Plein Air painting days in London

11th September, Soho Square

As part of an ongoing publicity campaign to advertise our forth coming show Capturing the Moment
Haidee-Jo Summers and I planned a couple of paint out days in London.
The first was in Soho Square on 11th September. I created an event on Facebook and was surprised how quickly word spread. On the day about 50 artists turned up to paint, I was a bit concerned as we hadn't approached anyone for any permits but all was fine.

Felicity House working on a lovely pastel

Haidee and I in the middle.
We finally got to paint an hour before the end,
we'd been very busy talking to all the artists

At the end of the day,
comparing notes and planning to go off to the
nearest pub for a well earned drink and bite to eat

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and said how they were looking forward to the next Paint Out.

10th October St James's Park

The success of the first paint out soon spread and people were eager to do it again . We arranged for people to meet at the Cafe Inn the Park around 10am, we couldn't believe how many turned up. Some artists had got there early and were already painting. We took names but I found out after the event that I didn't get to see everyone and that there must have been a lot more than 100 artists there.

artists gathering at the beginning of the day

Poster and Palett

some artists at work

At the end of the day some of the artists gathered for
a chat and to display their work on the roof of the cafe

All in all it was well worth the organising. The feedback has been amazing. It seems that artists really welcome the opportunity to get together to paint. Even standing side by side in silence whilst absorbed in their work there is the feeling of camaraderie. 

Some of the painters there had never painted outside before and told me just how much they had enjoyed the experience and that they would not have dared to do it on their own.

Looks like I will be organising another paint out again soon. Keep an eye on the web site or sign up for an email at www.britishpleinairpainters.co.uk

Well know author and artist Katherine Tyrell gave us marvellous coverage in her blog,  Making a Mark. Do visit to see more pictures of the day

Sommieres 2018

first evening by the pool on the roof

I was more than delighted this year to make a return visit to the wonderful French town of Sommieres. Even more thrilled to learn that my dear Dutch friend Corry Kooy was going us with husband Ted. Our accommodation Hotel de l'Orange is situated in the town so we had no distance to walk to find a good spot to paint.  We received a warm welcome from our lovely hosts, Elizabeth and Tom. Mary Jackson's daughter Amanda and husband Phil were our chefs for the week and I really don't think I have ever eaten so well, the food was varied and delicious every night.

breakfast served in the garden, (Paul Banning got there first)

Dinner by candle light

One day a week there is a huge market, all the roads are closed as the town is taken over by every stall you can imagine, of course being France there is a large area dedicated to food where you can buy beautiful fresh veg, cheeses, wines and fish. You can buy your food and any of the restaurants will let you sit and eat at their tables for a small fee so you can imagine the atmosphere. The square was heaving with people all having a great time.

I shared the same room as last year with my dear friend Felicity, I'd hardly seen her since the last visit so we had a lot of catching up to do. Oh yes, I was there to paint, here are some of my paintings from the trip.

Sauve, backlite, painted from a dry (ish) river bed 12" x 10"

Fish in reflected light under the bridge in Sommieres 12" x 10"

Through the garden of de l'Orange 8" x 8"

Sunlit bridge in Sommieres 12" x 10

In the vineyard Fontines 6" x 8"

Morning Shadows, Sommieres (Julie Jackson in pic) 12" x 10"

By the fountain in Sauve 12" x 10"

6th C footbridge into Sauve 12" x 10"

These are just a few of the 20 paintings I did that week. We were blessed with the weather although we did get the tail end of a Mistral one day. The company was as always brilliant. it consisted of Tom Coates, Mary Jackson, James & Tanya Burton, Corry & Ted Kooy, Rick Holmes & Paul Banning, Julie Jackson & Steve, and last but definitely not least Felicity House.

a selection of work from the week

Our Hosts Tom & Elizabeth

Capturing the Moment

In April 2017 artist David Bachmann invited some friends and fellow artist to come and paint with him in the Algarve. The ten that flew out to Faro and painted with David were, Tony Dakin, Tim King, David Pilgrim, Valerie Pirlot, Mike Richardson, Andrew Roberts, John Stillman, Haidee-Jo Summers, Mo Teeuw and Karl Terry. Many of the group were up and out painting before breakfast. David took the group to some great painting spots where we picnicked instead of stopping for a full lunch. As you can imagine, by the end of the week there was a great body of work, most of us producing three to five paintings each day.
On the last evening as we were relaxing over a bottle or two of wine and assessing the work someone had a Cliff Richard moment and said 'Hey guys, we should put on a show"
The idea was born. There was much excited chat about where, when, who, how. One of the group at the end of the evening said "it'll never happen".
A week later an email dropped into our inboxes from Valerie. Come on then, lets do it.
Tim King had previous experience of booking the Menier Gallery so he looked into dates and costs there, Tony Dakin offered to be be in charge of finances. But wait, there were only eleven of us, surely we'd need more artists for such a big venue and to help spread the costs. More emails ensued, who else to ask? Valerie came up with a spreadsheet which she shared with us. We all had to put down the names of six artists that we thought would be a good contribution to the show. We ended up with a very impressive list but far too many so we agreed that twenty five would be a good number so we all then voted and those with most votes were approached.
What should we call the show? Another spread sheet, some great ideas were put forward but after a vote "Capturing the Moment" got most votes.
It looked like we were an official group so we needed a name to use in publicity so we procured the domain name 'British Plein Air Painters' (britishpleinairpainters.co.uk) from that Valerie built a web site with the help of David Pilgrim, Haidee -Jo started an Instagram page and Mo started a Facebook page.
We needed images to use in publicity so we all put some paintings into Dropbox which Valerie used to create individual posters for each artist. We needed an official poster so, more after voting, we settled upon a wonderful painting by Adam Ralston. The posters were shared one by one every week on social media to build up interest and a following.
5000 flyers were printed and shared out between the artists to help publicise  the show and several magazines were approached to see if an article could be done.
What else could we do? Haidee and Mo in charge of publicity have organised a couple of 'paint outs' where we hope to distribute more leaflets.

