This is based on a selection of photographs taken at Easter in 2010, when it was gloriously warm and sunny. They weren't intended to be a panoramic view (they just happened to join up), and I did remove a number of people, including, um, some in the foreground. I didn't include quite all of the seaweed, either.
The church on the seafront is, I think, quite distinctive; it certainly says "Porthleven" to me.
Oil on canvas, 55 x 33 cm
25 December 2012
SOLD
This is really beautiful, Amanda. I love the composition; it's so well balanced. I really enjoyed your post above as well...those stones are fascinating. I was compelled to look up Avebury, as the only stone monument I was familiar with was Stonehenge. Now I'm obsessed with reading more about these. I love the peaceful sheep in contrast to the mysterious stones.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you!!
Happy New Year, Sarah!
DeleteThank you for the compliments.
There are many stone circles in the UK; Avebury is often considered to be one of the best, not least for the sheer size of its stones and the wide extent of the site.
Stonehenge suffers from being too well known. Access is severely restricted (and expensive), and I'm afraid that it has become rather clichéd. We drove past it today; it had many visitors, as always. I don't think I will paint it (despite having a number of photographs), unless I can come up with a way of representing the mystery that it seems to have lost.
Turner and Constable both painted Stonehenge. In those days, it hadn't been "repaired" (the stones have now been raised to restore the symmetry), sheep grazed among the stones, and the monument wasn't fenced off. I daresay there wasn't a sprinkler system to keep the grass green, either! (I found the latter most incongruous.)
Lovely - really takes me there. We rented a fisherman's cottage overlooking - hell, overhanging! - this spot, last spring. I really enjoyed a violent storm that had waves crashing up the cliffs and past our windows.
ReplyDeleteBTW, the 'church' is actually 'the institute'. Wiki puts it this way: 'Porthleven's most recognisable building is the Bickford-Smith Institute next to the pier and harbour entrance. With a tower about 70 feet (20 metres) high, it looks like a church but currently is used as a snooker club and houses the town council offices.'