As I’ve never used a pen or brush in a place beginning with Q, I’m using this painting which was done very quickly. I paint fast and loose anyway, my outdoor quarter Imperial watercolours are always done in 1 to 2 hours, but this one was much quicker. The painting is the view of the River Crouch in Essex, from Clayhill Vineyard, Althorne. Suffolk artist and friend, Andrew Pitt, and I spent a weekend painting around Burnham on Crouch, and after doing a couple of paintings on the estuary we were having a late afternoon pot of tea at a cafe on the way home. Andrew liked the view from the car park and asked the cafe owner if we could set up and paint there. “No problem” said the owner, “but we close and lock the gates in 30 minutes” Our paintings were done in 25, and this included setting up and packing away easels !