Last Couple of Days

We're now into the last couple of days of my big show in London, which closes on Tuesday 8th March.

Thank you very much indeed to everyone who has visited the show!  It's very much appreciated,and hope you enjoyed it

Before the show ends, there is still a little time to look at some of my favourites that are still for sale.

View the show HERE.

This little painting was done from the banks of the Thames at Bermondsey.  The sun was setting and the lights slowly appeared on Tower Bridge, bringing out its lovely sweeping shapes, and creating a soft orange glow on the surface of the river to match that of the gentle peach colours of the sky.

Tower Bridge at Dusk from Bermondsey (Oil on linen, 12 x 12)

This painting  is of the fountain in the middle of Central Park, when I was visiting New York.  (I also have paintings in the show of Clearwater in Florida, which I visited before going on to New York.)  

The park was busy, and it was a blistering hot summer's day, but I loved the way that there was so much coolness and calmness in the colours of the water and the greens, blues and purples of the plants, and in the simplicity of the beautiful, pure white waxy bloom of the lily itself.  

I loved the rhythmical shapes of the leaves and flowers against the water surface, and the way the fountain gently moved the reflections.  I also liked the way that the upright stems of the purple flower buds made a pleasing counterpoint to the horizontal planes of the lily leaves on the water surface.

White Waterlily, Central Park (Oil on linen, 26 x 32)

This is a painting of a favourite walk of mine in London.  I love walking across Hyde Park, especially during autumn, which is probably my favourite season of the year.  

Just in the distance on the right, you can catch a glimpse of the Round Pond, which usually has its fair share of Canada geese grazing around it.  The trees are turning all sorts of beautiful shades of crimsons and oranges and cadmium yellows, which catch the warm autumn sunlight.  Invariably, there is the rustle of squirrels rooting purposefully around the dead leaves.  It's all very peaceful in the middle of the big city.

Autumn Trees near Round Pond, Hyde Park (Oil on linen, 26 x 32)

This is of Sea Cliff beach, the great, wide sandy beaches on the east coast of Scotland near Edinburgh.  It's a great place to take a dog for a walk and let it run. That's the Bass Rock in the distance, with its little white lighthouse.  The rock is covered in noisy seabirds, whirling around their nests.

The sand has a pinky granite-like tinge to it, and the reddish tones contrast with the bright, sharp acid green of the seaweed on the rocks.  The sky is a brilliant, early summer blue, and the brisk wind is whipping up little white caps on the waves as they break on the shore.

Rocks and Seaweed, Sea Cliff (Oil on linen, 20 x 20)

This little painting is a like a bright jewel of a thing.  It's of the flowers which I grew in my back garden from wildflower seeds.  

It was a happy accident that meant that the beautiful cadmium yellows of the calendula and California poppies came up against the lilacs of the tall honesty, as yellow and purple are of complimentary colours!

Calendula in Bloom (Oil on linen, 12 x 12)

Lastly, I'm going to mention one of my favourite Northern Ireland paintings.

I go every year to the Causeway Coast.  This is the view looking over the hedgerows and down the glen, over the fields towards the coast.  

Rathlin Island is the long, low island on the left on the horizon.  Fair Head is the little spur of dark headland towards the right, which the branches of fuschia are pointing to.  I love the pattern of the fields, like a huge soft quilt, which are all shades of green.  The soft greens contrast with the bright pinks of the fuschia hedges, which line the narrow roads.

There's a huge, exhilarating  feeling of distance which I like about the Causeway Coast, how you can look right along the coast, and right out to sea for miles and miles.  On clear days, you catch tantalising glimpses of the land beyond - Ailsa Craig, the Mull of Kintyre, Jura and Islay, Southern Ireland.

Fuschia Hedges Looking Across to Fair Head (Oil on linen, 20 x 30)

So if you're in London today or Monday, you can visit the gallery and see the paintings for yourself!  Let me know if you do and what you think, or feel free to email me at judith@jibridgland.com and ask me any questions.

Heading for London

I've got a new selection of work heading to Duncan R Miller Fine Art in London for the autumn.

Here's are some of my paintings which will be arriving there next week.

Gorse at Flamborough Head (Oil on linen, 20 x 30)

Moonlit Shore, Whitby (Oil on linen, 20 x 30)

Bluebells (Oil on linen, 16 x 16)

Calendula in Bloom (Oil on linen, 12 x 12)

Setting Sun, Tower Bridge from Bermondsey (Oil on linen, 16 x 16)

Tower Bridge at Dusk from Bermondsey (Oil on linen, 12 x 12)

Tower Bridge from Bermondsey

As part of the process of collecting preparatory material for paintings for my solo show in London next year, I decided to take a walk along the Thames embankment at Bermondsey at dusk.

The view back upriver has Tower Bridge with the sun setting behind it, with the Shard to the left, and the dome of St Pauls appearing on the right the further you walk down the curve of the river bank.  I thought that this was an image which I'd like to explore, with the interplay between the natural and man-made landscape, and the lovely graphic elements of the buildings, the shoreline, the cranes, the boats and the water.

I like to take an 'essay' of photographs from which to refer, in this case capturing what it felt like as the evening progressed and the sun slowly set.  In doing this, I am creating a narrative of my own experience.  I was watching how the light and the colours changed, clouds moved, changing relationships between the passing boats and the buildings, exploring different angles and compositions, different textural qualities, the interplay of all the elements.  

When I am back in the studio I will be using these images as visual notes and reference points as part of the process of making the final oil paintings.

So come with me on a walk along the embankment at Bermondsey on a chilly evening in May.  it's very very quiet, and there's hardly anyone else around.....