light on the landscape: June 2011

Welcome!

Welcome to Light on the Landscape. I trust that you will enjoy viewing the images as much as I have enjoyed creating them.

I am an amateur painter and photographer living in Sussex, England. Twenty years ago, embarking on my career in the financial industry, I should have acquired an abacus and a bowler hat. I purchased neither. In a moment of counter-intuition I went out and bought some paint brushes and a second-hand camera instead. The day job has taken me to many parts of the globe, but the diverse beauty of the British landscape is unbeatable and remains a constant source of inspiration and enjoyment. Portraying its unique attributes through the lens and on the canvas is my hobby, delivering fun and frustration in equal measure.

The purpose of this blog is to share these antics and images with anyone who is interested. In particular, I hope it gives you the inspiration to commit some dedication to whatever it is you do creatively. Sadly, I see creativity as a dwindling attribute in today's society, and with a creative hobby it is easy to be thrown off course by the pressure of day-to-day necessities. Don't be. Stick with it, and if it takes you twenty years before you start to feel as though you have achieved something....well, you are in good company!

My aim is to add my photographs and paintings regularly - as time permits, together with related articles and content. Your participation is warmly encouraged and please feel free to garnish the blog with your comments!

Olly

Thursday 9 June 2011

An Imaginary Sketch

This quick watercolour was painted from the imagination and is of nowhere in particular. It is an interesting exercise to create a scene in the mind and then try to get it down on paper. It certainly helps you to build a creative mind-set, which you can then use to approach real life subjects and give your paintings a little something extra. Knowing where to stop is important though - this scene for example may have lacked a sense of realism had I decided to include a Boeing 737 parked up in the estuary in place of the two boats! I guess this comment will not impress the surrealists among you.

The Old Water Mill

This delightful old water mill sits in the grounds of my parents-in-law's property in France. Their house is a conversion of three small cottages, once used by the mill's workers, into one. The mill itself sits just below a weir in the river, La Blourde, which runs along the foot of the property. I painted this a couple of years back and was very pleased with the result - the shapes of the winter trees reflecting in the pond make for a strong composition.

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Ashdown Forest, Spring 2011

Heading back to the car to take advantage of some tea and cakes at the little cafe in Wych Cross!

Nutley windmill.

Lengthening shadows, taken from inside Camp Hill Clump, looking toward King's Standing.