Plantec Distribution Warehouse

 OK so it’s a factory!

But it’s a commission from a company who wanted a couple of paintings of their holding centres for a new showroom/lobby. So how to make a painting from an unpromising photograph? I enjoyed depicting the smartness of the building front to the right, but keeping a ‘watercolour’ look. The left hand side was relieved by the softness of the hillside behind and greatly helped by the distant church tower, and the red post box on the gates. I created ‘movement’ in the sky to relieve the ‘static’ lines of the warehouse. I might yet put a couple of figures by the vans as it just seems to want something else there. Where does one stop?

I hope they like it!

Malmesbury Abbey Painting

Why do I like Malmesbury so much? The Abbey surely has much to do with it. I sang there with my choir (Wessex Male Choir) last year, and the atmosphere and acoustics were lovely. But in Spring weather such as we have had recently I decided to ‘get around’ to painting it, as I have intended to ever since we sang there.

A victim of the dissolution of the monasteries, if only there were more of it left, with its soaring spire, but I suppose we should be grateful that what is still there is so beautiful. The empty arches have a poetry and poignancy about them and speak to me of the temporary nature of our lives.

It is a busy architectural subject, so I have tried to keep the colours and shadows soft, as of a bright but hazy Spring morning. Turner painted it beautifully once, from afar, but I’ve not let that put me off!

Malmesbury Abbey - An Original Watercolour Painting

Springtime at Arlington Row, Bibury

Wishful thinking whilst we’re still in February, but I just painted this one for the cover of my ‘Cotswolds in Watercolour 2012’ Calendar, which needs to be printed soon, to be in the shops by Easter.

I’ve painted this view a number of times before, but each time it comes out differently. I had to leave room in sky for the title! Doesn’t it make you long for those days when you can laze on the warm grass in the sunshine, having a nap on the picnic rug.

Chipping Campden in Snow

The recent snow has inspired me to paint a number of snowscenes, and in this depiction of the Almshouses in Chipping Campden, I am revisiting a scene I have painted before. This is partly to contribute to an ‘Artist’s Guide to the Cotswolds’ on which I am working, and hope to finish in a month or so.

It will be a sort of souvenir guide, but instead of photos it will have paintings and line drawings, as well as my own personal commentaries on the towns and villages. It’s an exercise in concise English as there are so many places in the Cotswolds which must be included. I have not put any figures in this picture, as I wanted it to be serene and uspoilt, like the snow before anyone has appeared and messed it up with footprints! 

Cotswold Paintings and Watercolours by Chris Fothergill

Northleach Market Place – but as you have never seen it before

Eh? I hear you say, wait a minute, the left hand side of the painting is recognisable, but what is that building on the right?

In fact the picture above is a painting by Chris Fothergill, but a very close copy of an ink and watercolour painting of the Market Place by an artist, Frederick Stockdale. The original is in a museum in Devizes, Wiltshire, and came to light last year, untitled, but has since been traced to Northleach, and the artist verified.

The marvellous thing about it is it reveals for the first time what the old Market Hall (the building on column supports to the right) actually looked like, with the High Market Cross in the immediate foreground. It has long been known that the Market Hall existed and it has shown on old plans of the town, but until now there has been no image of it, as it was demolished in the 1820’s, which pre-dates even the earliest photography. As the rest of the Market Place and the Church is so accurately and well observed, even the pub sign showing a white horse (the name of the pub then, which is now the Sherborne Arms), then it is almost certainly a faithful rendition. The poor condition of the hall with its windows filled, and crumbling edges is quite apparent.

I was very excited to have such a new side of Northleach revealed, and couldn’t wait to copy the painting for myself. The artist’s use of pen and watercolour style is so similar to my own that it came easily to produce a copy, and I believe at a glance one would be hard put to tell the difference. Originally I was going to keep it for myself, but someone in the town persuaded me to sell it to them, and then another person persuaded me to paint another copy for them! After which I decided I would produce a small edition of fine art copies of 100 numbered and signed Giclee prints on watercolour paper.

• These Market Place Prints of Northleach are now available for purchase;

The image size is approx 13” x 8” and framed approx 19” x 14”.
I’m offering them at £79.00 fully framed with a single washlined double mount in a quiet gold frame. (Unframed mounted and packaged £49.00)

• Actually I did paint it once more for myself so I would have an original on my wall, but with a seasonal difference! See below:

 

Happy Christmas!

Let it Snow!

Arlington Row, Bibury in the snow.
I love painting snow, it’s so rewarding and pretty! But only from the comfort and warmth of my studio. Actually I did stand and do an drawing of the Bibury picture on the spot, but half an hour is enough. I have tried painting in the extreme cold – you put one wash of watercolour on the paper, and half an hour later it’s still wet! That’s my excuse anyway.  

Snow at The Mill, Fairford.
A well know view to local people, and a chance to indulge in painting an old Mill in the snow reflected in water. An interesting challenge in tone and colour, but the view is balanced out by the church in the distance, and it’s a very Cotswold view. This was painted a few days ago just before doing the Fairford Advent Market on Friday evening. It was -2 degrees all evening! But the painting drew a lot of interest among the residents, and I may sell it yet!



Original watercolour paintings - Including Snow Scenes of the Cotswolds.

Christmas Bonanza at the Westwoods Centre Northleach

 










Saturday 13th November 
10.00am - 4.00pm

Experience a magical Christmas shopping extravaganza.... Plenty of gift ideas and festive delights for family & friends.

FREE PARKING  ~ FREE ADMISSION

SPRING CHICKEN CARDS & GIFTS
We'll have a selection of our best-selling Spring Chicken cards and gifts from our Spring Chicken online store........Cards, Mugs, Teatowels and Aprons, Paper Napkins, Bottle Bags, Coasters and more!

Plus Cotswold Calendars, Cards, Paintings and Prints by Chris.

 www.northleachbonanza.co.uk

House portrait of the week

I had to be there early in the day for this one; the back garden and yard are a sun trap in the morning, and the tree sprinkles dappled shade over the end of the house. Note the clock and bell over the patio doors. I left the foreground deliberately a little untidy and overgrown as it breaks up the squareness of the house and makes the scene more 'lived in' and friendly I think!

St. Andrew’s Church Chedworth

At last a sunny day that is warm enough to lure me out into the open air with my paints! I don’t mind a bit of outdoor sketching with a pencil when it’s freezing cold in the winter, but sitting on a painting stool for a couple of hours trying to abstract my mind is almost impossible when hypothermia starts to set in.

I wandered lonely as a cloud, floating on high o’er vales and hills, but then stopped the car at Chedworth as the Church in the morning sunlight caught my eye. The Cotswolds are rather brown and grey at the beginning of March, even when it’s sunny, but the churchyard with its grass, and yew trees looked warm and inviting, so I decided to look no further, and set up camp with my paintbox.

It’s quite a complicated architectural subject, but the advantage of painting on the spot is there is no time to fuss with unnecessary detail. In the studio I would have made far more of it, but I rather like it as it is! ...............Summer is on the way.