If you’ve got a touch of the winter blues check out this short video of a summer visit to the art studio and grounds including the stunning nearby coast. Beautiful sunsets and memories or summer. It cheered me up no end, try it out. Nice music too!
Stunning video includes some great shots of saunton and Croyde beaches, sunsets and glistening light. It shows a few areas of the studio where I love to paint, the fields, meadows and horses on the land around the studio. Full of the inspiration of a sunny day.
As it is the New Year I made a video about visiting the art studio and taking a look around at all the paintings for sale. It starts at the gate then you walk up the drive to the studio, through the door and take a look around. Its about 14mins long and gives you a real good look at a couple of rooms in the studio and some of the paintings.
I have just completed a beautiful pair of paintings of Croyde bay which will be made into a framed limited edition print set of 20 later in the Autumn. These original oil paintings will be for sale later in the year when they have dried. They are about 1.2 metres across and 0.6m high framed with a white block frame. These two paintings are most interesting capturing the feelings and atmosphere of the bay in such stunning colours and textures using palette knife techniques. They are a composition of images from a few similar view points to get the painting to work to its fullest and capture the eye and imagination.
This is the first of the Croyde bay paintings and below is the second one of the pair which was painted at the same time. Both of them are slightly different and have different textures and colours. The price for these paintings 1.2m x 0.6m framed will be about £495 each incl. shipping in the UK.
I moved to Croyde a few years ago having lived on and off in north Devon for many years in between travels and living in India and the Alps. I had the studio based at Braunton where I sold my paintings for many years when I wasn’t in India.
Croyde really grew on me. Its like a hidden gem in this busy and over done world, hidden in its own little bay with a lovely grassy park centre to the village and dunes backing the
beach. The beach has a lovely curve with Down End at one side and Baggy point at the other. If you know where to go these headlands have some fantastic swimming holes where you can swim and dive when the surf is flat. And if you can get down deep enough you can fill your pockets with huge crabs and lobsters.
In the middle of the beach are some amazing sand banks which throw up the surf to a wonderful shape which helps on small waves days to give a fun punchy wave which is great to ride. The expansive scene has been the source of many paintings around the bay. I have painted the bay from many angles and even painted the Thatch pub in Croyde village. But my favourite paintings here have been a close up focus of the waves as they have such a lovely powerful shape which merits capturing in oil on canvas. With a good zoom lens I have taken some great images on some mega wave days where only the brave may tread. Get this
wave wrong on a big day and it can really do some damage, and that’s if the crashing surf doesn’t beat you back to the shore before you have even reached the clean break out back. This wave really frightens me as the lip of the wave curls over past the base and you look over the abyss with 10 to 15 foot drop straight down with a whole wall of water to follow and smash you down into a super size tumble dryer of bubbles and froth.
I painted a really moving series of paintings based on this wave shape of Croyde. From the original series I have three large paintings left all about 80cm x 80cm(or 100cm) in various shades of blues and turquoises with a splash of other colours to lift the light in the painting. Other paintings have been based on the surfers and surfing people playing and surfing in the waves and surf. Other sets of paintings have focussed on the lovely shape of the bay and the shape of the headland working with the sky and clouds as they sweep into the land from the sea. It’s a scene of light sea, sand, big skies and excitement.
My current commission is a large oil painting 1.2m wide of the view from Down End across the bay to Baggy point with the surf, beach and dunes forming centre stage.
When I moved to Croyde I started to get a taste for Woolacombe and Puttsborough beaches. I just loved cycling over the hill from Croyde to Puttsborough and taking a coffee at the café above the beach at Putsborough. Perfectly placed to watch the surfers and beach happenings, to photograph and compose paintings. Such a spot and with the headland stretching into the distance makes the perfect back drop. Beautiful waves and turquoise seas with welcome shelter from the South West sea breeze to clean up those rolling waves of surf magic.
When this beach really comes alive for a painting is as you walk or cycle along the coastal path behind the dunes, looking over the grasses and you see the amazing curve this beach has as it stretches so far up towards Woolacombe. Through the dunes here and across the beach I have painted some of my favourite sunset paintings. The colours can be quite amazing especially in the shoulder seasons of Spring and Autumn when the sun is
lower in the sky, the colours seem to be sharper and more intense at this time of year. I paint sunsets all around the world, but it is the sunsets from the North Devon beaches that I paint again and again because no other sunsets have such a range of colours as here. On the beach at Woolacombe as the tide goes out or dare I say it even better after the rain, the beach turns into an enormous crystal clear mirror, reflecting the sky and the beach men and women, giving double the colour. This makes my sunset paintings so full of life and colour because you aren’t just restricted to painting the sunset in the sky, you get to paint it twice, in the beach as well. And not just the beach, the waves twinkle in the low sunlight and the flat sea beyond the breaking surf reflects the warm setting sun, mixing the yellows and pinks from the sun and the blue from the sky beyond to give the most amazing combinations of turquoise effects reflecting on the surface of the ocean.
