"Lollipops and lace" Summer ice cream painting and Firle Vintage air

The Vintage Fair at Firle Place, Sussex

I have been hoping for another good seaside trip but the best sunshine days seem to only fall at the weekends. I don't like crowded places so the weekends are no good to me.
We did however spend a lovely day at the Vintage Fair that is held at Firle Place in East Sussex.
Firle place is a splendid house, nestled at the foot of the South Downs with stunning views over the Sussex Weald.

Firle Place, East Sussex

It was a glorious Summer's day and the grounds were filled with traditional fair ground rides, vintage cars and a large selection of stalls selling various retro themed items. The cider tent also seemed to be very popular !
It was a very English  "strawberries and cream" sort of day.
For several months now I have wanted to find a colourful ice cream van to paint and add to my Summertime collection, but the only one that I really liked was a van called Vintage Scoops
 that I had seen in Lewes town a few times. Unfortunately it was parked in the shade  which wasn't ideal as the colours didn't look their best.  Imagine my delight when I spotted it at the fair!
I love the creative and fun thinking that they have put together and I'm going to love painting it even more.....
Work in progress.....
                                           " Lollipops and Lace"
                                                 Acrylic on canvas 24"x 18"
 It's taken a couple of days to get the composition sketched out as there will be quite a bit of detail involved. I need to build up areas of opaque colour first to give me a base to work on...

Starting to paint the ice cream van

I've spent several hours today on the inside of the van. There's quite a lot of flags and bits and pieces that need painting then putting into the shade before I can progress onto the outside. A large area of the windows have writing on so I need to make sure the paint has dried right out before I can continue.

Starting to paint the inside of the van

I have been working on some of the detail which puts more colour into the composition. The embroidered table cloth now needs the shading added ...

Adding a bit more detail to the composition

I have spent today painting bits and pieces all over the place! I made a couple of small alterations, there wasn't really anything wrong but there was a few things that were niggling me.
The van is beginning to shape up a bit more now and adding some of the shadows has given it more depth. I'm happy with it so far.
I have a busy Bank Holiday weekend ahead so I shall continue painting on Monday.  :)

Adding the shading to the painting starts to give it more depth

I'm back after spending a lovely weekend with my children and grandchildren, luckily the weather stayed dry and we even saw a bit of sunshine! Today I'm back home and it's raining once again!  Oh well, a good excuse to get on with the painting.  It's been another day of painting a bit here and a bit there but I'm happy with the progress and expect to have it finished in a couple of days...

Good progress being made on the painting

It's been an interesting and fun composition to paint and the ladies from Vintage Scoops love it :) ...

                                               "Lollipops and Lace"
                                                      Acrylic on canvas 24"x 18"

Painting of the Vintage Scoops ice cream van

 

Summer sun and seaside holiday fun !

Life's been really busy lately. I have been very fortunate and sold rather a lot of paintings, the man in the post office now greets me with "another one? " ....ha ha!
I have just completed a commission and about to start another one so I decided to have a painting break for a week and catch up on some other bits and pieces .
Now with all the little jobs done and not quite so hectic days I can have a bit of Summer fun !
I'm planning another beach trip soon, I love the colours and madness of the British seaside and want to make the most of it ! There's also the wonderful traditions such as fish 'n' chips, ice cream, sticks of rock, carousel rides, Helter Skelter and of course.....Punch and Judy !
I couldn't resist  painting the children waiting for the puppet show to start.
 The puppet tent took a lot of work so I was delighted that it sold within minutes of me putting it up for sale :)

                                            "Waiting for the Punch line" (Sold)

"Waiting for the Punch line" Acrylic on canvas

One of the wonderful things about the seaside, is that no matter how old you are, there is nothing quite like soaking up the Summer sunshine and just watching the World go by.....

                                  "Golden days and Silver surf"
                                Acrylic on canvas 20"x 16"

"Golden days and Silver surf" A fun colourful beach painting