A few weeks ago I painted this new piece depicting a flock of geese flying over the tidal salt marsh of Loch Laich near Appin in Scotland.

I painted it from a photo I took whilst standing on the Jubilee Bridge - a wooden bridge built in 1897 to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria that crosses the marsh.

It took me a week to paint because in my usual fashion I couldn't leave the details alone! I'm really pleased with the result though especially the colours and the dramatic sky (which I changed about ten times!)

Hello! - acrylic on canvas
By far my favourite painting from art week is this one of a very vocal sheep I decided to call 'Hello!'. It is from a photo I took a couple of years ago on a walk up Cwm Idwal in Snowdonia. This windswept sheep was standing on a big rock calling out down the valley and it was such a great dramatic scene I knew instantly I wanted to paint it some day. I tried to keep a looser style with this to keep the wild and windy feel, which was hard for me because I'm so picky about details! But I love how it turned out and it is one of my all time favourite things I've ever made.

Steps to the Castle -
​acrylic on canvas
This is painting was also done from a photo I took a few years ago whilst out walking, this time up to Dinas Bran Castle near Llangollen in North Wales. That day was the first time I went painting outside and I painted 'Dinas Bran Arches', 'Dinas Bran from the Panorama' and 'Purple Trees'. I came upon this view on my way up to castle and really wanted to paint it but I knew I wouldn't be able to do it how I wanted to in such a short space of time. I took a photo knowing I would paint it one day and I'm glad I waited because I love how it turned out. This was one of those paintings where I could see it in my head and then it ended up looking completely different! I love it though and my Mum tells me it is the best painting I've ever done, which is the best compliment you can get!

Weather coming in - acrylic on canvas
This is a painting that seems to divide opinion. Personally I love it and I think visually it is one of the coolest things I've painted, but I have noticed that it doesn't get the same enthusiast reaction from some people that most of my other paintings get. I do think it is one of those pieces that is more impactful in person as I think some of the scale is lost when just viewing it on a screen. It was done from a photo I took about five or six years ago of a fishing boat off the coast of the Isle of Arran being chased by an oncoming downpour. It was such brilliant cinematic scene, and I have been wanting to paint it ever since. Even if other people don't like it as much as I do I think it's great and the little boat has little seagulls bothering it which is my favourite bit! 

Last summer I decided to finally try my hand at painting landscapes outside. I've done it once before whilst on holiday in Scotland but it was winter and freezing cold and I had to keep going back inside every ten minutes to warm my hands up!

The first thing I painted was a practice sketch of the bird bath in my garden. I wanted to see how the paint reacted differently to being indoors. I used acrylic paint and found that it dries a lot quicker outside. I also noticed that dark colours seem brighter outside, which means when you take the painting indoors it looks darker, so I had to try and paint everything brighter than it looked.

My first trip out was to Castell Dinas Bran in Llangollen. I made this little study of one of the castle walls using acrylic paint on canvas paper. It was pretty windy up there so I had to chase my paper down a hill a couple of times but I'm really pleased with how this turned out. I also tried out a chalk pastel sketch but I found that wind and pastels is a messy combination!