Category Archives: Travels with a Brush
Kent – The Garden of England 3, and a quick trip into East Sussex
In Parts 1 and 2 of this series of Posts about Kent we explored the countryside of Kent and some great places visit.
In Part 3 , the final one of this series we will return to some of the coast that we didn’t see in Part 1.
As an artist I am much drawn, excuse the pun, to Faversham and the marshes around that area ,especially Oare and the Creeks there.
So let us start in Faversham at Standard Quay with its sheds, shops, boats and barges.
A threatening storm at high tide.Faversham,Standard Quay. Watercolor 16 by 12inches
The rejuvenation of the old town of Faversham has made this very old port an attractive place to visit too.
Here is sketch of the Town centre on market day
Faversham, Market Day. Watercolour pen and wash 10 by 9 inches
From Faversham its is quite nearby to go to Oare and then take the road out to Harty Ferry on the Saxon Shore Way.
A ferry used to go from there across to the Isle of Sheppey, but alas no more. A walk East along the Saxon Shore way will bring you to the entrance to Oare creek with it boats ,barges and boatyard.
The boatyard at Oare Creek. Watercolour 16 by 12 inches.
If you had travelled to the opposite bank from Faversham the scene is a little different and there, at Hollowshore there is a great pub for a drink and good food, “The Shipwrights Arms”.
Barge at Hollowshore. 14 by 10 inches
Back in Oare the view along the Creek across the marshes offers yet another view of the area.
Oare Creek. Watercolour 20 by 16 inches
So lets move on along the coast to Whitstable and a sketch of the harbour there. Again lots of interesting shops and walks along the shore at Whitstable, nowadays a very popular town to visit , especially for its Beer Festival and abundant seafood, in particular the famous Whitstable Oysters.
Sketch of Whitstable harbour and Fishermens sheds. 10 by 9 inches.
Across Kent to East Sussex finds you able to visit The Seven Sisters chalk cliffs and this well known view is captured on a cold winters day in this watercolour.
The Seven Sisters Cliff in East Sussex. Watercolour 14 by 10 inches
Hastings is nearby with the fishing boats of on the “Stad”
Fishing Boats at Hastings. Watercolour 16 by 12 inches
Back towards Kent but still in East Sussex is the wonderfully quaint town of Rye
Rye skyline from Romney marsh. Watercolour 14 by 8 inches
In Rye the Landgate entrance to the Town. Watercolour 14 by 10 inches
As we come to the end of this series of views of Kent and East Sussex it would be an omission to not include some Bluebells, probably the flower of Kent, and beautiful in the spring.
Here are two watercolours of them
Bluebell woods. 16 by 12 inches
Bluebells near Hawkhurst. Watercolour 14 by 10 inches
Returning nearer to our home town these two watercolours of Barming’s St Margaret’s Church are somehow very typical of Kent scenes in summer and in the snow.
Poppies in the fields near St Margaret’s Church Watercolour 11 by 7 inches
Evening snow at St Margarets Church. Watercolour 11 by 7 inches
A finally home to West Malling
Two quick sketches of our home town with it many pubs, restaurants and shops.
In West Malling high Street Sketch 9 by 7 inches
West Malling High Street and St Mary the Virgin Church. 9 by 7 inch sketch.
I hope you have enjoyed these views of Kent through my watercolours. They have all been great fun to create.
I have recently published on iBooks a Book contains many of these watercolours and it is FREE as a download.
Look for it on Apple iBooks. It can be purchased also from Peecho as a hardback book . You can also download
a pdf version of the new book here.
Travels with a Brush Kent Vol 3 V2 1
Be safe and happy wherever you are.
Brian
Kent – The Garden of England. Part 2
Hi Everybody
I part 1 of this series of 3 posts we explored Canterbury and the East and South Coasts of Kent
In Part 2 I am going to start with some famous visitor attractions in Kent and then delve into the Kent countryside.
Leeds castle in Kent
We are vary lucky that there are a number of very famous Places to visit in the County, maybe one of the most famous is Leeds Castle , fairly near to Maidstone . Often described as “The most beautiful Castle in the World” it is undoubtedly a great place to visit and to wander around its extensive grounds. Leeds Castle was probably established in the 9th Century but after being bought by Edward 1st Queen,Eleanor of Castile in 1278 the castle began its long journey to become the Castle we see today. Part of this transformation was done by Henry VIII in 1519, and again extensive changes were made in 1823.
