Three Sorties in Early June

I have been storing Valérie's and Haidee's masterpieces since the Carshalton show  and it was time to give them back.  Also I had not painted with David Pilgrim for a while.  I made the Bath run on 6th June, calling in at cousin Liz Holden-White's house (Liz is also a painter) on the south side of the city and deciding that I had time to do this little 9x7 with my new 'mini palette-easel'

Bath From Tyning End

I got to Valérie's house by the usual navigational luck and had a very pleasant chat over tea in her beautiful garden.  Not only had they discovered hidden plant treasures once Spring arrived (she and John bought the house last year) but her mother, who is a great gardener, had supplied all sorts of exotic additions.

Next it was a rendezvous with Mr P at a spot he chose near Sarratt on the River Chess on 8th June.  We spent the morning looking for a good subject but found nothing that really fired us up, so repaired to the Hawker Gallery in Amersham, where we knew we could gatecrash the new two-man show there: Peter Wileman and Dennis Syrett. Our enthusiasm returned and once again we plodded along the river bank until at the point of giving up we looked back and saw this view.  David whipped out a huge board and set to with gusto.  I stuck to my 12x8 format:

  River Chess Near Sarratt

Finally it was Haidee's turn.  We agreed to meet in Towcester on 15th June, thinking that we might also paint there.  In the event the town proved to be a disappointment - maybe it was the weather or the traffic.  We decided to head out to Stoke Bruerne and paint near the Grand Union canal museum.  I had never been that way before and it was interesting to note that Grafton Regis, home of Edward IV's wife Elizabeth Woodville, was just down the canal.  The royal palace that her grandson Henry VIII built there was burned to the ground by Parliamentarians in the Civil War.  After we looked round Haidee produced a lovely painting of the canal boats.  I did my best but perhaps I was tired and just a little uninspired:

 Canal Boats, Stoke Bruerne

If you want to see how to paint this scene visit Haidee's blog: http://haideejo.blogspot.co.uk/ 

With the exception of a few short outings with sketchbook by myself I have since then been concentrating on my submissions for this year's Armed Forces Art Society show - the subject of my next post.