Painting In Turkey

Well, I seem to be travelling a lot this year but I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to go painting in Kalkan, Turkey.
Carol Brown, an artist living in Norwich, organises trips for artists and I picked up on this one. I wasn't disappointed. Kalkan was everything I wanted and more.
We stayed at The White House and Courtyard Hotel with our lovely hosts Marion and Halil which I would totally recommend, the rooms, decor, terrace, breakfast were all amazing.

Marion organised some visits for us at nearby locations. We were invited to an exhibition and evening at the Culture House, in Kalkan where we met up with local Turkish artists, some of them joined us throughout the week.
One trip was to the Islamlar fish farm. The view
 was stunning but a bit hot to be out in the sun I did a quick painting

View from the terrace Islamlar

I later found a shady spot and painted some Hydrangeas

On Saturday we went to a lovely hotel owned by Anne Louise who provided the most amazing lunch of typical Turkish food, I found shade in the Olive grove and painted these two pictures.

In the afternoon we set off in a trailer down to Patara village where there was an exhibition of local artists work. There was a view at the back of the cafe that took my fancy and although I didn't have long I set up and managed this in ½ an hour, I would like to work up a larger version from it at some stage .

Patara Village

Another rather bouncy trip on the trailer took us took us to the beach which offers fabulous sunsets. There was no time to paint so took these photos. What an amazing place, I NEED to go back there.

The next day was a boat trip, very nice but no chance to paint.
The beach at Karadere made up for that the following day. Unfortunately it was incredibly windy although it must have been 30c plus.

I weighted my easel and painted two before I had to take shelter in the shade and enjoy a delicious fish lunch (with a beer of course)

10cm x 20cm Karadere Beach

32cm x36cm Karadere Beach

We did have some free time to paint in the town and harbour, I could have done with more time there, I have to say, the shops were a bit of a distraction but did buy some rather nice bits and bobs (all in name of art you understand)

Kalkan Bay 20cm x 25cm

Kalkan Bay 20cm x 25cm

Fishing Boats, Kalkan, 20cm x 25cm

We were a mixed bunch of artists and friends but all were jolly good fun, I especially admired the spirit of 91 year old Val who came out painting with us every day.

Val Painting, 20cm x 25cm

At the end of the week Marion & Halil hosted an exhibition of our work along with some of the local artists. A wonderful evening rounded off with a great meal at local restaurant Isos.

Fatos, Carol Brown, Turkish artist that judged the paintings and prize winner Jenny,   

Me and my new found friend Rose Shuttleworth, an artist living in Turkey

Exhibition Evening

I think there is a strong possibility that I will be taking a painting group there myself next year - watch this space.

Les Marronniers

In April a couple of weeks after my trip to Portugal I packed my bags again and set off back to the wonderful Limousin region of France.It was lovely to see our hosts Chris and Susie Richards looking so fit and well. We had to miss last year as both had a couple of blips in their health.We were a small group of 6 enthusiastic painters this year, well 5 enthusiastic, the other one was my husband Frank who decided that he would take up the brush - if he had to.We visited all our favourite places of which I will post a couple of paintings below. I didn't get a lot of painting done myself this time and we had to have one day in the studio as the weather wasn't kind to us

Lilac, by the River Sedell

Wisteria, Argenton

More Wisteria, Argenton

View from the Studio

Susies Bowl

Portugal 2018

I was delighted to be asked to return and paint in Portugal at the Villa of David Bachmann. This time we a small group of five. Johnny Walsom, Valerie Pirlot, Tim King, David and me.
We arrived in Faro and went straight to our first location which was Praia dos Tres Castelos, just West of the Praia da Rocha town beach.

Against the Light, Praia dos Tres Castelos

The next painting spot was at Ferragudo, I had a failed attempt at the harbour and moved on to paint a quickie from the car park

6" x 8"

After a rather splendid lunch , Valerie and I went round the corner to the beach area where we were both drawn to a little group of fishermen by the huts , so we settled to paint them.

Fishermen at Ferragudo

There wasn't enough time for a second large painting so I settled for another little quicky

6" x 8" Ferragudo Beach

The next day was wet and windy so, Valerie, Johnny and I went off to the fish market to select subjects for a still life. It was hard to explain to the very helpful lady that we did not want our fish gutting but it was worth the effort

Durada 8" x 10"

Sardines 8" x 10"

The next day was much better so we went to Praia Dona Anaon

Praia da Dona AnaOn

Praia de Camillo

Valerie, Johnny and I climbed down loads of steps to get to the vantage point but it was worth the effort.The next day was departure day and rainy again so I picked some lemons from the garden and painted those before I had to pack and leave.