"Springtime over Fulking" (Sussex). Painting the view from Devil's Dyke, Brighton

Devil's Dyke and Fulking, Sussex

Spring has arrived bringing blue skies and sunshine!
The glorious weather took us off to explore Devil's Dyke just outside of Brighton.
  It's been about 4 years since my last visit and I wanted to take advantage of the good weather to capture the stunning views of the Sussex Weald.
I wasn't disappointed but the wind was so strong and bitterly cold ! We stayed just long enough for me to get some good reference photos (not easy in the wind) and then headed down to explore the villages of Fulking. and Edburton that are nestled at the base of the South Downs.
 The narrow winding lanes took us through the small but pretty villages.
These are the places that we had seen looking west from Devil's Dyke and the subject of my painting.
I wanted to paint this view as not only does it capture the communities that live in the area but also the hills with the South Downs Way heading off in the distance on it's route to Winchester.
A view that goes on forever......

                                           "Springtime over Fulking"
                                                     Acrylic on box canvas 24"x 18"x 1.5"
Work in progress.....

Painting the view over Fulking village (Sussex)

The first few days were spent building up the colours and textures whilst making sure everything was in it's right place. Adding the village was quite straining on my eyes so it was good to hop back and forth between buildings and the earthy grass slopes of the South Downs.
Finally everything came together . I'm pleased with the result and it is a great reminder of our day out where it seemed like we were on the top of the world!
                                         

"Springtime over Fulking" (Sussex) Acrylic painting on box canvas

Wall and close up views

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"Summer over Southease" Painting the view over Southease in Sussex from Itford Hill

Itford Hill, Sussex

Itford Hill is situated just a couple of miles south of the town of Lewes .
 From the top the views are breathtaking!
 North takes you over the river Ouse towards Lewes.
East has wonderful views of Mount Caburn and the Sussex Weald.
Looking South you can see the sea at Newhaven and Seaford.
West overlooks the Ouse valley and the South Downs....this is the view that will be the subject of my painting.
On a hazy Summer day I headed to Southease, a tiny little rural village in the Ouse valley that has an interesting and unusual church with a round tower http://southeasevillage.info/

Southease, Sussex

The walk through the village to Itford Hill is part of the South Downs Way and takes you over the River Ouse via a swing bridge. The bridge was extensively restored in 2010 and seems to fit in so well with it's surroundings.

The swing bridge at Southease

Shortly after you come upon the railway station which always seems to be in a rather odd place as it's in the middle of nowhere! I think it gets used mostly by walkers as there's a youth hostel next to it . As I crossed over the footbridge I stopped to watch a train go by. As you can see by my photo it's a very rural location ...

Distant view of Mount Caburn from Southease station

 I followed the track that would take me to the top of Itford Hill, looking forward to the views that awaited me.

Heading up Itford Hill

It turned out to be a lot steeper than it looked! On my way up a group of young lads passed me, they had stayed at the hostel for the night and were in the process of walking the South Downs Way from one end to the other  (160 km from Winchester to Eastbourne) . They were on a quest to complete their task and were soon ahead of me and out of sight . I admired their determination but was a little saddened that  their rush meant they were missing the chance to absorb so many splendid views.
At least I wasn't the only one taking my time.....;)

Finally I reached the top , it was a bit hazy but the scenery was wonderful!
Looking back I could see the path that I had taken and the reason for my walk.
 To paint the landscape over Southease.
 As a very young child I lived on two different farms in this area , alas too young to appreciate it !
But what I do appreciate is that pudding bowl  haircuts are a thing of the long distant past!!!!!!

So back to the painting... the composition will be of  Southease nestled in the South Downs in the Ouse Valley. Just the church and swing bridge can be seen surrounded by the harvest fields of Summer..
Work in progress...."Summer over Southease"  (Acrylic on box canvas 24"x 18"x 1.5")

Work in progress. Painting the view over the Ouse valley and Southease (Sussex)

Started work on the buildings , bridge and trees ...

Whilst letting the other areas dry I have added the first layers of paint to the fields, these will eventually have several hay bales in them . It's a dark and dreary day so unfortunately it hasn't photographed very well .....roll on Summer!
Finally  I have completed the  painting. Days of Summer, rolling hills, hay bales, red berried Hawthorn and sunshine!

                                           "Summer over Southease"

"Summer over Southease" landscape painting of the South Downs at Southease in Sussex

                                            BUY

Fun on the beach ......

I've decided I've had enough of the bleak Winter weather and thought I would have a bit of Sussex seaside fun.
Eastbourne is a well known retirement resort and seemed like the perfect setting for my composition. Working from several reference photos and changing the clothing I have created somerthing that I hope you will find amusing and perhaps a little typical of our British seasides .
As we get older, rounder and slower , perhaps we all still hold a childhood desire to be a Super Hero !

