The wood for the trees

Being in the fortunate position of having a six week sabbatical, I jumped at the chance to pretend I'm a real artist for once and not just a Sunday afternoon one. So my plan is to hide away in my 'studio' (a shed in the garden, mercifully equipped with a heater), paint some decent landscapes of the scenery surrounding Maidenhead in Berkshire and then see if any of the local hospitals would like them (for free) - because apparently patients get better faster if they have some art to look at.

Well, I got off to a flying start in week one. I'd already taken photos of interesting looking trees in Burnham Beeches and had done some sketches in oil on paper before the sabbatical started so I had a good idea of what I wanted to paint first. By Friday I'd completed the first painting of a tree that I drive past everyday on my commute to work: I've called it 'Tree near the Jolly Woodman' and it's not small at 20" x 16". I say it's finished, but I think it's more a case of I've had enough of it. One thing I've learnt so far is that I don't like to spend a long time on a painting: sometimes I find that if I carry on trying to improve a painting it loses its freshness. And if a picture is not working I usually find it difficult to turn it around. In fact, the studio is chocker with what I consider duds.

But I digress. From painting 1, still in week one, I moved on to two more tree paintings, this time set in Burnham Beeches. These two are smaller than the first at 12 x 10 inches and include a rather ambitious close up of the bark of one tree which has an amazing pinkish/lilac hue which inspired the title 'Pink tree in Burnham Beeches'. The other tree I chose because of the curious shapes it makes, spreading out widely from its base, the branches reach out in a variety of trajectories. Anyway see for yourself.

By week 2 I already felt like I needed a break from trees! Not a good sign considering I had envisaged painting a lot of them. But for sanity's sake I opted to paint a statue of two figures found at Cliveden, then leaving this unfinished I moved on to tackle Snowdrops at Cliveden (16"x12").

This really did refresh the palette (ha, a pun too!) and I found that I was ready to start another tree painting without feeling tree-sick. So the sixth painting (unfinished) is titled 'Ancient tree, Burnham Beeches' (16"x12").

I am now beginning week three and feel quite relieved that I have some work behind me already but will have to get some more photos to give me a range of options for compositions, perhaps some fields? That would be a first for me. Although I'm feeling more relaxed now that I've done some paintings, there remains an anxiety about whether anyone will want them. Up until now I've painted what I like, for myself, now it's got to be fit for public consumption. But in the meantime I'm determined to at least enjoy the process, even if it comes to nothing.