Wet walk on Long Mynd - Shropshire

A very wet walk with my dear Ellie (collie-lurcher), unfortunately she's not really my dog, but we love walking together. Walked from Church Stretton car park to Pole Bank on the Long Mynd, and back through Little Stretton. Had my paints out a couple of times but the rain soaked us both completely at least 3 times. Ah well..2 views of The Lawley, and one across the mynd plateau. 

Walk through the wheat field

Walk through the wheat field behind my house, North Shropshire, a bit windy, but a good sunset at the end of the night.

Sunsets behind the house

Sunsets behind the house - really difficult to get the effect of the sky with the fading light, the trees in the distance are all in silhouette.

Cycle from Wem to Prees via the lanes

Today 'the heatwave' has started. I left work at 5 and got home at 8pm. It's only 5 miles in a straight route to cycle home, but a winding ride home via Lee Borckhurst, Hodnet, Hawkstone took me 3 hours with a few stops for sketching. I love these long evenings with a bike and my paints...

Hundred Steps meadow near Wem, North Shropshire

A hot hot day, I took a long cycle ride home from work, down the back lanes to 100 Steps on the Shropshire Way. The footpath of 100 stone steps leads down a hillside overgrown with hawthorn and hazel, across a meadow to the small River Roden. You could see the grass seed blowing across the meadow, and twinges of hayfever started to come over me. It's a lovely hidden hillside banked by a corridor of woodland, and the sound of water.

British Camp, Malvern - 28th June 2009

Another walk up to British Camp for tea and a cloudy view of the Malverns.

Hill view from Clissett Wood - 26th June 2009

Sat eating rice crackers and drinking red wine whilst painting this one from the edge of the wood.

Wheat field behind the house

A hot still evening, with few clouds and the smell of the green wheat in the air. I walked through the tracks in the wheat field to cheer myself up and spotted a hot air balloon (a virgin too). The first sketch was probably overworked, I stopped looking at the scene. The second was most interesting, really bold landscape shapes were all around me, and needed drawing. Must come out here again to paint for longer.

Fields around Whixall, Shropshire

View from Clissett Wood

Malverns - 5.30am from British Camp to Pinnacle Hill - 30th May 2009

Haze rising off the rape seed fields in the early hours of the morning. Two bird watchers walk past at 7.30, they'd been out counting the number of birds they could hear.

Malverns - British Camp - 29th May 2009

Evening walk up to British Camp, painting of the reservoir with the sun going down created all these great orange shades and dark shadows across the hills.

All previous sketches and paintings...

are here ...

North Devon coast walks - April 2-7 2009

View Barnstaple Sketchbook here
A week in Barnstaple, out walking on the coast everyday proved to be very inspiring,I love the rugged beaches, jagged rocks, wind, rain, and most of all the sea.

View more recent work from October 2011 here.