                            "Seaside Super Heroes" 
                              Acrylic on canvas 24"x 18" x 1.5" 

Fun seaside painting set in Eastbourne, Sussex

Then of course I couldn't leave the seaside theme without a pretty girl sunbathing on the beach ,waves crashing on the shore ensure a cooling spray to make a perfect day....

                                               "Hot Pink and Heatwave"
                                                      Acrylic on canvas 24"x 18"x 1.5"

Hot Pink and Heatwave , beach painting

"Winter Walk" Painting inspired by the early morning frost

Early morning frosty views on the outskirts of Newick, Sussex

Christmas was wonderful but after several days in the house I was glad to get out and about again. We've had a few frosty mornings lately so I decided to venture out for a walk to catch the sun rise and enjoy the tranquility of the countryside on the outskirts of my village.
The low Winter sun and widespread frost revealed a new range of colours to use for a painting.
I love how the landscape changes so much with the seasons and weather and each walk becomes a new inspiration on an old path...
I have chosen to paint a view of the track I followed on the edge of Newick Park Estate. The sun had just started to rise, lighting up my path ahead like a giant candle glowing fiercely  through the trees.

Work in progress... "Winter Walk" Acrylic on box canvas, 18"x 24" x 1.5"

Work in progress..."Winter Walk"

I started by giving the canvas a wash of pink and yellow for the background then painted in the trees in the middle. Once dry 2-3 thin washes of white and yellow were painted over them to knock them back into the distance. Next I repeated this procedure for the tree at the back left.
 Bit by bit I am working towards the foreground adding in the shadows and sunlight as I go.

Working on the foreground 

 This morning I have started to make good progress on the foreground . This area is mostly made up of frost and ice, it's also in the shade so there will be a lot of blue tones to paint in.
The track is created by merging  many small dots of colour, once this is dry I will be able to add the highlights and shading.
Well another day's painting means I have now completed the painting....I hope you like it !
                                    "Winter Walk"
                               Acrylic on box canvas 18"x 24"x 1.5"  

"Winter Walk" Acrylic painting on box canvas

                

Painting inspired from a Winter walk on the outskirts of my village of Newick in Sussex

"Cupcake Temptation" Colourful still life painting featuring cupcakes

 It's nearly Christmas  so I've been busy baking.
I  don't enjoy cooking but on special occasions I will brave it into the kitchen and attempt to create  something yummy. Cupcakes are easy and fun which means they are a good option for me.
I am pleased to say that they turned out rather scrummy,
the only problem being was not to eat them all !
So much temptation on a plate!
I decided the best way to resist was to use the last one in a still life composition. I found a nice selection of items that I thought would look good together and so the painting was started ....

"Cupcake Temptation" work in progress

I slightly altered the colours to avoid too much white in the background as I wanted a stronger contrast. I'm happy with the result and I now have a cupcake that's non fattening and calorie free! ;)

                                 "Cupcake Temptation"
                                                     Acrylic on standard canvas 18"x 24"

"Cupcake Temptation" Acrylic still life painting with cake

BUY

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...."

November has been such a busy month ! Besides completing a few more paintings I have had other things going on   in my world ....
Firstly, my painting "The Ploughing Match " was very kindly included in the November edition of the Sussex Living magazine . This was great as it's distributed in my village and surrounding area.

 Then in between painting I've been making a few things ready for Christmas. I enjoy the challenge of making things out of bits and bobs and it always makes me think of my childhood days, eagerly watching the children's program "Blue Peter" and rushing off to find an empty toilet roll and some sticky back plastic !
My first task was to make a paper mache train. Instead of Christmas crackers this year I thought a bright sparkly train would be more fun as we have 2 young children visiting .  Each truck will hold a bag of  surprise goodies for each person :)

Paper mache Christmas train

I then decided to make something festive to go in the garden. Out came the hammer, nails and tin snips . It didn't take long to find some old pieces of wood and with a bit of paint and added decorations ( made from an old biscuit tin)  this was the result.  I'm going to "plant" them in a large container with some sprigs of holly by our front door... :)

wood scrap snowmen and tree

After all the hammering and sawing I thought I would head off to make something a bit more genteel. A good rummage through my material box resulted in enough oddments to make some Christmas table mats. Our old ones were looking a bit faded and not very festive so I went for a simple tree design that seemed to work rather well :)

Christmas tree table mats

Finally (unless inspiration hits in again) I made a tree topper. I like the old fashioned Father Christmas figures and wanted to make something similar. It's only about 7 inches high so it was a bit fiddly in parts!  I could have used polymer clay for his face but I thought paper mache would be a more traditional material and more challenging (I enjoy a challenge) . I attached his head onto a cardboard cone then added the clothes etc.
He didn't turn out too bad and I learned a lot . It was a fun and interesting project from the initial design to working out the best ways of getting the results I wanted...

