Blue is one of my favourite colours. Spring arrives and for an artist there are so many joyful scenes to paint as nature springs to life after sleeping through the Winter.
As a landscape artist, after painting pink in all shades whilst capturing the amazing blossom on Harrogate Stray for two weeks I felt compelled to sit amongst the Bluebells and put paint to canvas.
I set off one day with this precise mission in mind. Armed with a rucksack containing all my painting materials, I set off with my Sheepdog Poppy to a wood near Harrogate. There was a sign which read 'keep dogs on a lead,' however, seeing the public footpath, Poppy and I stupidly strode forth through a very small field of cows. The cows started charging towards us protecting their calves. Poppy and I ran, me with my huge canvas raised in the air. We managed to get over a fence to safety with the cows (and bulls), trying to get through the gate. I have never been so frightened but luckily a farmer came to my rescue. He was rather angry, but escorted me to safety and told me how to get to the woods via another route. We eventually found a beautiful thick carpet of glorious Bluebells.
We settled ourselves down for the day, having carefully picked a place with young trees growing through the Bluebells. It was sheer bliss painting en plein air with the birds singing all around us. I grabbed a twig and set to painting. I wanted to capture the almost ethereal scene and created a misty effect using lilacs and greys with a complimentary lemon green leaf colour. Then added the Bluebells which were almost purple and the end result was my Blue Blue Bluebells painting.
Spring presents the most amazing spectacle and in a short window early May, the Cherry Blossoms burst forth followed by the Bluebells and sometimes at the same time. I love being outside in the elements capturing these sights.
My background to painting outside stems from early childhood. No matter what the weather - I'll always try and paint outside of my studio to capture the subject matter be it animals, landscapes or as is often the case - a combination!
Beautiful autumn colouring this year inspired me to capture the cherry trees on the stray in Harrogate - slightly windy conditions made the outdoors challenging but well worth the effort - !
Anita Bowerman
Author