The Day's Last Hours

The Day's Last Hours, 2020, oil on linen, 40.5 x 50.75 cm

I've driven past this hill on many occasions and it's always caught my eye and I finally got around to painting it. Most of the things I paint are viewed from the car and I return to the spot and park just off the road. On this occasion the space where I placed the car was very narrow and it was a bit hair-raising as cars and trucks were speeding past at 100 ks/hour. I got a few horn blasts which made it worse and I was constantly thinking it will be a relief when it is done.

It's a fairly simple painting in that the detail is done to a minimum and yet perhaps it looks more detailed than it is.

Raindrops

This painting, Raindrops, was inspired by Gustave Caillebotte's painting of the river Yerres in the rain. 

There is a lake near to where I live called Lake Esmond, but on a rise of land running next to it is a pond. Sometimes it is so still it looks like a mirror and it is this pond that became the model for my painting. Most of it was painted on site but I did the rings in the studio. I didn't paint it when it was raining, but now and again I threw some very small pebbles in the water to remind me of how rings form when raindrops begin to break the water surface. 

Raindrops, 2020, oil on panel, 40 x 40 cm

The Yerres, rain, 1875, oil on canvas, 81 x 59 cm