ARTFINDER: September Days by Paula Oakley - " When the Summer starts to fade and blue skie…

ARTFINDER: September Days by Paula Oakley - "

When the Summer starts to fade and blue skie…

It's now late August and once again it's been a Summer of rain or being just too hot  .  I've spent the past few weeks weather watching and dashing out in the good spells . A bit like one of those little women in the weather houses where they come out on the sunny days !    ha ha ha! 

 

  

 

This Summer has been a mixture of good walks and just visiting places that I've not been to . It's been an interesting few months of discovering little bits of Sussex that I didn't know existed .

 

I do however  have a couple of favourite walks that I try and do each year , one of them is up to Mount Caburn on the outskirts of Lewes .

On my way there I  noticed that the wild flowers were starting to fade along the roadsides so I didn't expect to see many on my walk ......I was so very wrong!  

As I entered through the gate into Southerham nature reserve I was greeted by a sea of colour overlooking the South Downs. So many flowers swaying in the warm breeze that seemed to go on forever!  It looked stunning ! 

My path through Southerham nature reserve

I walked very slowly through the fields  just mesmerised by the beautiful scenery around me ! 

 

Wild flowers at Southerham nature reserve

 

On the other side of these fields I was greeted by splendid views  over the Sussex Weald.

 I continued my walk to Mount Caburn where I stopped for a while to watch the Exmoor ponies that were grazing in the fields . Then after stopping for lunch at the top I made my way back through more fields of flowers . 

Views of Mount Caburn, Lewes 

 It was  wonderful weather and the most delightful walk , It turned out to be a perfect day !

 

The only thing left for me to do was to capture it on canvas and paint one of my favourite views of the day . 

 

"The Scented Seas of Summer" 

Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18" 

"The Scented Seas of Summer" Acrylic painting on canvas

 Summer has taken such a long time to arrive this year ! Usually around May we have a mini heatwave but that just wasn't to be. As a fairweather walker it's meant having to rush out during the good spells in the hope of getting some useable reference photos .

 It's all felt rather "hit and miss"  ..........which also describes my painting world this year. 

Sales have been down and scammers have been up ....grrrrrrrrrrr!  

My comfort has been in the knowledge that sadly many other artists are in the same position . 

I'm starting to question the point of continuing to paint . I'm in a despondent mood which is hard to get out of :( 

Added to this is that our inboxes are filled with purchase requests for NFT's !!!!!!!!!! ARGGGGGH ! They're not interested in the art, it's just another asset in their digital word .

I'm a fine artist .... I work with REAL paints,REAL canvases and spend many hours travelling to different places .  It all require REAL money  ..... !

Can you tell I'm not happy about it ? Ha ha! 

Any way that's enough moaning  .

Summer it here and I'm going to cheer myself up by getting out and about as much as I can ." Make hay while the sun shines" as they say .

So please join me on my Inspiring Walks

 

It's almost Spring .......Yippee! In just a few weeks the clocks will go forward and the days will become lighter, longer and brighter  (hopefully) . But for now the rain just goes on and on. It feels like the Winter has gone on forever ! 

Sadly the bad weather has prevented me from going out on my walks. The paths are waterlogged and quite impassable . The countryside around me is one big muddy quagmire  .

 After fracturing my ankle the other year it's probably left me a bit over cautious but if I can't walk then I can't paint ......"sigh" .

To cheer myself up I'm busy planning some new paths to explore . There's always a sense of excitement wondering what new views I will find to inspire me .

I've already painted a couple of Springtime pictures from my walks last year . Those wonderful days when the the air is filled with scent and birdsong . Days of blossom and fresh green leaves ....perfect ! 

Springtime paintings

The first is from a very pretty and very old bridleway on the outskirts of  Newick village where I live. It's a lovely walk at any time of the year, but when the Bluebells  flower it becomes just breathtaking ! 

The second is from a walk around the Ardingly/Balcombe area. It was a new walk for me and although it was extremely muddy in places I found some beautiful paths to explore .

The Art2Arts gallery have kindly included me as one of their Artists of the month  , here you can view more of my paintings  Art2Arts

 I feel like I'm sneaking in like a naughty child !  Ha ha! 

 I had hoped to start posting more reguarly this year but it just hasn't happened . Best intentions and all that.  

I'm blaming the weather, wet dreary weather, it makes it very hard to get out and about . The footpaths are flooded and so very muddy ! 

