"Stone Cottage with Grape Vines" (oil on stretched canvas; 11" x 14")

click here to buy

On the second day of Danni Dawson's workshop, I decided to paint the studio of her husband and fellow artist Mike Francis, a charming stone cottage with wooden doors draped with grapevines.  As I painted the scene in the shade of a plein-air umbrella, the overcast sky eventually cleared by the afternoon.  The sun moved to cast the lovely shadows of grape leaves on the old, patinaed doors.

I used to "mass produce" these plein-air paintings two a day during a workshop.  No more!  I took my time by carefully observing the growth patterns and cast shadows of grape leaves, and finished the painting on the following day.  It was a lot of fun and not as exhausting!

"Chimes Cottage in Early Spring" (oil on linen; 9" x 12")

nfs

It's already April 11th and you are probably wondering why I haven't yet announced the theme for the April Challenge.  Here we go.  I am going to paint a series of paintings based on the pictures I took during my recent trip to England.  The April Challenge is "I Love England"!

You know I haven't painted for three weeks.  Furthermore, I haven't touched oil paints for a month and half!  It took a while to get my mojo back.  A sudden heat wave in the mid-Atlantic region didn't help either.  My garden is going absolutely crazy.  Cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin were spectacular on Tuesday. I am in the midst of spring fever.  It is hard to sit calmly in my studio and paint.  To prove my point, I am sharing just two pictures of my garden this morning.

tulips and grape hyacinths

daffodils and woodland poppies among other flowers!

But I digress.  Let's get back to today's painting.  For eight enchanted days, we stayed at this thatched-roofed stone cottage, which belongs to my husband's first cousin and her husband.  Chimes Cottage on Church Lane in Sidlesham, West Sussex is 380 years old, and is on the British National Register.  There were several such cottages on the lane. It was as if we had walked into a fairy tale.  The painting is a gift to our wonderful hosts.  I hope they like it!