The Hills of Lazio/Tuscany !

Once again I was off to pastures new with Bella Sardinia, this time to the delights of Lazio /Tuscany up around Lake Bolsena. We stayed in a lovely old converted castle which was our base for the week. During the week we visited the small town of Sovana...in the rain would you believe !!!!!!!! Aparently the weather had just changed and we were due for a wet spell which was not what we were expecting !

As the week wore on however the weather picked up and we got some real Italian heat and also some cracking places to paint.Our trip to Lake Bolsena was lovely and we spent the full day painting over the lake to Capodemonte in the morning and then back to the town of Marta.

But the jewel in the crown was the 'dying city' of Civita which was literally perched on top of a huge dome of rock in the middle of this valley. Over the years buildings have fallen into the valley due to earthquakes and soil erosion and what is left is this stunning group of buildings hanging on to the hillside.I painted this sketch in the morning then made my way up the very steep bridge to the town itself, and boy was it HOT !!
So we got some good weather in the end !

Urchfont Swan Song ....

This was my last weeks painting with the folks at Urchfont Manor which was to close in a couple of weeks due to a council sell off !! But we went out with a bang !! Once again we were painting the 'Pubs of Wiltshire' and we managed to get some super ones in our sketchbooks. We were lucky with the weather as the forecast was quite gloomy but we managed to dodge the downpours.
Needless to say I had to sample some of the terriffic local ales that were on tap, many from micro breweries in the area.

We had one really awful day  weatherwise when we decided to give up on the pubs and headed out to Salisbury Cathedral for the day. What an incredible building it is too ! We managed to get to paint in a part of the cloisters that was cordened off to the public so we had a nice quiet place to paint away from the hustle and bustle...but it did get darned cold towards the end !!

Life on the Ocean wave....!

Once again I did a cruise with P & O this year, this time on the Oceana around the western Med. Thankfully this cruise was a whole lot better than last years as this time I was not ill and I also had my old mate and 'Watercarrier' Keith with me which made it a very pleasant experience.
The Painting workshops were well attended and people were very enthusiastic, some turning up half an hour early for the sessions. Also there were some very bright and vibrant paintings produced during the voyage which was really exciting seeing as many had never done watercolours before.

Once we docked at Barcelona we went ashore and walked around the city taking in the sights, especially the Gaudi architecture ( the top pic is the Casa Batllo ). Rome was fantastic and we walked miles around the city taking in most of the famous sights and seeking out some of the quieter backstreets on the way. The temperature was around 37 C and at times I thought I was going to melt.

The ship moored up in Monaco and we made our way up to the Princes Palace where I did the bottom sketch in the shade of a small garden overlooking the harbour.
I did the sketch of Ajaccio harbour from the ship and just managed to get it finished before the ship pulled out. How's that for timing.!

Our return to Southampton saw bright sunshine which was a nice change seeing how the weather was lousy when we left.

Out and About in Wiltshire...!

Another great week with the 'Travelling Sketchbook' seeking out some of the lovely places in the county of Wiltshire. The weather forecast for the coming week was not good but as luck would have it we only had to run for cover a few times and that was only light rain so we were let off really lightly.

 We started off at Devizes wharf and during the week we made our way round to visit Littlecote House, Stonehenge, the Woodfords and also Pewsey Wharf ( the pic above).Luckily ,this visit was to be bathed in sunshine, unlike last year when we were to spend the day in the pub !!!!!!!!!!( I know, what hardship !)

On the last day I did this sketch of Urchfont Manor to remind me of this lovely building and grounds before it is sold off by Wilts Council ! It will be a crying shame when this place goes as I have spent many very happy weeks teaching here . The staff have always been great and made me feel at home and we have had some great fun teaching people to paint in and around area.

 Well I have just one more week in Aug, Painting the pubs of Wilts and I guess that's it !

Help me RONDA....!!

Apologies to the Beach Boys but couldn't resist it !!!

Once again my trip to the Finca in Andalucia was a great experience. A welcome return to the lovely little white village of Marcharaviaya is always a joy with its quiet streets and grand church entrance, all very paintable . The one and only bar was just off round the corner and was just the ticket for that cold beer after the painting session.
A new venue was found just above the panorama bar where we usually go in the area. This restaurant overlooked the hillside village of Isnate with the distant mountains in the background. The bottom pic is the sketch I did there. We ate lunch in the restaurant and it went down a treat.

The highlight of the week was our trip to the wonderful city of Ronda, a place I have wanted to visit for years....and I wasn't disappointed !! We drove up in convoy through some magnificent scenery, very different from the coastal views I was used to. Our afternoon stay was at a small village just about 10 minutes out of Ronda itself and what a treat that was . A few of us were staying in the tiny cottage down a small lane and right by a stream which was quite idyllic. The afternoon painting session was done in and around the cottage and my top pic is the view looking back at the cottage  from the lane. The evening meal was in the hotel in the village right next to a series of waterfalls. Couldn't resist doing a demo of them in the morning !

Then it was off to Ronda. Parking is a problem so we parked in a quieter part of town and walked in.
What a place. It was baking hot and there was a lot to see so I got my skates on and took in all the magnificent views in and around the Puente Nuevo. Climbing halfway down the hillside to get the classic view was fine but making our way back up the steep path in the heat was quite exhausting ! All in all a truly terrific tour !

A Great pint of Spitfire ...!

My recent trip to Kent threatened  to be a rather dull and wet affair but the sun came out in fits and starts and was not half as bad as it was predicted.
Bob and I went to Faversham for the day to get in a bit of sketching. We set up in the road to paint this rather grand view of the Anchor Inn, a 300 year old pub at the bottom of the town just up from the quay. A very friendly lady who lived in a house on the right offered us a cuppa which went down rather nicely !
After the sketches were done we sampled the delights of the pub grub and a great pint of Spitfire !