Contemporary passions 2017 Burgh Island

Sketchbook Notes: Burgh Island

Burgh Island is a popular attraction to visitors and, especially, artists.

I have painted the hotel many times!

The iconic Art Deco Hotel dominates Burgh Island. It was owned and managed for many years by Tony Porter and his wife Beatrice. Tony called it the Great White Palace and it has featured in many films and television dramas based on Agatha Christie novels.

120 Shifting Sands at Burgh Island I72dpiRESIZEDShifting Sands at Burgh Island I is an acrylic painting. In the sky, I included a vapour trail to remind me of a recent flight from Gatwick to Malta. For some reason, the pilot chose to go west before turning south. Seeing this spectacular coastline from the air was a magical experience.

Shifting Sands at Burgh Island I draws particular attention to the dramatic cliffs. Also clear in this image is that the Island is set apart from the mainland by a strip of sand, only visible at low tide. When the sea is in full tide, the sea tractor ferries the visitors to and fro and there is a continuous clamour of sound from waves and gulls.

114 Paddling at Burgh Island72dpiRESIZEDThe beach provides a lovely walk or, better, a paddle in the cool water of spent surf. Paddling at Burgh Island, another acrylic painting, captures the joy of such a stroll by my wife, Anne, and her friend, Sheila. I recall we made our way across to the island and enjoyed a beverage in the pub, The Pilchard Inn.

My most recent painting of the hotel is in oil.  The Burgh Island Hotel, featured far above, will be on display at the Loft Gallery, Salcombe, in the exhibition to showcase the work of students of Ian Carr’s oil classes. The two-week exhibition opens on Saturday 23 July.

Most artists prefer the view as seen from Bigbury but I have attempted to capture the subject as seen from Hope Cove. The massive cliffs of the mainland give a dramatic backdrop, while the rocks in the foreground underline its isolation. And, the late afternoon sun turns the Great White Palace into a glorious white beacon.

AFFORDABLE ART

All three images are available as a fine art greetings card, and you may purchase them 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.

THE SKETCHBOOK NOTES SERIES

This is one of the Sketchbook Notes, a series of posts explaining what inspired me to produce a particular painting.

If you own one of my paintings, or are just curious about an image, let me know; I’ll then write a blog post especially for you!

One-man show in the Little Studio

My one-man show in the Little Studio, at the Loft Gallery Salcombe, starts next Sunday 29 May and runs until Saturday 4 June.

I am displaying a dozen paintings: four each of my watercolours, my acrylics and my oil paintings.

My oil paintings on display will be Dappled Light III, Harvest Reaper II, Harvest Reaper III, and Sunlight Across the Bar.

102 Dappled light III72dpiResizedSquare

109 Harvest Reaper II72dpiRESIZEDSquare 112 Harvest Reaper III72dpiRESIZEDSquare110 Sunlight Across the Bar72dpiRESIZEDSquare

 

 

 

 

The watercolours are: Ebb Tide at Batson Creek,  Hope Cove Fishing Gear, Low Tide at East Portlemouth, and Reflections at Batson.

094 Ebb tide at Batson72dpiResizedSquare

087 Hope Cove Fishing Gear72dpiResizedSquare

089 Low tide at East Portlemouth 72dpiSQUARE

096 Reflections at Batson72dpiRESIZEDSquare

 

 

 

 

 

And the acrylic paintings are Dawn at South Pool CreekPaddling at Burgh IslandShifting Sands at Burgh Island I, and  The Church at St Peter, Buckland Tout Saints.

113 Dawn at South Pool Creek72dpiRESIZEDSquare 114 Paddling at Burgh Island72dpiRESIZEDSquare

120 Shifting Sands at Burgh Island I72dpiRESIZEDSQUARE

059 Church of St Peter72dpiRsizedSquare

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

When will I be there to greet you?

I will be stewarding at the Loft Gallery all day on Sunday 29 May and from 2pm on Saturday 4 June. I hope you see you there!

 

Can’t afford to buy my paintings!

Nearly all of the images on sale in my one-man exhibition are also available as fine art greetings cards. Only a short distance from the Loft Gallery, you have the choice of buying these ‘man cards’ at Bonningtons, the newsagents, or at Salcombe Information Centre.