Salcombe Art / Posts tagged "Funchal"
28 January 2019 In Art, Postcard from ...

Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

Whenever we go travelling, I pack my watercolour kit and various sketchbooks of various sizes and make time for sketching.

Our ritual, as soon as we arrive at a new place, somewhere we will be staying long enough for Anne to write and me to paint, is to set up the space to suit us both. Our cabin aboard MV Ventura was perfect for our needs. And what a view!

Our cabin | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

Anne bagged the ‘dressing table’ as her office space, and I took over the ‘lounge’ area. Some shelving beneath the TV held all my equipment and I used the small coffee table for my palette and to rest my sketchbook.

We were aboard MV Ventura for fourteen days and seven of those were at sea. This gave me plenty of time for sketching.

 

Water, water, all around …

For the first two days, crossing from Southampton to Lisbon. all we saw from our balcony was the sea. And ships. And even more ships and drilling rigs whenever we went into port. With my marine insurance background, I found this fascinating and took many photos. So much resource material, so much inspiration for my sketching, but never enough hours to paint everything!

Drilling rig | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

However, I did sketch a few cruise ships and captured the landscape when we were in port.

 

Sketching Queen Victoria

One of Anne’s friends cruises regularly. We met her and her husband for lunch in Madeira a few years ago. We were staying in Funchal over Christmas and New Year; they were due to arrive on New Year’s Eve, in time to see the fireworks that night. This time, they were aboard Queen Victoria and – because our itineraries had us both in Madeira on 31 December, we planned to meet up at the same restaurant for a catch-up. Imagine our surprise to wake up the day before, to see their ship just across from ours.

Cunard moored | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

As it turned out, we should have made the effort to meet that day. Once we got to Madeira, they were moored off and the sea was too rough for them to be allowed ashore on the tenders.

This sketch is of Queen Victoria sailing off into the sunset.

Cunard sailing away | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

Sketching in Tenerife

We’ve visited Tenerife before and we were not inclined to go ashore that day. The sky above the mountains was black, and we’d not been attracted by the various tours on offer. Instead, we enjoyed relative peace and quiet aboard ship. Anne did lots of writing and when I wasn’t taking photos, I was sketching . Bliss!

Tenerife | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

Sketching in Madeira

We’ve also visited Madeira many times but never aboard a cruise ship. The day we arrived (31 December), it was a full house.

Madeira | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

We walked ashore in the morning and returned to the ship in time to avoid a downpour. As you will have seen from a previous post, the rain abated, almost, and the New Year’s Eve fireworks were spectacular.

This post is one of my POSTCARD series, sharing all things ART with you when I go travelling. My previous postcard focused on edible art.

Next week’s blog shares more of the art we discovered ashore. If cruising appeals to you, visit the P&O website.

14 May 2018 In Art

Postcard from Funchal, Madeira: Orchids and chocolates

orchidsOrchids and chocolates?

Most of my paintings include the sea, the sky, and boats and are based on photographs taken close to my home town of Salcombe.

When I’m on holiday, I have different subjects at my disposal.

Anne and I are staying near Funchal in Madeira and were persuaded to join an excursion which boasted Chocolates and Orchids. How could we resist?

 

First stop: Orchids at Quinta da Boa Vista

Qorchidsuinta da Boa Vista boasts the best orchid collection on show all year round and we were given a guided tour by our host, owner, Patrick through a greenhouse packed with hundreds of colourful varieties.

While he explained how to care for them (do not overwater!), we took photos. The featured image above is just one of many.

Here are some more.

The variety of colours and sizes was a feast for our eyes.

There were huge blooms, with no fragrance …

orchidsAnd tiny blooms with an intense scent …

Both, tactics to attract insects for pollination purposes.

Some has a single magnificent flower – others were grouped on a single stem.

All of them were beautiful.

And then we enjoyed tea and cake in the delightful garden overlooking the town of Funchal.

 

Next stop: handcrafted colourful flavourful chocolates

Tchocolateshe next stop on our excursion was into the centre of Funchal, to Rua da Queimada de Baixo, nº 11 where the chocolatier UauCacau have a coffee shop and display their colourful chocolate selection.

