late fall visit, offer an incredible palette of soothing color.

A magical escape.

“Behind the Hedge”, 14 x 11″, oil on linen

Life in Venice

14 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by pat in Art, Art Museums & Exhibitions, paintings, sketching, Travel, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

Italy, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

On our summer trip to Venice, we were overwhelmed by the crowds of tourists pouring through the narrow passageways and squares. The canals were no better.

img_3289

We finally found peace in The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, an oasis in a wild world. I observed two visitors who also found this retreat magnetic.

img_3588 img_3597

This museum was the art patron Peggy Guggenheim’s former residence.  Both the interior and exterior views were fascinating…therefore, Looking In and Looking Out, two small 10 x 10″ canvases that capture my experience in some small way.

img_3635

img_3611

The interior was room after room of exquisite paintings that this intriguing woman had collected over her lifetime, set in the quiet rooms she lived in. And yet when you went to any window, or stepped outside on the patio facing the canal with its boisterous traffic of gondolas and commercial boats, you saw the craziness of the Venice world through the most beautiful dark black grill work.

img_3596 img_3631

These two small works are little oil sketches I did exploring the two sides of this fascinating museum.  If you get to Venice, put it at the top of your list.

Teach your children well

20 Thursday Oct 2016

Posted by pat in Art, Art Museums & Exhibitions, paintings, sketching, Travel, Uncategorized, United Kingdom

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

Cambridge, Cambridge University, Fitzwilliam Museum

No matter what museum I am in, in any city, I will almost certainly see a group of school children visiting the galleries with their teachers and often a docent from the museum.

img_3615

The Art Lesson just happens to be a scene I witnessed in the UK, at the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University. But it could have been at any great museum.

img_3623

The Museum itself is imposing, and when you enter you see cavernous ceilings, long halls lined in marble and a beautiful and eclectic collection of paintings.

img_3636

When I first walked in to this gallery of impressionist paintings, there was an energetic group of children loudly roaming all over this particular space. But they soon calmed down and took their place on the floor in front of the paintings. And there they stayed surrendering to the art.

img_3651

The casually relaxed children were clearly in stark contrast to the formal gilded trim and marble columns.  But with a certain intensity, they finally found peace with their surroundings.

 

img_3778

I could relate to these children.  I have often wanted to sit on the floor in front of a great painting and just let the images speak for themselves.

Port Isaac, aka Doc Martin’s Port Wenn

29 Sunday May 2016

Posted by pat in Cornwall, England, Travel, Uncategorized, United Kingdom

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

Doc Martin, Port Isaac, Portwenn

We love the British tv series Doc Martin.  It reminds us so much of our visits to the southwest coast of England.  This trip, we decided to visit the series’ filming location in person, on the north coast of Cornwall near Tintagel (the legendary location of King Arthur’s Court).

IMG_3211

It was a chilly, gray late spring day.  Typical for England.  And the village of Port Isaac (aka Port Wenn) was empty before the big bank holiday weekend coming up.

IMG_3207

We parked in the lot on the outskirts of town and headed down the hill to the town, hugging the coastline. As we turned the curve, things looked awfully familiar.

IMG_3202

The first thing we could pick out was Doc Martin’s surgery, and Burt’s “Large Restaurant”, although of course both were not really what they are on the British comedy series.

IMG_3205

Mike thought it looked very quiet and not like the show at all.

IMG_3206

The streets and shops were almost empty, the cast and crew nowhere to be seen on the quiet streets.

IMG_3210

I saw exactly what I expected, a typical Cornish fishing village that sometimes served as a movie set for a famous popular TV show.

IMG_3209

We headed back up the hill to our car for the hour drive to visit my beloved Brit’s cousins in St. Austell on the south coast.

IMG_3213

Magic.

Paris Street Music

07 Sunday Jun 2015

Posted by pat in Art, paintings, sketching, Travel, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

La Comedie Francaise, musicians, Paris

Only in Paris…classical musicians hawk their wares (or CDs) outside La Comedie Francaise, just a few short blocks from The Louvre Art Museum.

Image 3

As I walked back to my hotel after visiting the Louvre, I heard the uplifting sound of strings in a nearby plaza. Edged by grand arched buildings sheltering cafes, people were sitting outside in the cool spring air listening to the musicians.  It was lovely.

Image 5I have had the photo of this scene taped up on my studio wall for over a year, and would often study it.  I loved the graphic pattern of the musicians against the red, gray and white backdrop.

Image

But even more, I loved the individuality of the musicians, sitting or standing amongst their cases and bags, concentrating on the music with looks of serene joy. There is nothing like an artist practicing their craft.

Image 2

Each musician had such a distinct personality. I found as I worked on them, I got to know each one, and made up nicknames for each.

Image 4

As I worked from left to right filling in the details, I got to know each one and their precious instruments.  I had never sketched or painted musical instruments before.  It was a struggle, but also an education…the different shapes, the different shades of wood.  And each player had their own stance that did suit the personalities I had conjured up.

Image 1

I wanted to create a rhythm and a visual movement to match the music I could hear in my head reminiscent of when I had actually been with them on that Paris street.

Image 6

With the unfathomable violence this past year in Paris, it made this scene even more serene and poignant in my memory.

Image 4

Each figure had a certain wistfulness.  Were they lost in the music or their own private musings?

Image

I would never really know for sure.

But it is rather like my paintings.  Each viewer will put their own story to it, create their own scenario surrounding the particular scene and figures.  Reality is always in the eye of the beholder.  If only that interpretation could always be peaceful.

Image_2

Like the “violet girl”, the details would build our understanding of the individual until they become more real, if only in our own mind.

Image 7

This painting took a very long time to paint for me.  It was two months of almost daily work.  Many hours were spent studying the figures and deciding how they worked alone and together, before completing the background.

Image - Version 2

Finally, like a good orchestra, it all worked together in harmony.

Image

Paris Street Music, 36 x 24″, oil on linen.

 

← Older posts

♣ Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 27 other subscribers

♣ Archives

  • January 2021
  • September 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • July 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • July 2017
  • April 2017
  • February 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011

♣ Recent Posts

  • A glimmer of light
  • The Carousel
  • Wetlands in Orange and Blue
  • The Baker
  • Scones, Cake and Tea

♣ Categories

  • Art
  • Art Museums & Exhibitions
  • Bath
  • Books
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Burnham-on-Crouch
  • cars
  • Cornwall
  • Cornwall
  • England
  • entertainment
  • Fashion
  • Food
  • Gardens
  • Grasmere
  • Guana Island
  • History
  • Lake District
  • Lake District
  • London
  • movies
  • Music
  • National Trust
  • Olympics
  • paintings
  • Peak District
  • Sailing
  • Scotland
  • Shopping
  • sketching
  • The New Forest
  • The Royal Family
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • United Kingdom

♣ my button

accentbritain.com
<a href="http://accentbritain.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://accentbritain.com/accentBritainbutton.jpeg" alt="accentBritain.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>
Copyright 2011 accentBritain LLC. All rights reserved. All original photos, text and art is copyright protected.

Proudly powered by WordPress Theme: Chateau by Ignacio Ricci.