What a scorching week it has been here in Hampshire ☀️ (and by the sounds of things all across the UK). I’ve been extremely grateful for the shade provided by the old apple tree that stands beside my studio. It really does reduce the temperature, which feels sweltering on the afternoon school run. It’s nothing compared to the poor guys slogging away on our house extension! It’s rather exposed up on the scaffolding… and pretty extreme weather for brick laying. It’s been quite a disruptive period but we’re delighted to have the building work underway; hopefully completing for the start of the new school year in September. All VERY exciting but it does sadly mean that i’ll be missing the Hampshire Open Studios this August.
Despite the distractions of the building site I decided to pick up a personal piece this week… something to add to my ‘Sports & Festivals’ collection. I’ve had this drawing of Lords cricket ground prepared for a little while now; but just hadn’t found the opportunity to launch into the painting. It felt like the right time to do it as the Summer of cricket began with the first test of the Ashes at Edgbaston 🏏.
Here I am polishing my halo 😆 with a new ring light for capturing my time-lapse recordings! I think I made good progress on it throughout the week (I posted some snippets on social media) but there’s some line detail to finish on Monday. I hope this one will make a bright colourful addition to my Etsy shop and will post the final illustration next week.