Spring hilltop

The hilltop skyline and Hunting Tower at Chatsworth, seen on a fresh spring day. I thought a long horizontal format (8 x 16 inches) would be useful for this oil painting, which shows soft grey clouds sailing past. The trees are just starting to show some spring colour.

The Hunting Tower was constructed in the 1580s for Bess of Hardwick, as a summerhouse and possibly for the ladies to view hunting in the park at the foot of the hill (though it does seem to be a long way from the flat riverside area).

You can see this painting at http://www.etsy.com/listing/79889318/spring-hilltop-original-oil-painting

Reflections - small abstracts

Two small (5 x 7 inches) abstract oil paintings on deep canvases based on the colours of reflections in the lake by the pinetum at Chatsworth. The shapes of reflections can be surprising - I found the curved areas of colour rather appealing. These paintings can be seen at http://www.etsy.com/listing/79875621/green-reflections-original-oil-painting and http://www.etsy.com/listing/79875783/yellow-reflections-original-oil-painting

Work in progress - orchard

My current painting - a view of the orchard at the bottom of the kitchen garden at Chatsworth. I'll be adding it to my etsy shop soon but there are changes to be made to the shadows and background yet. This was a lovely autumn day. No apples are visible - they'd been picked (a couple by us on earlier visits). These little trees are all old types of apple trees. This is also a good place to look for shaggy inkcap toadstools. (This painting is now sold.) It can be seen at
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62759715/orchard-original-oil-painting-16x16