landscape painting – Anna Dennis

Still Life and Landscapes from the Sea.

I often buy fresh fish from the fish market in town, it is a busy outdoor market in the port town of La Spezia in Italy. These Red Mullets are fresh in each morning and they are very good fried or can also be served painted and put in a frame which was my first choice here. There is something I like when you buy fish wrapped up in paper instead of plastic and at the market everything is hastily wrapped up like this while the fish monger shouts about at whatever else there is for sale. When I got home I couldn’t wait to unwrap the package and start about painting the white paper set against the lovely pinky red and silver tones of the Mullets.

This painting will be exhibited this wednesday in – The Royal Society of Marine Exhibition – in London opening 30th September – 10th October. The show is up on the walls and open to the public (and also online as always for those who cannot be there). What a year it’s been!! I am very thankful that at least a small part of me has been sent to London, maybe I in person will patiently follow next year 😉

*Six Red Mullets. 30cm x 40cm. oil on panel.*

Every year from May to July when the sea has warmed up and the anchovies are big and lean they come into the markets and we buy enough to put them under salt, a process that rewards you with a tasty treat that will last and taste deliciously fresh for ages. Here are a few left over, the cat got these ones at the end.

*FIve Anchovies on a Plate. 20cm x 35cm, oil on panel*.

I spent an afternoon at the beach in Pietrasanta in Versiglia which is a big long stretch of sand that is the part of north-western Tuscany just next door to Liguria. It was nice to see so much sand infront of me and I sat on the shore while painting.

*Pietrasanta, 20cm x 30cm, oil on panel.*

Le Grazie is a small fishing village near La Spezia. There is a beach opposite which gives a good view across the harbour. Many of the beaches are formed of rocky coves and colourful fishermens villages and the sea is always rich in colour by all the reflected light from its surroundings.

And here below are a couple of paintings of Levanto which is the next town north of Monterosso. This is where my anchovies came from. The sea is crystal clear.

*Behind Vallesanta. 30cm x 40cm, oil on panel.*

And the beach next door during July.

*Vallesanta, Levanto. 30cm x 50cm. Oil on panel.*

Around and about so far.

Its been 65 days since the start of Italian lockdown and thankfully the weather in Europe has been mild and sunny which all the more easier if you live in the rural hills and can get ouside exercise and avoid bumping into anyone. Italy’s lockdown has been strict with no one allowed to go outside unless for vitals and the schools have been shut since february, so all the better for staying at home and painting.

Normally I wouldn’t feel the need to explore the woods with my painting stuff close to the house but when there isn’t anywhere else to go you are kind of pushed by the force of adventure and just follow you feet. Woods play a big factor where I live. So after skidding down steep banks with the easel in one hand and tip toeing over slippery rocks with a palette of freshly squeezed paint in the other I found this spot on the river Mangia below our house, it’s a short flat stretch with a warm February midday sun reflecting on the water.

River Mangia, Val di Vara. 40cm x 50 cm, oil on panel.

The next river painting is a calm Spring afternoon on the River Vara. The river Mangia flows into this much bigger river that runs along the bottom of the valley. This river is very wide and deep and I liked the reflections from the trees on the water, the colours were lovely and I hope to go back soon. I think we are now allowed to travel for necessity but to be out painting and having a picnic could be seen as having too much fun (!!)

River Vara, Val di Vara- 35 x 25cm, oil on panel.

Travelling a little higher up into the hills you can overlook the whole valley from the Alta Via Dei Monte Liguri. The Alta Via is a stony road that takes you all through Liguria and into France and it could be one way in getting back to the UK on feet or wheels or a donkey without having to fly in an aeroplane! The horses in the foreground are privately owned and left to roam the pastures, there are at least fifty horses, some mules too and they are used to work on steep mountain tracks where tractors cannot go. The moutain in the middle is Monte Dragnone, the highest peak in the area. I wanted to get a sense of space in the painting with all the hills receding into the backround with thin washes of paint, (linseed oil and turpentine glazes). Something I find easier to do with winter colours than summer because there are more earthy colours in the undertones.

Midday from the Alta Via, New Years Day. Val di Vara, 40cm x 35cm, oil on panel.

The Alta Via, Casoni, Spring. oil on panel, 35cm x 35cm.

