Summer & Winter

Just finished two paintings...two big paintings; both are soft pastels on 100 X 70 cm pastelmat (the largest size available), before these I’d only done one painting this size (The tryworks) which was such a trial I didn’t think I’d ever have the stones to try again. Anyway, there we go, enjoyed doing these as well

Unusually these are re-visiting concepts that I’ve already tried (The cold road and God’s own country). Both were large landscapes with roads leading in and where the feel of the season was the idea (bright, sunny and unsettled in the summer and freezing, ominous and dark in the winter).

Gods own country (summer)

Cold road (winter)

‘Back of the squall’ is as much of an epitome of the Falklands summer that I can realise. Based on a view in Fox Bay looking north over the quarantine station fence and the stud paddock;  broken cloud, glaring sunshine, a summer squall moving off to the north over the Home flock with the rays   of the afternoon sun converging through the haze.  In this composition the road is parallel to the skyline and old fence rather than leading in as in Gods own country.

‘Cold road 2’ is very close to the original ‘cold road’ concept, so close that it keeps the title. The road  leads in and around in Chartres horse paddock, the snow covered Hill Cove Mountains behind and a dark winter sky. 

These two paintings are meant to complement each other and side by side in the studio they work pretty well. I doubt though that they’ll ever end up in the same place again, Back of the squall is off to be auctioned at the Falklands Conservation fund raising ball in September.
 

Cold road 2 is staying here until I can find someone to buy it.