This was painted from a photograph taken back in July 2011 in Haresfield during my promotional tour of Gloucestershire. Painting a scene from the height of summer in the middle of winter always seems a little strange as I look out of my studio window, freezing, and see the wind and rain sweeping across the Yorkshire moors. It makes me crave the warmer weather again.
It was a fairly awkward house to photograph from the front with neighbouring properties obscuring most views. This was the best view to work from which captured the main features of the house. There was a question as to whether it would be better to paint a view of the rear of the house but the front view the best.
Started with the drawing stage, highlighting a few individual bricks and remembering to change the window in the bottom right to match the others. Painting the sky, road and foliage initially with a light yellow ochre wash as the background to the walls and gradually working up the different layers to bring out the details.
'We are thrilled with it, and are sure it will give us a great deal of pleasure for many years to come.'
Suzanne
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