Within these amazing sunsets I use a special technique from my Indian energy paintings which I developed during my years as an artist in India. I won’t go into great depth here but you can find it in other areas of the site, and if you look really hard on google you will
find little hidden corners of the site all about these special energy paintings. When I was in India over many years, at the start of my art and photography careers, I painted a series of energy paintings which were very spiritual and abstract. They were very popular and uplifting creating a feeling of light and love. They sold very well in India. When I returned to England after a few years it was in these sunset paintings of Woolacombe, Croyde and
Saunton beaches that I began to use the same techniques to great effect. They work using colours and brush strokes, light and ever lighter tones and work to pull you into the painting to lift your spirits. This is the added dimension which is the main technical basis behind the sunsets series of paintings. It gives them light and joy and it is the way a sunset works that makes them so perfect for using my energy paintings techniques to create layers of feelings within the paintings .
As I move up the beach towards Woolacombe this year along with Croyde beach I will be focussing on the little gems of Down End, Combesgate Beach and Barricane beach for some new paintings of hidden spots.
Take a look at the large and very large paintings for sale on the website and the sunset paintings for sale. For the llast two year I have had fabulous exhibitions at Ilfracombe where I have had paintings for sale at the Landmark Theatre. See more paintings for sale from Woolacombe and Putsborough Beaches.
Saunton Sands beach begins just below the prominent Saunton Sands art deco hotel and stretches as far as you can see right out to the estuary. The dunes on one side, an international Biosphere, and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Swim from here and the next stop is the USA. This is a stunning spot and a great subject for any artist. I love it all the more when viewed from the road or the Hotel coffee lounge. It has an epic quality from
above and endless possibilities. If this beach says anything to me, it is a reincarnation of Lowry, but he’s on holiday as the beachscape. Black match stick men and match stick women walking in an almost constant procession of thin legs, lumpy stomachs flowing hair
and protrusions of long boards, all set in stark contrast to the mirror like reflections of the beach. From up here on the road you can see the sky reflect into the wet sand. As the tide goes out or better still, dare I say when it rains, the water sits on the sand and creates a perfect mirror. The figures with long boards and dogs seem to float above their own reflections as they gravitate towards the sea. The line up of surf waves stretch out in long sweeping lines into the distance, melting into the far off estuary. Along the rocks you can see the waves peel off down the line and surfers dance along the waves as they go up and down and side to side swinging like a pendulum.
I have done so many different series of paintings based on this beach I have lost count. I really enjoyed the set of large oil paintings I did in Prussian blue and yellow ochre of the reflections in the sand and the surfers lightly set above the mirror of the beach. Take a look into the sand and see the many reflections and patterns from the interactions of sky, sand and sea.
Then there have been sets of paintings looking down the line up from on the rocks near to the rip with the waves disappearing into the distance. You can sit on the rocks and stare right close up to the surfers paddling to catch the wave and watch them ride into the distance.
If you are after real colours to warm you up in winter and lift your spirits, then take a look at the sunset oil paintings I have based on this beach along with Croyde and Woolacombe. Seeing the beach at least twice a day means I see so many astounding colour combinations that you wouldn’t believe, from brilliant yellow to hot red and gentle pink to cobalt blue. These sunsets colour and twinkle the waves, warm the skies and reflect so deeply into the wet sand at the seas edge. This gives double the colour as all the colours in the sky reflect so perfectly across the beach. Painting a sunset at the beach gives me the excuse for a really extravagant show of colour. On the beaches of Saunton, Woolacombe and Croyde you get these fantastic reflections which light up the canvas. From semi real to totally abstract these are a real treat and I have really enjoyed painting them up to really huge sizes. 2.4m wide is the largest yet and took some frame. Take a look at the large paintings for sale on the web site from Saunton Beach. or just medium size paintings from Saunton Sands beach and Saunton Sands Hotel
What’s in a name? These four beaches and their names conjure up so much magic. West facing flat beaches which lap up the waves into turquoise walls of pure heaven to ride and ride again. Soft Dunes and endless skies with their expansive views make these beaches a treasure.
These four beaches have been a source of inspiration for me ever since I moved to North Devon. My art studio is close to Saunton Sands beach and I live at Croyde so every day I get a taste of two of these stunning beaches.
