Enough to Patch a Sailors Trousers? by Fiona Phipps

This is really lovely Fiona. You have the magic touch. + 1 Like

Light and lovely Fiona

Lovely. My Gran used to say that.

Love the title as well as the painting. I love those pointy contrasts on either side. I always like your palette and lovely loose washes Diana

LOL, Thats like the saying I have for women who cover themselves with tattoos. "They have more tattoos than a crew of sailors. " Whoops sorry. its nicely balanced and you have created atmosphere with the treatment given to the background. It just needs some trousers. lol.

Oh Christopher, I wish!lol Thank you for your kind comment. Many thanks Pat, Janet.....it was my mum that use to say it...Diana, the pointy bits are just the shape of my brush, it's my lazy way of putting in foliage.lol Mmm...I know what you mean ref tattoos. I seem to be making a habit of forgetting the trousers if you look at my last few postings!lol Thanks for your input John.

Pleasant, expect to see frogs and things.

Just noticed, brush try experimenting with a fan brush Fiona. You can get great effects in watercolour with them.

You have a certain light touch Fiona. You make your paintings look effortless.

I almost missed this, it is beautiful Fiona, gosh haven't heard that saying in what forever ago.

Never heard of the saying and I don't understand it anyway. But I do know that this watercolour is rather good, one of your best in fact, I do like the subject also so keep it up as the saying goes...

Wonderful Fiona - just enough visual information to stimulate the imagination! It brings to mind several places from past explorations.

I like the mystical but calm feeling I get from this piece, Fiona. Another lovely painting to add to your portfolio.

Nicely done Fiona, I look at this and can't help but get the feeling of being in a boat heading for the smal gap and some mystery beyond , great brush and pen marks and of course a great palette as always. What is beyond the gap?

Beautiful palette as always Fiona. Love the soft patch of blue, ( for the trousers) !

And a real beauty Fiona

Thats a strange expression Bruce (in an Australian accent) love it ,love it ,love it Fiona love the composition ,colours and marks sometimes a quick sketch is more rewarding than a long laboured effort do you find .Either way love your impulsive side excellent (not an abandoned shopping trolley or bbbbirds ! in sight

Beautifully painted, Fiona (and love the little anecdotes that accompany your posts, always adds interest!)

Gorgeous colours as usual. Foreground vegetation just sets it all off.

Lovely as usual Fiona, wonderful colours

One day you'll be as good as your Dad with his watercolours up above!!!!! This is a superb Fiona trying things and succeeding immensely.

Hodge-podge magic again Fiona. Funnily enough I'd not heard that saying until recently with a local variation. Dutchman's instead of Sailors trousers.

Thank you Peter, there probably are frogs and 'things' in there! John I have a fan brush somewhere, bought it years ago and have never used it, may experiment.....I usually only use one brush and do everything with it.....hence the mess!lol Thank you very much Adele, Jenny, Alan, Wib, Lionel and Carole for your lovely comments.

Thanks Malcolm.....beyond the gap is a world full of mystery but in real life there are fields and the Galloway hills in the distance. Hope you're not too disappointed!lol This area has always been livestock farming and most fields have some sort of small plantaion of broadleaf trees, for shelter I should imagine. Some are in the corner of the field and for some reason they flood. Thanks Dennis!

David...thank you, thank you, thank you!!lol I much prefer my impulsive side for painting, if I do what I call a 'bestest' watercolour, it's far too tight, usually. If I set out to make a mess, I sometimes even like it! I thought there was something missing....bbbbbirds!

Jenny, Gudrun, David...appreciate you taking the time to comment thank you. Derek, that's a lovely thing to say, thank you very much indeed X

I haven't heard the Dutchman variation before Peter.......you don't hear these old saying very much today, my mother had a saying for all occasions, most of them Scottish! Thanks for your comment.

It's your usual stunning work Fiona. I haven't heard that saying either but it does make sense from a 'large' patch perspective as sailors and Dutchmen have bell bottom type trousers. I must know, I was that sailor. 8 creases across the leg in order they can be folded into a small locker space. Big trousers! Plenty of ironing

Thank you very much Michael, you will know all about sailors trousers then......my dad was a sailor, he told me all about having to iron his bell bottoms and all the pleats!lol

Lovely tones Fiona and muted colour which works well.

Beautiful painting as usual, Fiona, and lovely palette.

Just noticed this one Fiona. Your impulsive side produces some really beautiful images. Long live the impulsive.

A real eye catcher, Fiona!!

Stunning Fiona.

Thank you so much Karen, Cesare, Mia and Sarah for your very kind comments.

Lovely light in this, Fiona, and I like the misty areas in the background, nice contrasts. Is it a Scottish saying, I wonder? My Scottish grandmother I mentioned to you once, Maimie MacDonald McGilvary, used to say "is there enough blue to make a cat a pair of trousers?".

Hi Caroline, I really don't know where the saying originated from but I've never heard your variation.

Something to aspire too.. this is beautiful work, Fiona!

Thank you very much Heather.