Hi Guys,
Just to say I really enjoyed taking part in this years 'Art in the city of Gloucester ' plein air competition.
Gloucester has such a varied and interesting amount of possibilities for landscape. The city centre itself with the old and new architecture and of course the stunning cathedral. The docks and the park and a particular favourite of mine the beautiful wild waste land with views into the city.
This year I arrived early so as to get parked. For those of you who know me iIm not a natural parker. This gave me plenty of time to walk around, which was just as well as I later found out I had fractured my ankle and it was a little more than uncomfortable. However this gave me plenty of opportunity to look around for a subject that caught my interest.
I was spoilt for choice and will continue to work on some of the options I had.
I decided on the view from the bridge up towards the dock. I just felt the pattern of contrast was so strong and created an intriguing pathway into the distant dock.
I named this after the words that run through the painted layers 'Hold the vision,trust the process' which is exactly what I tried to do. This painting will now be on its way to America once its dry.
This was painted 'alla prima' all in oil in one go over a 6 hour period. The challenge of working outside in this instance was the wind and finding shade as I was not able to use the painting umberella.I finished painting at 3 and joined a dear friend to enjoy the atmosphere and say hello to a few fellow artists.
To my absolute surprise I was lucky enough to be selected into the the final 10 and following canapes, drinks and a chat with PJ Crook, Russel Haynes and fellow artists I was lucky enough to be called up to receive a trophy.
Gloucester had picked the painting as winner for 'Art in the City' 2019
I had forgotten how good it feels to win and this came just at the right time for me, Gloucester and the Art in the City Team, I am so very grateful to have been your winner for 2019 and it was an absolute privilege to take part in such a well organised event.
Hope to see you in 2020...