Still Life

Great colours, warm and rich. Very nice pastel.

Thank you Carole for your comment. I love doing pastels, but don't do them often as out here in Spain it is quite expensive to get them framed. Mind you, it's probably just as expensive in England. I'm never happy to leave pastels unframed because in this climate of exrteme heat and exrtreme cold and wet, they lose their bloom very quickly, even with fixative.

The texture of the dry leaves is interpreted very well. Wine bottles are lovely too.

Thank you Lorraine, your comment is very encouraging. It's so difficult to critique ones own work and therefore other peoples' opinions are really valuable. Thanks for taking the time to look at this.

I have just browsed your portfolio and I am impressed by your work, by the bold directness of it and the very good composition skills which you have. Well done!

I like your work. Where in Spain do you live? Jx

Thank you Ruth and Jean for your comments, I found your comment Ruth about composition very encouraging. I'm not keen on doing still life, but it is awfully good for concentrating the mind and for me in particular in making me paint what I see and not what I think I see!!!! A wretched fault that I have and constantly have to be on guard against. So every now and then, when I run out of every excuse I can think of, I knuckle down to a still life and I have to confess that I do find it very soothing. Jean, I live in a valley called Ayora Valley inland in the Valencia Province. It's quite small, about 4 kilometers wide at the widest and 26 k long. There are 6 villages scattered along it's floor with Ayora village being the largest with a population of about 5000 people and a small supermarket!!, the rest have on average 400 people. I live on a mountain side, no neighbours, looking down at Ayora village which is surrounded by olive groves and almond trees , it's falling down castle towering over the houses, and the mountains on the other side of the valley as a backdrop.

Hello Lala First of all thank you for your comment on one of my life paintings - you were quite right she does look a uncomfortable in the latest one. I hope to put that right as well as her right shoulder next week. As for your work I do like your figures and still life paintings. Have seen work by a Spanish artist called Cortez. He did wonderful still-life paintings. Google him sometime.

Hi Stuart, Thank you for your comment on my figures and still life. I tried googling Cortez, but there are hundred and one Cortez!! Can you give me his first name? Looking forward to the next stage of your life painting