Snow at Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle can be visitedted throughout the year and is very beautiful in winter when a Christmas Fair is held.
A winter evening at Leeds Castle
At Bodiam there is another medieval Castle, built when the River Rother was a trading route into the heart of the County. Although mostly a ruin it is a great castle to visit.
Bodiam Castle
Not very far away is Sissinghurst Castle, more of a walled garden that a Castle, it has the most wonderful gardens to see and enjoy. A favourite place for me to sketch and paint at too.
Sissinghurst
In Sissinghusrt Garden
The Ice House at Sissinghurst
As Kent is not a huge County it is a pleasant journey through the Kent Villages and Towns to also visit another wonderful location, Scotney Castle. With its old and new Castles there is lots to see and the Azalea and Rhododenron displays in early Summer are spectacular.
The old ruined castle at Scotney
Scotney Castle in Winter
As you travel around Kent there are many great views and places to see. many may include Oast Houses which I am very fond of as they are quite common in Kent but much less so in other Counties. Originally used to dry hops for beer making today they are mostly residential and often the main farm building around the County.
Here are just a few views of the Kent countyside
Oasts in the Kent countryside
The view towards Horsmonden
Farms in Kent
Across the North Down near Harrietsham
The winter views can be delightful too as being in the East of the UK we do get occasional snow spells in Winter.
Oasts in the snow in Kent
Horsmonden Church in Winter
As you travel about there are other great places to visit, Ightham Mote is one of them as is Rochester.
Here are a few watercolours of these places.
I hope you have enjoyed this second Part about kent
In Part 3 we will return to the coast and to the areas nearer to my home
Stay well and Safe
Brian
Kent – The Garden of England Part 1
Hi Everybody wherever you may be.
All this extra time at home this year has made me realise how fortunate we are to live in the very beautiful County of Kent in the South East of England
So I thought maybe a few posts of some old and new Kentish scenes would hopefully be interesting to my readers.
It isn’t a tour exactly but a rather haphazard wandering of our very fine piece of England. Due to the large number of places(and watercolours!) I would like to include this post will come in Three parts and this is thus Part 1
I was born In Kent rather a long time ago and more by luck than judgement we can back to live in Kent in the 1970’s. It’s a decision that has worked out well for us as a family and it has given us all the benefits of this lovely part of the UK and it’s proximity to Europe too.
Historically Kent has had a big part to play in the development of the UK and this is very true of our first stopping place, Canterbury.
Canterbury is dominated by the magnificent Cathedral and it’s history, especially that of Thomas a Beckett and the Canterbury tales by Chaucer.
It can be seen from all around the City and here are two watercolour sketches, one of the Cathedral and one of St Augustines Abbey.
Canterbury Cathedral from Mercery Lane. Watercolour sketch
St Augustines Abbey in Canterbury. Watercolour sketch
It is only a few miles to travel to the North Coast of Kent from Canterbury and from Whitstable there is a long range view toward Reculver,a ruin today but once Roman fort and then an Abbey.
Reculer on the North Kent Coast Water 12 by 10 anches
Sunset at Margate. Watercolour 14 inches by 10
Continuing round the Isle of Thanet brings you to Broadstairs and the white cliffs coast that stretches all to way to Sussex. Here the beaches are sand but as you travel further west the sand changes to shingle.
Broadstairs – Viking Bay. Watercolour 16 inches by 12
Kites flying at Botany Bay, near Broadstairs. Watercolour 14 anches by 10
Toward Dover is the North Foreland Lighthouse on top of the cliffs and in Dover itself the view of the Castle from the Harbour spit is gréât.
North Foreland Lighthouse.Watercolour 14 by 10 anches
Dover Castle from the Harbour. Watercolour
From Dover travelling west now you come to Folkestone and Hythe and then Hastings. So here to finish Part 1 are few watercolours of Hythe and Hastings.
Fishing boats at Hythe in Kent. One of my first ever watercolours ,over 20 years ago!
Fishing boats on the Stad at Hastings
More fishing boats at Hastings
Regards
Week 9 of Lockdown – preparing for coming home!
Mauritius – Paradise Isalnd
HI Everybody
As things appear to improve and Lockdown is easing very slightly it is time to think about travelling home from my virtual journeys.
But first we have to enjoy our few days in Mauritius having got here from Johanesburg.