Here is the passo del Rastrello that is part of the Alta Via from in the previous painting. It is a little colder here and I have come across snow, it looks like I have just taken you through the wardrobe and into Narnia! (I painted this in 2019 when it snowed for a couple of days). This year it has been too mild for any of that kind of weather but it was nice to look at snow and to use different colours than usual.

Passo del Rastrello. 20cm x 25cm, oil on panel.

Dusk from the top of Monte Dragnone. This is the highest mountain in the area at over 1000mt. It takes a steep 20 minute hike to get to the top but once you have arrived there is a Sanctuary that is used during the many religious festa’s. Unfortunately this year they have all been cancelled but the view is rewarding.

Dusk from Monte Dragnone. 30cm x 40 cm, oil on panel.

Thankyou for looking and I hope you are all safe and well!

Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition, 11th – 20th Oct, Mall Galleries, London.

My oil painting ‘Lifting Fog on Ducie Beach, Bembridge’ has been selected for the Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition in London. I very much enjoyed looking around the show last year and it felt nice to be in a gallery surrounded by paintings inspired by the marine enviroment, it had a good feel with everyone exploring all the many diversities of the one subject, the sea, and I had hoped to take part in it one day. So ‘one day’ has arrived and I am looking forward to visiting the exhibition next week. Most of the paintings are of the British coastline including mine that was painted on a beach in the Isle of Wight which is an island in the south where part of my family are originally from.

liftingfogbembridgebeach_annadennis_oilpainting — Lifting Fog, Ducie Beach. Isle of Wight. 50cm x 70cm. Oil on Panel.

I had hoped for a completely different feel when I set out to paint this one March morning last year, the sky was blue when I set out and I had planned to paint the view of the Bembridge Lifeboat Station with the tide breakers on the beach. I think that is why the sea is so fascinating because nothing can be planned and it all changes so quickly, the fog rises while the tide goes out, reflections in the water are there for a moment then they disappear while I am still trying to paint the sky and what is not there in the distance!

Google Maps have put together an interesting map of everyones paintings showing in the upcoming Marine Exhibition and where they were painted along Britain’s coast. Here is the link:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1KdnitVappPMStHVfMI5KDfxCOe86_Trq&ll=50.7731686837871%2C-0.6744136582030933&z=10

My painting comes up under Bembridge along with other artists paintings too. You need to pedal down south to the Isle of Wight. It took me ages.

But it is a really cool idea….here is a zoomed in screenshot.

mapliftingfog_annadennis_oilpainting

I look forward to the exhibition next week and I hope to see you there!

From the Isle of Wight

I often visit the Isle of Wight to catch up with family. When I was young we used to go for seaside holidays and visit my Granny who spent 101 years on the Island. Fond memories of times are spent there, on the car ferry over and then down to the beach at low tide. It was the British holidays by the sea that you don’t forget. The cold wet sand rubbing in your jelly sandals, the damp wind nipping your neck as you looked for sandy shells and then the walk home with handfuls of buckets and spades, dodging the dog mess on Ducie Avenue.

The Isle of Wight gives plenty to paint. There are the high downs and soaring cliffs to long sandy beaches fringed by farms and trees, fishing villages and sailing clubs. Here are just a few painted from my last trip. Others I will post soon when they are photographed.

beachpathbembridge_oilpainting_annadennis — Path to the Beach, Bembridge, Study. 20cm x 30cm. OIl on Panel.

Narrow bridleways and footpaths run all along the coast, you can walk all around the Island if you wish too. Next time I will go back with a bigger board to paint on because I liked this composition and all the receding greens. A little bit of blue sea in the distance is all I needed without having to go and get sand stuck in my paintbrushes on the beach!

risingtidebembridgebeach_annadennis_oilpainting — Rising Tide Towards Seaview. 45cm x 50cm. OIl on Panel

This is the sea seen from the top left corner from the previous painting. When setting out to paint on the Isle of Wight you need a tide timetable to coordinate your painting time. It goes in and out more or less once a day, sometimes I would hope to paint the sand and then arrive and realise that it was still two feet under the sea. So here the tide was coming in and so were the crabs. Its amazing how they they find toes so tasty and I had to make a run for it, also my easel got really rusty after its little paddle in the salt water. I’m sure tying some type of plastic around each leg would save it in future maritime trips! The sea gives us so many moods and colours to look at and it is so changeable, nothing is ever the same as you left it the day before.

