Return to Wicken Fen

Some of you may remember my visit to Wicken Fen last year. On my way to London, via Cambridge, I visited Wicken Fen again, did a very quick and frozen sketch, took a lot of photos as the sun came down then drove to my friend's house in Cambridge. I am now in London having rather a lot of fun with my girls and friends and probably eating and drinking too much! However, yesterday Holly and I did get to indulge in some lovely culture by visiting the wonderful Gauguin exhibition at the Tate Modern.



I was busy watching the sun go down when I happened to turn around and saw gorgeous light on these trees from the sun set. Sometimes we are just looking in the wrong direction! This photo reminded me of Deborah Paris' paintings



This was taken from East Mere Hide. I was looking for good painting spots and this would be a great place, but unfortunately the only access was from the hide which has only narrow viewing places designed for the bird watchers.



Here is proof of serious dedication because I can assure you I was absolutely frozen and the wind felt as if it was coming straight from the arctic! Refreshing though!



The frozen and sketchy result!

Sacred Creatures

Kingfisher with Dragonfly
12 x 12 Oil/Panel



Nuthatch with Bumblebee iv
12 x 12 Oil/Panel



Carolina Wren, nest and eggs
12 x 12 Oil/Panel



Black-capped Chickadee with egg
12 x 12 Oil/Panel

At last, I have finished! Unfortunately I seem unable to get really good photos of these paintings, but you get the idea! I am going to go abstract after these... I think my thumb is going to drop off! I would love to find a way to do my birds in a loser manner, but still can't allow myself to go there!

I am so looking forward to this weekend to celebrate my birthday in London with my children! I think I deserve it!

Things are coming together!

Here is a photo of my lovely Aunt Agnes (87!) holding my painting to enable me to take the photograph below.



Yorkshire Stream
Oil/Linen 9 x 16

I love this stage in painting when you get to a point when all your hard work starts to look finished. I have about nine paintings cluttering up my Dad's washroom all nearly at their finished state.

Besides doing the birds for the show on Sanibel Island I have been painting a few landscapes too! This is the first one to get finished.

Singest of summer in full-throated ease - Ode to a Nightingale

Singest of summer in full-throated ease - Ode to a Nightingale
12 x 12 Oil/Panel

I decided (I think) to leave the beak, most people said leave it, with a couple saying yes, change it! Why is it so hard to know sometimes when a painting is finished? Maybe it's because I don't have Barry around to say, "stop now!"

I have softened the eye (Loriann?) and above is the whole painting. It is inspired by the John Keats poem Ode to a Nightgale, with the hint of a river, taken from the poem, "One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:" I love this poem and hope one day to include some of the words actually in the painting, but need a lot more time for that.

Video of Barry McCuan

Here is a link to a new video of Barry being interviewed and doing a little bit of painting, commissioned by our gallery, Ventana Fine Art. I think it's rather nice. I hope you enjoy it!

Nightingale

I would welcome your opinions. Before I take this painting any further I was wondering whether you think I should close it's beak! It is a nightingale and the idea was that they are known for their beautiful song, but my Aunt said it look startled and now I am worried. What do you think?

Ted Ellis Nature Reserve - 2

Another lovely day painting at the nature reserve. I was planning to walk a little further in but found that by just wandering a little further around this pool I had a completely different viewpoint. What a gorgeous day! I am so happy to be working outside again. Nothing like a bit of fresh air to put colour into your cheeks! It was a bit too cold though!

Here are a few more photos I took around the Nature reserve

Ted Ellis Nature Reserve

The warm up sketch.



Layout for the next one.



Not a bad days work!




This is such a lovely quiet spot to paint and I think I made a few good starts. It rained on and off, but I was able to shelter in the hide.

Here's a lovely sunset to finish off a beautiful and satisfying day.

The Birds

Here are a couple of closeups of the Carolina Wren which I am doing for the show on Sanibel Island. Deadline is the end of November, so I have been really busy trying to get these finished. I am taking off this weekend though to go to Norfolk and if the weather co-operates I shall be taking photos and painting. I am looking forward to getting out and about, but this morning it's very windy, so hopefully that will die down by the weekend. I am really looking forward to walking on the beach!