I've been relying on my reference photos from last year to keep me going with my paintings .  It's not a bad thing as it means I get to revisit the wonderful views and glorious sunshine of the South Downs and the footpaths around me .

The three paintings that I have completed so far this year

 I'm also busy planning new walks and places to explore .......I just need some sunshine !

 It was mid July ....then I blinked and it's now November ! Ha ha, I don't know what happened but the time has flown by ! So what have I been up to ?

Well, although the Summer started off well the weather soon turned rather dreary for the rest of it.

 My walks have been shorter this year and I decided to do more exploring of the access land on The South Downs .  It turned out to be a good idea as I've been able to view the surroundings from different angles and discover more wonderful scenes to paint.  

The Hawthorn berries especially looked good  , bright splashes of vivid red lighting up the grassy slopes  as in my painting below. 

 "Beacon Blaze"

 

Summer ended and Autumn opened it's door . This is the time when bonfire night celebrations start and also time to dress up and enjoy the fun !  My costume is a celebration of Autumn . It was all about experimenting with different fabrics and paints .  

It was a brilliant evening, our village always puts on an amazing event and it was good to be part of it  . If you wish to know more then you can find out here Newick Bonfire Society

Next I took part in the "anonymous heART" project.  This was an art auction to raise funds for heart research . I contributed two 7" x 5" paintings and raised £320 which I was delighted with .

 It's now mid November  and I've been out and about in the woods , exploring new  wonderful paths around mid Sussex

and  painting....of course  :) 

"November Sun " Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18"

My next walk took me to Firle beacon which gave me views north over the Sussex weald and south towards the sea. For painting inspiration I was rather spoilt for choice! 

Views from Firle beacon

I have walked here many times but today I wanted to spend some time exploring the access land.  

I started at the car park, making my way through the cows that didn't seem to be bothered about anything much, they were just chilling out in the sunshine.

Then as I approached the beacon I spotted a Kestrel . I sat and watched it hover in the air for what seemed like ages before it swooped off down into the long grass way below . It's moments like this that I love about the South downs.

Reaching  the access land I discovered just how steep it was . It wasn't an easy walk but the views made it all worth while. In fact it was so steep that I had to hold on to tufts of grass to help me climb back up ! The older I get the steeper the hills get !  😂😆

I was glad to reach the gate at the top of the path . It's obviously not walked very often as I then had to beat my way through overgrown Gorse bushes and Stining nettles . I felt like the Indiana Jones of Sussex ! Ha ha!
It was all good though and my walk down to Firle was edged with beautiful Orchids .

I have several views to paint from this walk,  but I thought the first would have to be the stile that I struggled to get back from . It just  seemed to perfectly  capture my day .

                                                "The Path Less Trodden"

Painting of the view from Firle beacon . Acrylic on canvas

 

 Summer has arrived! The lush greens are starting to turn golden and the butterflies dance on the warm breeze from one flower to the next ....perfect, just perfect! 

My recent walks have taken me up on the  South Downs and the views have been stunning . 

The South Downs

 A sunshine day took me to Cuckmere Haven where I walked up over the downs on the  eastern side of the river.  I hadn't been to this part before and I wanted to see where the old church of Exceat once stood. I almost missed it among the long grass

The stone marking the place where the old church  of Excete once stood

It was a fabulous walk, blue skies,  sunshine  and the views were amazing.  

Cuckmere Haven

I reached the top of Haven Brow, which is the first of the Seven Sisters and decided it would be the perfect spot for lunch.

On top of The Seven Sisters

 As soon as I'd sat down a very cheeky Crow joined me and decided that I should share my sandwich with him . He knew when he was on to a good thing! 

After a while I continued on my walk , this meant heading back down hill. I had the choice of two paths,  I stupidly picked the steep one ! I will never EVER go down this path again! It was extremely steep and smooth. No where to safely get a good footing. I'm not good with heights so ended up bum shuffling my way down hill ! But.....I made it!

All in all it was a brilliant day and I couldn't wait to get painting one my favourite views of the day 

                                                     "Haven Views" 

 

 Well, Spring became one very muddy walk after another and seemed to go on forever ! The Bluebell season came and went giving a much needed display of colour.

As the weather started to improve  I decided I would start exploring some of the higher paths. My first being a walk up Wolstonbury Hill. The cowslips adorned the slopes and the views were amazing . It was a raher slow walk though, the climb is very steep and not for the faint hearted ! 

