Marsh grass

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Oil on canvas, 50cm x 60cm

At low tide the area between the island of Lindisfarne and the Northumbrian mainland becomes a vast expanse of rippled sand and shallow pools. This is a treacherous place to walk as quick-sands are all around, but it is possible to cross if the correct path is followed.

I am always attracted to the repeating patterns found in the landscape and on this sunny, winter’s day the low sun picked out the sand ripples in warm orange hues that contrasted with the blues of the sky reflected on the water. I selected this small tuft of marsh grass as a focal point and allowed the shadows it cast to pull the eye into the rest of the picture.

This is an unusual painting for me as it contains no wildlife. I initially thought to place a wader or two in the picture (there were ringed plovers present) but wherever I tried to put them they ruined the composition. Realising that what had inspired me in the first place were the colours and the quiet simplicity of the scene I decided that these elements deserved to be painted for their own sake. Very Zen!

 

 

Select an original below

  • Redshank
  • Jewels of sunlight
  • Grey wagtail
  • Shallow waters
  • Snow charm
  • Snowy birches and ermine
  • Avocet
  • Moorhen and bulrushes
  • Melting away (snipe)
  • At the waterline
  • Winter fox
  • St Mary’s seals
  • The Gathering
  • Short-eared owl
  • Abernethy Forest pool
  • Redshank alarm
  • Evening pools – wigeon
  • Silver light
  • Aberlady Bay
  • Fishing in the flow tide – Little egret
  • Long-eared owl
  • Shrimping
  • Purple sandpipers
  • Morecambe Bay waders
  • Storm surge – gannets at Bamburgh
  • Sandpiper flight
  • Lindisfarne Bay
  • Heading north – migrating dunlin
  • Redshank
  • Against the light
  • Spring tide
  • Marsh grass
  • Warming up
  • Snow petrel
  • Smiling at the sun (rock martins at Abu Simbel)
  • Salt marsh sentinel
  • Making waves
  • Log pile
  • The sand martin and the jellyfish
  • Humpbacks in the Gerlache Strait
  • Dipper
  • Beachcombers
  • Run-off

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