Oil on canvas. 60 x 60cm
Framed
Bogwood: A small wood about ¼ mile from our house. A haven for wildlife and a place to sit quietly and enjoy whatever mystery unfolds that day. In 2019 there was an abundance of Ringlets and a rhythm in the undergrowth which led to this painting.
Oil on canvas. 31 x 31cm
Framed
Elders, or ‘Fairy Trees’ are always pushing up into the quiet corners around our house, and every year I marvel at the honeyed aroma and delicacy of the umbels of white flowers – as well as the harvest that follows.
Oil on canvas. 60 x 30cm
Framed
Eyarth Rocks: A Butterfly Reserve near Ruthin with Limestone Crags and amazing twisted Elms, Yews and Elders. In this particular spring however, the Hawthorns were the stars of the show, clotted with blossom and dripping with nectar – and fragments of limestone everywhere underfoot.
Oil on canvas. 31 x 61cm
Framed
This painting stems from my fascination with the constant stream of people, from all walks of life, who are attracted to such a mountain; some come to gaze while others need to get to the top. Many jugs, also from far and wide, have ended up in our house and studio, and these vessels have been used in several paintings.
Oil on canvas. 61 x 31cm
Framed
From Walther Vander Vogelweide
Near Llangwm, in an otherwise unremarkable pasture, four Limes grow closely, forming a tight square. Every year there is a fresh covering of intense green and a constant hum from the bees, plundering treasure. Embedded in the branches of one tree a horseshoe is slowly being absorbed. A sense of mystery pervades.
Oil and graphite on panel. 61 x 61cm
Framed
In 1965 the Tryweryn valley and the village of Capel Celyn was drowned to provide water for Liverpool, and the reservoir, Llyn Celyn, was created. The railway was closed and many people lost their homes, but occasionally, when the water level is very low, traces of the village can still be seen.
Oil on canvas. 40 x 83cm
Framed
"The Eisteddfod Genedlaethol is that explosion of music, poetry, theatre, art and literature that erupts every year somewhere in Wales. In 2019 it was almost on our doorstep, and hence the starting point for this painting.
The tiny cinema tent was showing a film on climate change and there is a bell to call time (referencing a celebration of El Bandito, a local wrestling hero) but are enough people listening?"
Oil on canvas. 62 x 82cm
Framed
Aldon Gutter was a new discovery; with its old buildings and some fine mature trees it still retains an archaic quality. This for me is not a bad thing. It seems like an oasis and still has a good mix of interesting flora and fauna which have managed to survive the ravages of time.
Oil on canvas. 66 x 31cm
Framed
Whitcliffe Common, above Ludlow, is one of the few places I know where Goats Beard can still be commonly found. It is a plant, like the dandelion, associated with clocks and the passing of time. The Common is also alive with various other wild meadow plants and grasses. These days, it is an uncommon place.
Oil on canvas. 77 x 36cm
Framed
Caer Caradoc has an appeal that is hard to explain. It obviously has a character and a history all of its own which demands to be contemplated. Each time I climb it I find myself reflecting, not only on Caer Caradoc, but on some aspect of my life also… It must be something to do with the steep slopes, and whilst carrying all my necessary painting gear, the slow plodding required to get up it.
Oil on canvas. 92 x 92cm
Framed
Ynyslas, near Borth, is one of those special places I visit regularly. It is situated at the mouth of the Dovey Estuary. Standing on this spit of sand it seems as if things are timeless and yet everything constantly changes with the ebb and flow of the tide. There is a primordial quality here…..but it is also one of those places listed to ‘not be here any more’ by 2050 due to Sea Level Rise.
Further out, when the tides are low, can be seen the remains of a fossilised forest.
Acrylic on canvas. 80 x 100cm
Unframed
“A memory of hydrangeas. Snippets of conversation in a garden, insects humming. Globes of flowers pink and pale, lambent. Searching in the studio for balance, musicality, depth, lightness of touch, allusion not description. The sense of a Summer’s day, perfect, fleeting.”
Acrylic on canvas. 80 x 100cm
Unframed
“The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land”
Acrylic on canvas. 70 x 100cm
Unframed
“Lockdown. Essential journeys only. The garden gate is closed, stay within the walls. A riot of life lived within these constraints – noise, growth, joy. Quiet nights, white’s glow. I remember the fragrance of night-scented stock, sown by the kitchen door twenty years ago.”
