Watercolour
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Stupas at Wat Xieng Thong
Stupas are to be found in most countries in South East Asia. Many of these structures, like those in this painting, are near to Buddhist temples. I have heard varying explanations as to what these stupas are for, ranging from their being repositories for sacred relics through to just being simple memorial stones. In truth…
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Chair, Pouffe and Plant
Many of my recent watercolour paintings have actually been a combination of watercolour and pen. So I decided to try a simple watercolour-only painting, and these three objects were right in front of me at the time! As you will be able to see, some aspects of this painting worked out well, others less so.…
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Roadside Banana
I have had a banana plant growing indoors in a pot for well over twenty years. Although it has continued to produce new leaves, in all that time it has only managed to grow to about half a metre in height! By contrast, throughout South-East Asia we saw these plants grown to many metres in…
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Robinia Tree
This tree sits in front of our house, and whilst I often notice and appreciate its bright green / yellow foliage it doesn’t normally stand out from the surroundings. However, the other day when I saw it standing nonchalantly in front of some rather dark and angry storm clouds, I was rather taken by the…
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Singapore – viewed from Marina Bay Sands
I’m not normally a fan of heights, but a friend had recommended seeing the view from the rooftop bar at Marina Bay Sands. The building is rather tall, and hence as promised the rooftop gives a very fine view. Somewhat surprisingly the bar is surrounded by quite mature trees, which I can only assume are…
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Gorse
This plant puts on a magnificent floral display in the most unlikely of places. Of course, gorse flowers are uncompromisingly yellow, so if you prefer blue or pink flowers they are not the plant for you. Luckily I’m happy enough with yellow, so I appreciate gorse wherever I see it. When I first considered how…
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Suzuki Hustler
Japan (or at least the parts of Japan that we visited) seemed to be full of these “box” or “kei” cars. To my European eyes they initially looked rather quirky, but after a few weeks they ceased to appear odd and instead many of them just struck me as having designs that were full of…
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Bullock
We often walk past a field used to graze young bullocks, who always seem rather cute and very inquisitive. Of course, one reason why I have a positive reaction to these cattle is because they are safely behind a barbed wire fence – as faithfully reproduced in this painting! It must be said that whenever…
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Durham
If you know Durham you will know this is not the way most people get to the city centre. It is an altogether more peaceful route into town, accessible by car only on the odd day or two when so many students are arriving to start college that a one-way system has to be imposed…
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David’s Admirers
We all know that Florence is full of Renaissance art – and if we stop to think about it we also know that in consequence Florence is full of art-admiring tourists, their backpacks, their cameras and camera phones. So it seemed fitting to include, and indeed emphasise, these onlookers in a scene from the Galleria…
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Battle Undercroft
Battle is of course famous as being the place where “William the Bastard” (or “Guillaume le Batard” as he was known back home) became “William the Conqueror” by beating the incumbent king Harold Godwinson. An abbey was subsequently built to mark the spot and the occasion, the remains of which are still standing. This particular…
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Polesden Lacey
Well, actually this is a view looking in from outside the fence. However, with the trees full of leaves, there is not much of the estate to be seen here …
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