Painting The South Downs Way (Southease)

May brings the arrival of the wild flowers so I couldn't resist a walk along the South Downs at Southease.
At this time of year the grass lands between the brooks in the Ouse Valley are filled with Buttercups.
The lanes are edged with Cow Parsley.
The fields are a blazing patchwork of Rapeseed crops and the slopes of the South Downs are covered with Cowslips...my favourite childhood flower .
All in all....just stunning!

The South Downs at Southease

Descending the steep slopes of Itford Hill brings you to the Ouse Valley where a welcoming break can be taken at the Youth Hostel and Tea room . From here the view takes you back up the slopes and the distant journey ahead .

                                            "Travellers Rest" 
                             Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18" 

Painting of The south Downs at Southease 

The flowers of Rapeseed crops are now fading but I have enjoyed some very colourful walks , especially around the Cooksbridge area ..

Rapeseed fields at Cooksbridge 

 There was a cottage right in the middle of the fields ....a perfect subject for a smaller painting 

                                                  "The House in  the Yellow" 

"The House in the Yellow"

 
 

Painting the Spring Bluebells

Spring Bluebells

Yay! The Bluebells are out!
As soon as the sun comes out (between the April showers ) I've been out walking around my local countryside .
Either this year is particularly good for Bluebells or I've been fortunate to have chosen some exceptional paths . Either way the woods are covered in a blanket of blue and the air filled with the sweetest scent.

Sussex Bluebells 

This of course means I've been painting. It would be easy for me to paint several bluebell scenes but it would start to get a bit tiresome and my enthusiasm would wane. So each year I pick 2-3 scenes that really catch my eye ....so here's the first of 2018 ...

                                              "Along Bluebell Rise" 
                                Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18" 

"Along Bluebell Rise" Acrylic painting of bluebell woods in Sussex

                                                           **********
It's now a couple of weeks later, the season is coming to an end and the bluebells are starting to fade away .
I have enjoyed several walks that have taken me "off the beaten track "  . These are the walks that I enjoy the most, you never know what lies ahead!
Sometimes I turn a corner and I am greeted with a view that makes me stop ...stare...and just think "WOW!"
This is from one of those moments ....

                                          "The gates to bluebell wood" 
                                 Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18"

"The gates to bluebell wood" Acrylic painting on canvas