I cycle around Down End, a unique headland every day, seeing the sun rise and set every day, as I round the headland from Croyde to Saunton and back again. In the evening, riding from Saunton Sands Hotel out to Down End point is a unique experience, with the coastline running all along the route, the waves and epic views running down the beach and the road appearing to melt into the setting sun in the distance.
On my way back to the studio in the morning, the view across Croyde beach is enlightening in the morning, getting the first glimpse of how the waves are shaping up. Then I climb up Down End above Saunton beach to see the tiny dots walking back and forth to the waves across the beach, and if I am early enough the sun and mist rising above the Braunton Burrows Dunes.
Even though I see this view every day I have to pull over in one of the lay bys just to admire the view once again. Even though you can see this stunning view as you drive ¼ mile along this stunning vista the lay-bys just invite a second look, even in the rain. Pick just the right spot and look out down the line along the curling waves and watch a few rollers with a few lucky surfers dancing. Then I cycle on past Saunton Sands Hotel and its all downhill to the studio just on the edge of Braunton.
Even after all those amazing views there is something about the studio that lifts my spirits. The studio is set in 7 acres of hay meadows just back from the sand dunes running down to Saunton beach. I bring back trees from around the world to plant out in the fields and there are a couple of new orchards I have planted. In my mind it is a modern version of a mini Victorian estate. It’s a kind of art project in its own right. When I bought the land it was 7 acres of flat fields to which I added the studio and began an extensive planting project which I add to very year. Open the window and if the surfs up you can hear the sound of the waves crashing and the sound bouncing off the dunes. So as I enter the gates to the studio I feel like I have walked into my own 3d canvas, a long term huge painting and sculpture which I have been working on over the last 6 years.
Each of the beaches I treasure in this area have become projects in their own right and each year brings a focus onto a different beach. This year with the intense heat and still crystal clear turquoise waters I have found a real fondness for Down end and Barricane beaches which I have begun to photograph and no doubt will be painting later in the year.
Saunton Sands was the first beach I started to work on with its sharp reflections and expansive views. It is huge. When the tide goes out it leaves this thin film of water on the beach which gives a perfect mirror reflecting all those who stand above it. It is so sharp and clear that you appear to be floating on your own reflection. Take a photo on a good day and you can flip it upside down, so sharp you cannot tell which is you and which is your reflection. Interesting stuff to paint, not just visually, but from a philosophical and spiritual point of view. Working with reflections has its own deep and meaningful ways. This beach is vast and the waves can peel off beautifully down the line, a long borders heaven. Look straight down the waves as the waves and surfers line up right across to Appledore and Westward Ho! Then there are the beach huts, the headland, the Dunes and the sky, the list goes on.
Two years ago I was mad into Croyde beach. Totally different to Saunton. Slightly lighter sand a curvy bay and fast powerful waves. On a big break I still head to Saunton or Woolacombe, but if its smaller then Croyde can just pop some little miracles out. Waves and the shape of the bay are my big focus here. The waves here are a really neat shape, real curvy and punchy and were a basis for my big blue and turquoise wave paintings. I love Croyde because it is a perfect little bay and small village with some great view points and swimming holes. All this fun and atmosphere really helps me to paint all that fun and excitement into the paintings.
Last year and even more this year I have been painting Woolacombe. It’s got a lot of similar characteristics to Saunton with its vast length and sharp reflections. There are some fun beach huts at the top end which I have really loved painting. I did a really lovely large oil painting for sale of the huts 1.5m long which looks really amazing, sweeping views and it really sucks you into the painting.
Woolacome beach is really growing on me at the moment. I love walking over to Putsborugh beach to have breakfast in the café, and cycling on up to Woolacombe from behind the dunes. If you surf then you get great waves here shaped somewhere inbetween Saunton and Croyde, with a bit more power but not enough to bury your head in the sand bar like at Croyde. Up and down the beach you can pick up a nice variety of waves to suite the conditions so for surfing this really gets the five star rating, especially when you add in Barricane beach and Combesgate beach .
These four beaches are a real source of inspiration for my paintings. I have painted scenes from all of them from various angles and view points. What’s really important about this whole scene for me is the culmination of all of this influence, the surf cultures, the holiday feel, the freedom of the ocean and those expansive beaches, skies and views. Each beach is etched in my mind, the views, the colours, the sounds and smells, the atmosphere, reflections, waves. Then there are the sunsets, the soft dunes, the swaying grasses, the pounding noise of the surf and the salt spray. All of this is what I hold uppermost in my mind and this is what I hope is conveyed onto the canvas. There is really too much to put into words, the beach huts, and the stunning sunsets of yellow, pink and red. This corner of the world really is a painter’s paradise with so much colour and vibrant atmosphere to choose from.