Our home (and my studio) sits on the Old Alresford Road that runs from Winchester to… well, Alresford! Alresford is a lovely market town, part of the wider Winchester district within Hampshire, but with its own very distinct identity. I’ve always felt that it has a nice atmosphere during the Winter. Despite the dark early evening there’s usually something lit up and glowing. But the wide nature of Broad Street meant that ay attempt to capture that festive feeling was never going to be obvious or straightforward. The composition would need to be invented from a few different references.
The sketch above was the result of my usual jigsawing process, giving the Alresford Christmas tree a prime spot at the top of the road… rather than where it would be realistically found should you walk the town at this time of year. The final painting was perhaps a little Narnian in style! But that’s forever a risk when a traditional looking lamp post is set so prominently in a snowy scene. Here’s a ‘glazed’ preview of how it turned out.
The Alresford Gift Shop have been stocking my cards and small gifts this year. They were obviously very keen to see this developed into a card and a tree ornament. So I was delighted to go ahead and make some samples. Lots of colour and hopefully an eye-catching design for the shelf.
I need to frame up the original and get it listed in the studio shop! But for now, if you like the look of the Alresford Christmas Tree cards or the Christmas ‘bauble’, they will be available to buy from the Alresford Gift Shop.