Watercolour wonder!

I was so inspired by Jacquie's post this morning..... 

that I went to take a look at the watercolours in my lounge here at Poppy Cottage.

   This one was painted for me over 20 years ago by my friend's mother, I had seen and admired paintings she had done of her family as well as landscapes and asked her to paint me a snowy scene of the Old Mill at nearby Langstone.

This was proudly displayed in my lounge in the house where we then lived,  in Warblington, near Portsmouth.

Sadly we left the area a few years later when Mr B was made An-Offer-He-Couldn't-Refuse to work in Milton Keynes. 

But before we left my friend presented us with a beautiful watercolour she had commissioned her mother to paint for us.

It was a collage showing various local scenes to remind us of happy times on the coast.

This is the house we lived in when we lived in Warblington.

Please excuse the quality of the photos, it was impossible to get one without a reflection!!!

This is Warblington Castle

This is the Church where we were married in nearby Bedhampton

This is nearby Emsworth

And of course the Old Mill at Langstone again, which is right next door to the pub, the Ship Inn, where we had our wedding reception!

Of course all this reminiscing was lovely, but it also made me think about doing some painting myself.

I have often wished I could paint. 

When I was younger I was quite good at pencil sketching, but never quite got the hang of painting.

Years ago one of my children bought me some art materials, including watercolours.

I had a bit of a dabble, with little success, and the materials found themselves tidied away For-When-I-Might-Have-Some-Spare-Time (I was working full time then and there really wasn't enough time for such fanciful pleasures!)

And of course, when we moved to Poppy Cottage just over a year ago I looked at all the stunning views and declared that I would (sometime) have a go at sketching, or maybe even painting!

So this morning, when I read Jacquie's post, I decided that maybe now was the time to Have-a-Go!

I dug out that box of materials

I looked out of my kitchen window at the view

I dithered a bit....

I took a deep breath.....and

Tah dah!

 I'm quite pleased with my first effort!

  

  Right down to the mole hill at the end of the garden!

xxxxx