Photography

The Havant Gazebo Painting

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This was a nostalgic trip for me. I used to live literally round the corner from this lovely building, although at that time you could only see the top half as it was surrounded by a high wall. Pieces of glass were set into the top of the wall, to stop people climbing over. Even in those benighted times, this was illegal and constituted a man trap. Goodness knows when these shards were mounted into the wall, well into previous centuries certainly

Since then, walls were taken down and this delightful gazebo was exposed for all to see. It is from the c18 and was built as all gazebos were, to enable the leisured classes to enjoy the view from over the wall, and no doubt in those days for quite a distance. It would have looked out over the Fair Field, a large green space which would have hosted an annual fair. This is long gone, and today is commemorated by a road called Fairfield Road. The row of houses in this road was built in the reign of Queen Victoria, quite late in her reign as I remember, from building material taken from the demolition of the old manor house opposite.

Coming back to the gazebo, this was in a large garden at the back of a beautiful Georgian house called Magnolia House, occupied by two generations of dentists, now gone. Still a dentists surgery but the original old Havant family is no longer there. The house is one of the very few Georgian buildings to have survived a great fire in the c18. It is slightly uphill from the rest of the town which may have saved it from the flames.

I did this little watercolour quite quickly just to preserve a childhood memory. Havant is not a town which escaped development and there are very few gems like this remaining

I don’t live in Havant now, haven’t done for many years. My father lived in the family home in nearby Manor Close, named after the manor house which disappeared. I used to go down regularly so was able to look at the gazebo in all its glory, although could never go in as that is by appointment only, and time did not allow. The only problem with going back to scenes of one’s childhood, is that you start to hear voices of people you knew at the time, so stop and move on

Gondolas, and other recent paintings

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I’ve been off the air for a while. I had to get a new PC as part of an upgrade, and of course, nothing was where I remembered it. I couldn’t find my way back into my blog, or not at least to the page where I coud write something, and I can’t pretend the seemingly helpful robot was any use to me. Anyhow after a tortuous journey I can now post again

As I have been away for a while I thought I would just do a compendium of more recent paintings, just to catch up, and start with one called Gondolas. Always a favourite subject, and this view with San Giorgio Maggiore in the background I have painted and sold several times. This shot is completely different to any that I have done before

I have also been painting some views of my local village, something I have neglected in the past. This shot I put on the village website and received over 150 hits. I am pleased to say that a gentleman in Canada ,who used to live locally, bought it, Always that extra buzz when a painting makes a long journey

This view just shows some of our shops, so being a village we only have indepemdent shops which is a nice relief to seeing brands all the time. In the background by the trees is the bridge over the canal, which was cut in the late c18. In fact the village grew up around the canal. The name St John’s came from the church which was built here as a Chapel of ease for the villagers

The hub of the village is the coffee shop which was started only about ten years ago and provided a much needed meeting place and alternative to the nearest pub.

I have been getting commissions which is always nice. A more recent one shows a country house hotel called Gravetye Manor, which I have painted before. This is a different view in evening light commissioned by a guest who had a meaningful stay there

This is a mistake but I will leave it there. An old shot of Venice. I will now try and find the shot of Gravetye Manor

Succesful this time. An evening shot with the last of the sun catching the roof tops, so it worked well

There are others but I will leave it there. I am not long back from a trip up the Baltic as far as and including Helsinki so quite a lot to digest. I am going to try and put a post together about that voyage. On the art side, we went to Skagen on the northern most tip of Jutland. Artists in the c19 were attracted there by the wonderful light and their work is just breathtaking

I am going to try and be more regular now that I have got back control, and am grateful for the help I have received

The Maunsell Sea Forts in the Thames Estuary

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I have written about these magnificent structures before albeit many years ago. This is the second time that I have painted the towers, this time a different angle from the first. I think I prefer this one. It has more atmosphere. Certainly a very still and eerie place

It is now more years than I can remember that we took ship and sailed out to look at these forts. We were on an old paddle steamer called The Waverley which is a well-known vessel, and in those days, this boat would steam round the British Isles putting in at various ports, and running trips from there. This trip started in the Pool of London, which meant that the Tower Bridge had to raise its drawbridge to let us through, which was an experience in itself. The return journey took all day, calling in at Southend Pier to pick up more passengers, past car ferries mothballed which had been used to take cars from the Ford Motor Plant at Dagenham, and then out into the North Sea until we could see the sea forts

Designed by Guy Maunsell, the forts bear his name. Built in Gravesend they were towed to site on the sandbanks in 1942. There they protected the mouth of the Thames and prevented enemy aircraft using the river as a guide into central London. Decommissioned in 1950, they were later used as pirate radio stations until deemed unsafe. They stand as a nostalgic memorial