A Day of sunshine and showers at Rhossili on The Gower Peninsula, south Wales. The tide is out and the prevailing westerly wind is carrying the clouds across the downs. I love it walking these cliffs when it is wild and windy – as it so often is!
A 30 x 30cm oil painting on canvas board.
“Sker House is a historic building in Wales. Originally built as a monastic grange of the Cistercian order over 900 years ago, it is situated just outside the town of Porthcawl, near Bridgend. Little remains of the original structure and it was completely rebuilt in the late sixteenth century. Its residential form appears to have been determined by the preceding monastic grange. The house was made famous as the basis of R. D. Blackmore’s book The Maid of Sker.” (Wikipedia)
The house has been owned since 2003 by Niall Fergusson, the distinguished British historian. A few years ago, I attended a talk he gave about the house and how he and his family came to settle in Porthcawl and restore the Grade 1 listed building. This stimulated my interest and prompted me to make this painting.
A 30 x 30cm (12 x 12 inches) oil painting on canvas mounted on board.
I have used a slightly cooler palette for this painting, replacing Cadmium Red with Michael Harding’s Amethyst, a rich, transparent red purple.
For those who are interested my palette for this painting comprises: Amethyst, Raw Sienna, French Ultramarine, Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Lake and Titanium White… mostly Michael Harding Artist Quality, handmade oil paint – expensive, but well worth it!
30 x 30cm Oil painting on canvas board.
This painting is available to purchase. Contact: pobbles2000@yahoo.com
My goal for a long time now has been to paint looser, to allow the paint to do the work and to just let the paint be, to let go sooner. Simplify, simplify, simplify. I am trying to think in terms of the relationship between just a few large masses, to focus on getting this right rather than getting bogged down in describing detail painstakingly accurately. I think I’m getting there… slowly!
I always agonise over whether to include figures in a landscape painting. In this case I have used figures on the beach and cliff top to suggest the dramatic scale of these cliffs.
Oil on canvas mounted on board, 27 x 38cm.
Available to purchase. Enquiries: pobbles2000@yahoo.com
I finished this today – the paint is still wet! The picture is not yet framed. In the photograph the painting has been place over an existing framed painting, and is a ‘serving suggestion’ only.
Oil painting on canvas board 10 x 10 inches (254mmx254mm approx.)
Available to purchase. Enquiries: pobbles2000@yahoo.com
This is a small oil painting I did some time ago inspired by the colours and rhythms of the rock formations in Ceibwr Bay, south of Cardigan in west Wales. It is moving towards abstraction more than my usual more literal interpretations of the landscape. It is more linear than painterly, which I think suits the subject matter.
Oil on canvas, image size: 7 x 5 inches, (18 x 13cm approx)
Yet another painting of Three Cliffs Bay fresh off the easel – well, it is my local playground and it is one of the most picturesque beaches in Wales!
30x30cm oil on canvas board
I have painted this monumental piece of rock many times, but previously always in watercolour. This is my first oil painting of the subject from this viewpoint. The Great Tor is the limestone promontory that effectively separates Three Cliff Bay from the great sweep of Oxwich Bay, on the Gower Peninsula. One is accessible to the other only when the tide is at its lowest and you are able to walk around the headland.
Oil on canvas mounted on a panel, 61×46 cm. (24×18 inches)
The majestic limestone cliffs rising about 200feet above Rhossili beach, with the tidal island of Worm’s Head in the distance. The Gower Peninsula was the UK’s first designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
This is a rather larger painting than I have been making recently and I enjoyed the freedom of working larger. I have tried to keep it simple and not get bogged down in too much detail.
Oil on canvas mounted on MDF panel 24″x18″ (60x46cm)
This painting is available to purchase unframed. Enquiries to: pobbles2000@yahoo.com
I have been told on more than one occasion that my paintings tend to be ‘understated’ – probably a reflection of the British climate, and particularly the Welsh climate, and possible my own personality as well. The sun is shining here today, but Swansea does lay claim to be the wettest city in the UK. The default weather for south Wales certainly seems to be low cloud and drizzle, and I hope the soft, muted colours of my landscapes convey this.
7 x 16 inches (17.5 x 40.5cm), oil painting on canvas board.
This painting is available to purchase. Enquiries to: pobbles2000@yahoo.com
Les Thomas - the painter's progress 