Wolstonbury Hill

I made it  ! 

 

On top of Wolstonbury Hill

 Then, everything turned white. The Cow Parsley rose and  flowered and the Hawthorn trees surpassed themselves with more blossom than I've ever seen .  The South Downs were transformed into a superb landscape of lush greens and fresh white blossom. 

Under blue skies and sunshine I explored some paths around Sompting and Sullington in West Sussex ....it was all rather wonderful :) 

 Sompting , Sussex

It was the view towards Cissbury Ring that really caught my eye and became my next painting ....

                                 "May Days and Chalk Ways "  Acrylic on canvas 24" x 20" 

Painting of the South Downs , Sompting, West Sussex

 Well I'm fed up with the dreary Winter weather so I've decided to fast forward to the Spring .  It's my favourite time of the year when the countryside  bursts into life and glorious colour! 

I've chosen a view from a lovely morning walk through a woodland in North Chailey near to where I live. 

"A beautiful Spring morning walk through the woods. The morning sun lights up the fresh green foliage on the trees whilst the path ahead is edged by the heavenly scent of bluebells ".

                                   "Through the Woodland Blue"  Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18"

 Painting in progress 

                          "Through the Woodland Blue"

 "Through the Woodland Blue"

 

So, where do I start with my paintings ? Well it all starts in the comfort of my home looking at maps of places that I'd like to explore . 

I look for places where I will get  good views or a selection of different things, woods, fields,ponds etc. I then work out the distance to avoid walking too far and also find where the bus stops are if I'm using public transport. Finally I go on Google maps and find the spots where my path crosses the road. I know that may sound a bit over the top but it really helps . Sometimes a path isn't very clearly marked and I end up in a different place than I expected. Recognising something from Google maps reassures me that I'm going the right way ! I also take a paper map with me, I know that there are many walking apps but messing about trying to look at a small screen really isn't my thing and some places you can't get a connection . A proper map is so much easier and gives a lot more detail. 

The next thing is checking the weather forecast. I don't mind a bit of rain or moody skies  but my paintings rely upon sunshine , shadows and clear views . In order to get good photographs the weather has to be good. (There are times when I'm out when the skies cloud over and my heart sinks)

I always work from my own photos. There are many artists that work from other peoples photos ( with consent from the photographer) but I think that the most important thing is about the composition, the person that took the photo creates that and working from someone elses picture means that the most creative part has already been done . I do understand though that not everyone can get out and about so I'm always happy if someone wishes to use photos from my walks https://www.facebook.com/groups/138021407053592

On my walks I take about 200 photos , if I'm lucky I will get just 2-3  that I think would be good to paint. Actually being at the places and soaking up the atmosphere is just so very inspiring ! I can take elements of things in the area and incorporate them into my artwork. Things like the wildlife and flowers .  

Finally I return home and eagerly look to see what I have managed to capture and the clarity of the photos. I can only paint what I can see and working in detail means that I need to see as many of the fiddly bit as possible ! 

I'm off now to put my walking boots on .....happy days !

 

 AUTUMN PAINTING 

It appears that my desire to walk and paint is still stronger than to write about it ! Ha ha! Keeping up with my Blog has not been as often as I intended ! I think the problem is that the internet can be all too time consuming and before you know it you've lost half the day. 

Anyway, life is good and I've enjoyed many walks this year discovering new places and paths. 

I was sad to see the Summer end but waited eagerly for the Autumn colours to arrive. But it was a long wait and the trees were reluctant this year to change and drop their leaves. It resulted in just small patches of colour over a long period of time.  I searched various paths looking for areas where the low sunlight broke through the trees. It was not as easy to find such places as I had hoped. I discovered some wonderful woods and  found the perfect bridleway not far from my home ....

Along the Woodland Path

The Woodland Pond

The Autumn Bridleway

December arrived and still many of the leaves hung onto the trees . This turned out to be to my advantage . 

Over the past few years here in mid Sussex the Winters have been bleak and dreary . Barely any frost and only a wish for snow. Imagine my delight this year when snow arrived and turned my surroundings into a Winter Wonderland ! Just wonderful ! 

Snow in Sussex !!!!

The colours of the trees almost glowed and looked stunning . I've only ever painted 4 snowy landscapes so I've been delighted this year to have the chance to take on the challenge and I've loved every moment of it :) 

                                              "Woodland Winter " 

                           Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18"  

Painting of the snow covered woods at Danehill, Sussex