Mauritius is a very nice holiday location, very friendly people and lovely hotels, good food and excellent local rum too.
Over the years we have enjoyed a good many trips there and never been disappointed, indeed quite the opposite.
These paintings were done earlier this year whilst there and be there will be a lovely way to end our journey, get on the plane and whizz back to England.
Mauritius has really lovely beaches and excellent golf courses, often adjacent to each other. This first painting was done sitting on a loiunger looking out to sea, oh I can feel the warmth even now!
By the beach
There are fishermen everywhere and lots of great little boats to paint all over the island.
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Fishing boats
The Mountains from the Beach
Often there are views from those beaches to the extraordinary mountains of Mauritius and boulders everywhere indicating it’s violent pre history when the whole large island must have been a continuous series of volcanic eruptions on a colossal scale leaving unusual large basalt mountains all over the island.
So now after a final dip in the sea we must fly home to London and hopefully get ready for a bit more easing of the lockdown!
I will be able to play Golf again!
Yippee!
Stay safe and well and who know maybe in a while we will be really travelling again
Brian
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My Virtual Travel Journal – Part 3 – Weeks 8 and we are still in Lockdown!
I am glad that you have been enjoying my virtual travel. It is certainly a lot less expensive than the real thing , but oh, how I yearn for the REAL thing!
Hopefully soon we will be able to travel about if only in the UK and once again meet friends and family.
Anyway you will recall on my previous virtual travel post I was in New England and Nova Scotia.
Now we are off to South Africa and then on to Mauritius.
It must take about 20 hours to fly from Boston to Capetown but hey ho, here we are in a couple of seconds!
First of all a watercolour painted during an early visit to the wonderful Capetown in South Africa. The warm welcomes, great food, stunning wine and amazing scenery make this a fabulous place to visit. Lets hope I can get there again soon.
Table Mountain and Capetown, painted in 2003!
And here are two paintings of Boulders bay near Capetown and the delightful penguins.
Just having a chat!
Boulders bay and the penguins
This week I painted this rather impressionistic painting of The Twelve Apostles Mountains at Camps Bay near Capetown. It hasn’t entirely come out as I had planned (like so many!) but Virtual travel was expecting it so here it is.
Camps Bay and the Twelve Apostles Mountains at Dusk
If we now drive 5 hours East of Capetown we find the lovely Knysna and the resort and golf courses of Fancourt, a really lovely place to stay, with superb restaurants in nearby George and my favourite restaurant in all of South Africa at Wildernesse called “Serendipity”. When in the area make sure you visit it ,you can even stay there too!
Sailing at Knysna
Now we are off over the mountains via Villiersdorp to Beautiful Franschhoek with it wonderful Wineries and scenery. The Franschhoek Pas on the last bit of this longish journey is spectacular.
The wine tours in the Franschhoek and Stellenbosch area, (get a driver don’t take your car!) are just great. Lets stay at The Franschhoek Country Hotel ,a lovely place and so good to be back!
A quick sketch of the scenery around Franschhoek
Back in Capetown for the plane and then a long car journey car to get to the Limpopo Region almost 2 hours north of Pretoria and a visit to the marvellous Legends Resort, Safari Park and Golf Course with the highest Par 3 hole in the World. You have to get a helicopter to the top of this Mountain and the Tee! The green, in the shape of Africa is 400 metres below at the foot of the mountain.
Legends safari park and Golf Resort
The Tribute course at Legends This is their version of the 17th Hole at Sawgrass. Of course I had birdie!
Time to leave Africa and head for Mauritius via Johannesburg. A wonderful Island in the Indian ocean awaits.
But that will be in the next update!
Stay safe
Keep well
Get ready for more virtual travel soon!
Brian
My Virtual Travel Journal – Part 2 – Weeks 6 and on of the Lockdown.
“It would be nice to be back in Quebec”
Quebec. The Frontenac Hotel from the old town
As we enter Week 6 of the Lockdown I think I will have to get travelling even more.
With so many places already visited and new watercolours to produce over these next weeks I will start Part 2 and then add to it daily or whenever a new watercolour gets created.
We enjoyed a very nice cruise a few years ago from Quebec to Boston and visited many places on the way. But there wasn’t time to go everywhere and some places remain very firmly on our list for further visits to New England,Canadas and Nova Scotia.
