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February took me to Venice for a couple of weeks, a painters paradise which left me feeling excited and inspired despite the rainy weather. Venice has a charm to it that never really fades for me; the light in Venice is unique, and having not been before in February I discovered that I really loved the challenge of capturing the rainy reflections and muted colours. On one of my first days there I was lucky to find a spot to paint under the arches in Piazza San Marco. Here I had a wonderful view of the Palace and was particularly drawn to the geometry of the subject and muted greys and pinks that lay before me. The painting is shown below.

Nocturn by the Albert Bridge Raoul – a close friend of mine whose studio is below my own – and I had decided to paint along London’s Chelsea embankment at dusk one winter’s eve. When we arrived on our chosen day and at our chosen spot though, the rain began to pour. We went to shelter under the Albert bridge, but before we got there we noticed that the door to Cadogan Pier was open. Inside we went, and there we began to paint. It was incredible to see the bridge so close in the evening light with the beautiful pink-y lights reflecting on the water. I really enjoyed the challenge of painting the reflections. Not having a head torch to see my palette was far from easy. I was relying more on tone than colour as I could only just about make out the gradations.