Clear light and clear sensual overload

I never know what will inspire me to paint a picture.  I know what never will, and that’s dull grey light on flat grey days. I suggested to my man at the weekend that we could go out and take photos, but knew exactly what he meant when he declined and said he’d rather not. He like me, hates grey day photography. So we stayed in and I spent a happy couple of hours artistically enhancing some photos I took a couple of weeks ago when the sun actually shone, and the blue bells were just starting to appear amongst the trees in the local woods.

I may not have got the chance to take photos at the weekend but I certainly got the chance yesterday when some good friends came over as arranged late afternoon for a visit and a hopeful walk in the woods (well……knowing the way the year was going……weather permitting we’d cautiously agreed). It was permitting though, astonishingly,  being the first day for what seemed like many long days when we could actually take more photos. Fortified with tea and scones we set off, and I knew exactly where I wanted to go to! It didn’t let me down when we got there via a meandering trek, and not only was the light good and clear, the sun was at the right height, and the scent absolutely overpowering. It was a joyous sensory overload – a carpet of blue bells in dappled sunlight, and the heady  perfume from them filled our nostrils as we took loads of photos and walked on along the bridle paths.

I know lots of artists do paintings of bluebell woods and I can totally understand why. I suppose we judge the seasons of the year via the different wild flowers as they appear – Snowdrops in January, Daffodils in March, Bluebells in May, Elderflowers in July, Rose hips in October. Each bringing their bright colour to the season, and adding to our enjoyment of the countryside.

And today when I look at the photos I took I can see I am inspired again to want to paint them and capture what I saw in them.

But also today I am happily working on a painting I took on the walk I did a couple of weeks ago, one that was taken at the end of the walk, when the dusk was falling and the sky was a hint of pink in the blueness of twilight. It was one that I enhanced at the weekend, and love the arty effect of it, the colours are vivid and I want to take a couple of things out of the photo but add something else. It will make the picture far more appealing, and I already have a title for it…. and if I complete it this week like I’m hoping to, then I’ll show it to you in the next blog post…..