Whilst on that trip we saw many lighthouses, there are a lot on the Atlantic coast, and so this watercolour painted yesterday is of the lighthouse on Curtis Island just off the Maine coast at Camden.
The Lighthouse on Curtis Island. Early evening glow. Watercolour 14 inches by 10.
We didn’t manage to visit Prince Edward Island on that cruise due to rough weather which was a very great disappointment, but we did pass this lighthouse on that portion of the cruise.
I
A Lighthouse on the eastern seaboard of Canada.
And one more for good measure, the Lighthouse on Mount Desert Island near Bar Harbour.
Bar Harbour is a lovely town to visit and stay indefinitely a place not to miss.
The Lighthouse on Mount Desert Island near Bar Harbor
So this week my theme of travelling around New England will continue but who knows where I will travel to next!
UPDATE
One place on the Eastern Seaboard of Canada I had hoped to visit this year, as well as Prince Edwards Island is Peggy’s Cove. This delightful small town and harbour is a photographer’s and artist’s haven and so that is why this virtual visit is stopping off there!
I am indebted to Jeffrey Newcomer and his web site http://www.partridgebrookreflections.com for his permission to use one of his images of Peggy’s Cove as the basis of this watercolour. Thanks Jeffrey!
I hope you like this attempt to capture the scene and maybe i can get there in reality one day soon.
Peggy’s Cove Nova Scotia
Whilst in the are here are two images form previous actual visits to this area.
Firstly a sunset on the St lawrence Estuary. We did see some really spectular sunsets there! and a watercolour of a really fine schooner off the harbour of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Sailing off Halifax
Sunset on the St lawrence
I would really be happy to be there again too!
More updates in a few more Lockdown days.
Happy virtual travelling!
Stay safe and well
Brian
My Virtual Travel Journal – Part 1 -“The first 5 weeks in Lockdown”
I expect like me you are just wishing you could go somewhere, ANYWHERE I hear you say!
Well those days will return, but I have been travelling around the Globe quite a bit since the lockdown started.
It is of course Virtual, but by painting watercolours of various place I can almost escape there for a while. By the time I have trawled through old photos to find the one I want to paint the memories of these places come flooding back and the concentration of painting soon transports me to those far away places.
I have been posting these paintings recently so not many new ones but I thought I could put them together as a sort of Journal if only for my own amusement, and I hope yours too!
It all stared sitting in the garden in the lovely April sunshine thinking of all the gardening I should be doing, not to mention sorting out the shed, garage,study etc etc.
A corner of the garden
But soon the travel bug took over.
I had been worrying about a delivery of a variant of this watercolour of Porto in Portugal
to a customer in Toronto when I realised that I had not been to Toronto for a very long time and so the idea of a Skyline painting seemed the thing to do. Don’t ask why, even I don’t know!
Toronto Skyline
One thing leads to another and so suddenly I found myself seeing once again the Skyline of Singapore.
Singapore
We had stayed in the Ritz Carlton there the last time we were there and this is the skyline from near there. What a City Singapore is! I can even taste a spectacular meal we ate one evening there, in very authentic restaurant, of Beef in Black Bean sauce and Beef Rendang!
The trip back to the UK included a quick diversion to Chateau Chalon in the Jura in France. (That thanks to watching Rick Stein on TV). A wonderful area of that equally wonderful country with stunning ,and rather special Wine!
Chateau Chalon in the Jura region of France
And just to make sure the days were fully filled up, a return visit to Amsterdam, another great place to be.
But soon I was back in the UK with view of the Countryside in Kent that I can’t now visit and another view across the Oxfordshire countryside as the sun bursts through.
The Kentish Countryside
The sun breaking through the clouds
Being back in the UK brought on another attack of the travel bug and a long weekend in Tuscany seemed just the right thing to do. So after a brief stop in Florence to look at the the house located on the Ponte Vecchio —
—I drove into the heart of Tuscany. It has been warm here in Kent and so the warmth of Tuscany seemed just so good.
Basing ourselves near to San Gimignano, as we have done before, gave me some time to enjoy painting some watercolours, first of Piazza della Cisterna in the heart of San Gimignano and then the view from San Gimignano across the wonderful Tuscan landscape.
Piazza dell Cisterna in San Gimignano.
Tuscany
Luckily there was time to return to Lucca. A real gem of a City in Tuscany and a painters paradise!
In the Heart of Lucca in Tuscany
And so the first 5 weeks of Lockdown have let me cover a lot of miles without even stepping outside!