And this is the same beach again, Ducie Beach in the early morning just as the fog was lifting. I hadn’t planned to paint fog that day, I had in mind a crisp view looking towards the Lifeboat Station with all the breakwaters in the foreground. Thanks to the fog I managed to blur out all the nitty-gritty because what I really wanted to paint were the old and gnarly breakwaters, (the wooden posts that artificially protect the beach from water erosion and are quite characteristic of this beach, anyway to me they are).

lobsterstudy_annadennis_oilpainting — Lobster Study. 35cm x 45cm, oil on panel.

One thing for sure is you have to eat a lobster. I painted this one before it was politely devoured. These ones from the English Channel are bigger and sweeter than from anywhere else!

needlesalumbay_annadennis_oilpainting — The Needles, Alum Bay. 17cm x 35cm. Oil on Panel

These toothlike white stacks of eroded chalk which have become world famous are called the Needles. The name comes from a fourth pillar (shown in the engraving below) which was more needle-shaped than what we see today. The original ‘Needle’ pillar collapsed in a storm in 1764, and at the far end is a red and white lighthouse which warns sailors of the treacherous waters. The Needles are both frightening and beautiful, a place for pirates, shipwrecks and suicides but also an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

NeedlesOnTaylorsHampshire-1759 — The Fourth “Needle” that collapsed in 1764. ‘The Needles from Isaac Taylor’s “one inch map” of Hampshire’.

Please check back for more paintings of the Isle of Wight soon!

Rivers and Trees

Trees and rivers are my inspiration here, they make up for buildings and the roads in towns. We are in Ligura at 370mt above sea level surrounded by chestnut trees, oak, walnut, hazelnut, acacia, pines and many more. Most of the trees I guess are about 40 years old, many grown up from long forgotton terraces that were cultivated when the valleys were more densely populated with people. This is an old nut tree, one of the survivors because it will always feed you!

ilvecchionoce_annadennis_oilpainting — Il Vecchio Noce. Oil on panel, 20cm x 30cm.

Just around the corner the river runs wild in heavy rain. The roaring of the water is exciting after a year of dry weather. I did this painting from a window looking down onto the river as it rained, it was luxury plein air painting with all the comforts of heat and a dry palette without those annoying raindrops that accumulate onto the brushes and make the colours feel as if you are painting with vaseline!

riverjanuary_annadennis_oilpainting — River in January. Oil on panel, 35cm x 45cm.

Autumn.

Here are a couple of paintings just before we move into winter!

cachitree_annadennis_oilpainting — Kaki Tree. 35cm x 45cm, oil on wood.

winniewoods_annadennis_oilpaintings — Picking Chestnuts. 20cm x 30cm, oil on wood.

Yellow Roses

I had some yellow roses growing on a wall and with all the sun and dry weather this summer the blooms were at their best! This is an oil study I painted before they all disappeared.

In this painting I mainly used a flat brush. For me brushes are an important part of my equipment and the flat brushes especially because I find them to be the most versatile because you can make many different strokes, a wide stroke, a narrow stroke and then by twisting a triangular stroke which helped with the petals.

This summer I have been busy with lots of new works and I will post some them as soon as my computer is on the mend 😉

May

La Villa Abbandonata. Oil on wood, 30cm x 40cm. Wisteria. Oil on wood, 30cm x 40cm. In Italy during May gardens are at their best, even when they have been forgotten but where everything still grows anyway. I stumbled across this villa and the garden that is almost abandoned and it was fun trying to put some long awaited colours into the greenery, with the spring grasses long and overgrown and the little wild flowers reaching through!

Autumn Rose Oil Painting Studies

Rose Study with Trees, oil on wooden board, 20cmx 30cm.

I decided to do a couple of rose studies while the roses were still flowering, for me roses and the soft autumn light this year is more inspiring than what was offered in spring. Autumn brings the most colourful season and it feels good to be outside painting it! While the undergrowth turns away for winter and the possibilities of summer are gone I noticed the little things that still hang on like the flowering roses, beautiful soft pink roses clashing with the autumn decay!

I tried to define the rose leaves and petals with a flat brush, cutting into the wet paint to “sculpt” the petal or leaf without drawing it was easier. There is alot to look at when painting foliage so it was time to forget about each individual leaf and look out for the areas of darks and lights.

Down by the River

The days are getting longer and so more time to be outside playing and painting!

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