Father Christmas tree topper

Soon I celebrate my Birthday and then it will be Christmas...I'm wondering what will be more exciting...the presents or the packaging they come in! Ho ho ho!
   
                                                                            *****

Complete guide to painting in acrylics

On another note I am pleased to announce that my painting "He loves me, he loves me not" has been published in the "Complete guide to painting in acrylics" by Lorena Kloosterboer .... exciting days!

"He loves Me, he loves Me Not..."

The book contains work from 97 artists and is available from Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Painting-Acrylics-Lorena-Kloosterboer/dp/178221187X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0MGXEQWCFYBG8J14612V

"Winter Warmer" Winter/Christmas still life painting

As we approach December and the weather turns colder my thoughts are of Christmas and the dark Winter months ahead. I'm hoping that this year we shall see some snow and not have to endure the storms of last year.
There is something wonderful about wrapping up warm and walking through the freshly fallen snow. Perhaps it's the way that it reflects the light making everything seem brighter, or maybe the way that it absorbs sound, giving a quiet and peaceful atmosphere.
It all makes a Winter's walk quite magical, then, as the sun starts to sink in the sky and the cold chill wind sets in, it's good to return home and indulge in a little "Winter Warmer" ;)
                                 
                                   "Winter Warmer"
                                                 Acrylic on box canvas 18"x 14"x 1.5"

Winter still life painting. Acrylic on canvas 

                                                 https://www.artgallery.co.uk/artist/paula_oakley_2

"Winter Warmer" Bags, pillows, cards and prints

Cards, tote bags, prints and throw pillows available http://www.redbubble.com/people/poak/works/13099776-winter-warmer

"Autumn in the air" and " The edge of Autumn" Paintings from an Autumn walk in Sussex

An Autumn walk in Newick, East Sussex

Although the Autumn hasn't been as colourful this year I have still found some lovely picturesque walks to explore.
After living in the village of Newick for 4 years I am still discovering new paths, scenery and inspirations!
Recently I followed a route that took me from the south outskirts of the village, around the boundary of Newick Park and on to the village of Spithurst.
With clear blue skies and glorious sunshine you could really sense the arrival of Autumn.
The walk took me past a lake, pond, woodland and fields.....just about everything I could wish for !

Walking from Newick to Spithurst, East Sussex

After a while my path lead me onto a farm track where the still waters of a small pond caught my attention....this was definitely to be my next painting.....

                                                  "Autumn in the air"
                                    Acrylic on canvas 18"x 24"

"Autumn in the air" Autumn painting from the Sussex countryside

                              
                                                    "The edge of Autumn" 
                                        Acrylic on canvas 24"x 18"

"The edge of Autumn" Acrylic painting on canvas

               More Sussex paintings http://paula-paintmyworld.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-sussex-coast-on-canvas.html#.VGy0_slOzIU

"Lakeside Autumn" Painting the Autumn colours in Sussex

Autumn arriving in Sussex

I have sadly said my farewell to the Summer and I'm now ready to embrace the Autumn in all it's wonderful glory!
Not only does the countryside become ablaze with colour but this is also the season that Sussex comes alive with celebrations of bonfires and fireworks.
 Newick never fails to put on a good show .

Newick bonfire night

 I'm looking forward to bonfire....bangers ...and of course.....beer! ;)
In the meantime I have planned several walks that will take me through some beautiful woodland that I'm sure will be inspirational! All I need now is a little bit of sunshine as my Autumn companion.
I thought I would start my journey with something small and vibrant, a beautiful scene of still waters and reflections from the village of Slaugham ...
                                                  "Lakeside Autumn"
                                Acrylic on box canvas 18"x 14"x 1.5"

Painting the Autumn reflections at the mill pond in Slaugham, Sussex

My next painting was inspired from a walk I recenty took along the bridle path in South Chailey.  The trees are just changing into their Autumn colours and the sun shone through to lighten my way.
A beautiful and serene scene.

                                               "Gateway to Autumn" 
                                        SOLD

"Gateway to Autumn" Painting the Autumn paths of Chailey, Sussex

 
                                                  

A piece of Sussex Summer for Christmas. Sussex themed gifts, cards and prints for sale

If like me you are reluctant to leave the wonderful Sussex Summer days behind then please take a look at the selection of cards, prints, bags and cushions I have available on Redbubble.
A treat for yourself or a unique gift for someone this Christmas :)
Here are some examples, please click on the links for more.

Sussex Summer throw pillows

Throw pillows for sale

Sussex Summer tote bags

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Tote bags for sale

Sussex cards and prints for sale

 Cards and prints

Sussex calendars for sale

Sussex landscapes and seaside calendars for sale