I hope that this Lockdown won’t go on too much longer but if it does my Virtual bags will have to be repacked and put into us again.
Happy Virtual Travelling Everybody!
Stay safe and well too.
Brian
Two Watercolours – Different styles
Hi Everybody
Thanks for reading my Blog posts!
This post has just two watercolours, but ~I hope you like the increased frequency of my posts during the Worldwide Pandemic.
One is a pen and wash sketch of some houses located right on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence and which is just 10 inches by 7 and another which is much larger at 22 inches by 16.
The Ponte Vecchio is a very unique bridge still retaining the style common in the Middle Ages where houses were built right across the bridges in major European cities.
Very few remain and the Ponte Vecchio is probably the best example today.
Pen and wash is a favourite way for me to paint and usually they are, painted in my sketchbook, this painting is no exception.
Houses on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.Pen and wash sketch 10 inches by 7, on Fabriano paper.However I also like the challenge of larger watercolours, with no pen involved, and this scene is of a view across the Oxfordshire countryside as the sun breaks through the clouds.
“Shafts of Sunlight.” Watercolour 22 inches by 16 on Arches 140lb NOT watercolour paper.
With the larger painting multiple washes are employed compared to fewer on the sketch of course.
I have developed this style of painting since spending a week last year with the wonderful watercolour painter Herman Pekel and I am very grateful for his help with my technique. Not quite up to his standard through!
We met at Big Sky Arts at The White House Hotel in Norfolk in 2019 , a great location for a really superb watercolour course.
Anyway stay safe and keep well
I will be back to the easel!
Brian
Another watercolour of Tuscany – The wonderful San Gimignano
The City of Towers
In my last post I featured a watercolour from San Gimignano, so today I have painted a watercolour sketch of the Piazza del Cisterna, right in the centre of San Gimignano. This Cisterna in the Piazza was originally built in 1273 was enlarged in 1346 and painted by me in 2020!
This watercolour pen and wash sketch is painted across two pages of my Sketch book and measures 24 inches by 8.
Piazza del Cisterna in San Gimignano. Watercolour pen and wash sketch 24 inches by 8, on Fabriano paper.
I was a little surprised that I had not painted this scene before but by making it a large panorama I have been able to include a lot of this lovely Piazza. The Towers of San Gimignano are so unique and amazing ,”Manhattan of the 13th Century”.
Originally there were over 70 towers but today only 14 of them still exist. Only 6 are in this painting. Some of the Towers are over 150 feet tall.
In this painting I have included an artist, maybe we will be able to get back there before too long to soak up the amazing atmosphere, not to mention the great food, warm welcome and really super wine!
Also I have included a couple of previous paintings of San Gimignano produced whilst visiting there in 2013.
I hope you like them.
San Gimignano , The City of Towers from the nearby countryside Watercolour 12 inches by 9.(2013)
A styrene in San Gimignano. Watercolour 10 by 9 inches (2013)
I am trying to post much more often that I normally do so that there are frequent new paintings for everyone to look at, and as I am painting a lot more than normal it lets me have an outlet for all my artwork!
Anyway stay safe, and thanks for looking at my blog posts.
All the best.
Brian
The Master’s Golf at Augusta – Looking forward to 2021!
Hi Everybody
Sadly, due to the terrible impact of Covid 19 in the USA and around the World, this year’s Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta National Golf Course has been cancelled and won’t be played again till 2021. Like all sporting events for both players and spectators this is a very sad situation and all we can do is look forward to the resumption of sport as soon as is possible and the events that will follow.
Each year I like to post a few watercolours of Augusta National Golf Course as it is a place that I would really like to visit, and maybe even play the course! The Azaleas and the trees around the course make it one of the World’s most beautiful Golf Courses.
Maybe one day this will happen but until then I can only look at the phots of it and back videos of former competitions there.
So here a few watercolours painted over the past few years of the very beautiful Augusta course in Georgia.
All were painted from fleeting scenes on the television and a few screen shots.
I hope you will enjoy seeing them and join with me in wishing all golfers around the world “safe times” and of course everybody else too.
Stay safe and we can all look forward to exciting golf tournaments in 2021.
Brian
The 12th hole at Augusta National Golf Course
By the 12th hole at Augusta National Golf Course
The 16th Hole at Augusta National Golf Course
The 12th Hole at Augusta National Golf Course
