November's Here!

Well, November's here! The clocks have changed and the evenings are noticeably darker earlier, my easel has remained untouched for days, heaps of leaves, nuts and a trip to Bamberg put all artistic efforts on hold, so let’s delve into the archive with this Autumnal beauty! 

This was supposed to be part of a series of seasonal water lilies but then I moved house and the series remained at just two! Autumn and summer, 

Looking at them together makes my fingers itch a little, maybe I should finish the cycle with Spring and Winter, some water lilies under ice could be fun! 

Isn’t it funny how you can be obsessed with a motif and suddenly you feel that the subject has run its course. To be honest, this didn’t happen because I lost interest in water lilies, my move just meant that I wasn’t seeing them nearly every day, so they slipped into the background but then you flick through your photos and boom, you remembered that you had a plan. Maybe it’s just old age creeping up, although I must confess what inspires me is definitely what I see in everyday life, my surroundings are my inspiration. A few years ago when I was painting waves and water, I'd been on holiday and sat listening to the waves crashing on the beach and watching their movement. I was living near the coast and the sea and all things maritime were omnipresent, now I'm surrounded by vines and next to a major river, so my inspiration has changed and I'm still finding my artistic feet. 

Of course, I have thousands of reference photos and sketches from my old painting hunting grounds but personally it just isn’t the same as taking those sights in every day. 

Here is another sight you don’t get to see every day and something that ties us very firmly into November! This is a Seelenspitze (Soul cake) a speciality that is sold in Bamberg around November 2 All Souls Day.  During the Middle Ages in many countries there were religious processions around this time, people dressed up as religious figures and went begging for Soul cakes, these Franconian Soul cakes,Seelenspitzen, can still be bought in Bamberg at this time of year.