This time next week, I’ll be setting up my stall in support of Salcombe Regatta.
10am until 6pm on Sunday 31 July
Island Street, Salcombe
My fine art greetings cards
£2 each or 3 for a fiver
I will also have a stall in Whitestrand on Monday 1 August from 9am until 5pm. See you there!
Right now, the Loft Gallery is home to the Salcombe Art Club Summer Exhibition.
When this annual exhibition ends, late in September, the unsold paintings are wrapped and removed by the artists, and the display boards are stored in the roof space. The trestle tables and easels are retrieved, and the Loft Gallery reverts to its winter role: a busy working space for the members of Salcombe Art Club.
A packed programme of art classes commences for all categories of member: lay, associate and full. These tutored classes – in drawing and painting (watercolour, acrylic and oil) – continue through the winter months until next Easter when the next Summer Exhibition opens.
Then, by way of a reward and in recognition of their hard work, the masterpieces of the artists who attended the various classes are displayed in the Little Studio.
Starting Sunday 24 July – for a fortnight – it’s the turn of Ian Carr’s oil class to show their work. I’ll have four paintings on display, as well as those already on display in the main exhibition.
Sunlight Across the Bar (featured above) is one of the few paintings that I’ve produced using a box canvas, 16 by 16 inches. This style of presentation is considered to be more modern than the traditional ‘framed, and often behind glass’ which predominates the Loft Gallery. The other three paintings are all traditionally framed and will be familiar to my blog readers.
Dappled Light III was on display in my one-man exhibition earlier this year.
Harvest Reaper II was also on display in my one-man exhibition and was featured in a blog entry focusing on the South Sands Ferry.
The Burgh Island Hotel featured in a Sketchbook Note on 11 July.
The sales price for these four oil paintings ranges from £350 to £400.
For less than 1% of the sales price of an original oil, all four images, and many others, are available as a fine art greetings card, at Bonningtons (the newsagents) and Salcombe Information Centre (both a short walk from the Loft Studio).
The complete range of cards is available at Malborough Post Office and, if you are visiting Kingsbridge, our newest stockist is Bloomers, the florists, 37 Fore Street (about half way up the hill!).
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.
Shifting 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.
The 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.
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.
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!