EXHIBITION TIME: Michael Hill’s Watercolour Class Exhibition: Now until Saturday 5 August
Michael Hill’S Watercolour Class Exhibition is on now, until Saturday 5 August, in the Little Studio at the Loft Gallery, Salcombe.
I have three watercolour paintings on display, as well as those already hanging in the main exhibition.
Watercolour: Slapton Ley
Slapton Ley was one of two watercolour paintings completed when I was living temporarily in Torcross. As you can see, from the upstairs lounge window, we had the most beautiful view across the Ley to the sea, towards Blackpool Sands and beyond that, Dartmouth.
Watercolour: Ebb Tide at Batson Creek
Ebb Tide at Batson Creek shows a dilapidated boat house in a secluded part of Batson Creek. I admire this picturesque scene every time we take a stroll from Salcombe down to Batson. It is quite beautiful, whatever the state of the tide.
Watercolour: Salcombe Dawn III
Salcombe Dawn III, as the name suggests, is the third painting of the view across to Salcombe from Snapes. The other two were both oil paintings and one has sold already.
This image of Salcombe was captured very early one morning. I’d invested in a photography course with Bang Wallop, and a small group of us drove up to Snapes in the early hours so we’d be in position as the dawn broke. I’d never before sat in the dark, with a group of strangers, cameras ready, waiting for the sun to appear on the horizon. It was a magical experience, and provided a series of wonderful photographs.
WHERE IS THE LOFT GALLERY?
The Loft Gallery is situated behind the Fortescue Inn, and above a popular shoe shop, on a delightful footpath called Victoria Quay, which overlooks one of the best views in the UK including the mooring berth of the RNLI lifeboat Baltic Exchange III.
AFFORDABLE ART
All three images are available as a fine art greetings card, although the Salcombe Dawn card uses one of the oil versions of this composition.
My cards are stocked at Bonningtons (the newsagents) and Salcombe Information Centre (both a short walk from the Loft Studio). Further afield, my cards are stocked by Malborough Post Office, The Gallery Project at Avon Mill and at Noss Mayo, and in Bloomers, the florist in Kingsbridge.
Just think: for less than 1% of the sales price of an original painting, you can invest in a fine art greetings card. Send it to a friend or frame it for yourself.
As you walk the short distance from Salcombe to Batson, you’ll see the view that inspired me to try to capture this idyllic setting. 
At the top of Batson Creek, a collection of thatched cottages delight the eye. They sit around a triangle of grass complete with its old-fashioned telephone box. (At least, the phone box was there, the last time I visited!) The reflections of these cottages in the water only serve to enhance the tranquility of the scene, and this inspired me to paint