We sat outside in the sunshine and were presented with a tasting tray of six exquisite chocolates, together with a glass of Madeira  wine.

Our tour guide explained the methods used in the factory below the shop, and the origins of the delicious fillings: mango, banana, passion fruit, madeira rum, …

We were then invited into the chocolate coloured (dark!) interior to choose what we wanted to purchase.

chocolatesA work of art! We were hard pressed to choose 20 to take back to our apartment.

 

Back at the apartment: painting!

Of all the orchids I’d captured on my camera, I chose this one to paint first.

orchids

Why? 

colour wheelI chose a pink orchid because so much of the background was green and green is the complementary colour to pink.

This would, in theory, make the petals stand out better than for any other colour of orchid.

Here is another sketch.

The orchid is orange and note that I have used a blue wash in the background, blue being the complementary colour of orange on the colour wheel.orchids

It’s unlikely I’ll take the subject of orchids any further, although we are tempted to fill the house with these wonderful blooms once we are back home.

My ‘market’ back in Salcombe is the usual diet of sea and sailing – but it was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon … playing with my watercolour kit.

This post is one of my POSTCARD series, sharing all things ART with you when I go travelling.

7 May 2018 In Art

Postcard from Funchal, Madeira

We are on holiday in Madeira!

Anne and I arrived last week at one of our favourite destinations: Pestana Palms hotel on the island of Madeira. We first came here together for our honeymoon in 2009 and have returned several times since then. One of the main attractions is the ‘Cheers’ bar with its longstanding team of bar staff who always greet us with a smile as in the featured image above.

 

What do we do, while holidaying in Madeira?

We usually arrive tired and in need of a rest, so sleep is an essential ingredient of any holiday for us. But then, away from our usual routine, we make time for exercise.

Madeira GauloIn Madeira, there are many lavada walks. These are paths that run alongside the network of waterways – narrow channels – that carry water from the mountains down to the coast.

On our honeymoon, we embraced these walks with a vengeance. Older and wiser, we now opt for the more gentle excursions.

Last Friday, for example, we visited the pretty village of Gaulo and, with the aid of excellent guide, enjoyed views of the countryside during a 60-minute stroll along the Lavada dos Tornos. I took lots of photos, and Anne took this shot of me.

Our guide explained the history of the region, their dependence on water (hence the lavadas) and how they created the many terraces to make the most of the steep terrain.

It reminded us of the work we’ve had done at home, with 23 piles needed to stabilise our sloping rear garden, and a huge retaining wall of concrete to hold back a neighbour’s garden. For us, a small team of builders, with diggers, completed the work in a matter of months.

In Madeira, the construction of the terracing was painstaking work, done by hand, stone by stone, as the slopes were too steep for horses or donkeys, and the ground not accessible for machinery. All the men worked on the terracing and it took them years …

And then we had tea and cake – all traditional recipes – at the home of the guide. A wonderful half day excursion …

 

My holiday studio in Madeira

It’s not all relaxation. We have ‘work’ to do as well.

I’ve set up a ‘studio’ on the balcony already, and the sun is so bright, I’m in relief. I promise you, I am smiling.

Madeira balcony

Here is a close up of the table, set out with my essentials.

Madeira studio kit

Holidaying in Madeira: a time to sketch

The image above is of a particularly elegant craft that made its way out of Funchal, the capital of Madeira, past our balcony. I took many photos of its passage across a magnificent sky. Plus I have the sketch. When I return home, I may create a larger image of this scene.

I have two sketch books with me but, so far, I’ve only used the smaller of the two. The image below is of the hotel itself with the pool in the foreground.

Madeira sketch books

It’s wonderful to paint in the open air … for the temperatures to be high enough to be comfortable without having to apply sun screen every five minutes.

And to have, in the background, the sound of waves breaking on the seashore. Bliss!

This post is one of my POSTCARD series, sharing all things ART with you when I go travelling.