Day two of the retreat saw us in Stari Grad, the oldest town on the island, and indeed one of the oldest in Europe. As the former Greek colony of Faros, this place was already old in the 16th century, when Petar Hektorović built his summer residence here. Tvrdalj was originally on the waterfront, bristling…
I like to begin our artist retreat with an introduction to Vrboska, our base for the week. Much grumbling amongst the troops as I explained the previous night that we’d be meeting at 6:30am for our morning walk, cameras at the ready! This is, in fact, shortly after sunrise, and by far the best time…
It’s fun to take my sketchbook along on a walk instead of the camera, although it doesn’t half slow down progress! But what I lose in distance covered and numbers of images, I gain in terms of the quality of the scene imprinted on my memory. Places that I’ve sat and sketched are much more…
It’s fascinating to me what kind of equipment other artists choose to take when painting outdoors. We’re all looking for lightweight and compact, but at the same time we want all the familiar bits and pieces from the studio, just, you know, in case! So what do I take in my painting kit? To start…
Since I wrote my article on Red roofs as part of the landscape last month, I’ve been looking with different eyes at buildings – and paintings of them. So many artists over the years have taken architecture as their subject, including red roofs (Camille Pissarro) and even blue roofs (Paul Gaugin). So let’s have a…
I love painting rocks and water- it’s almost as good as a walk by the seashore on a day when I can’t get out there myself. Physically I may be in my studio, but mentally I’m on that path around the headland on a sunny day in September! Today, my reference photo is chosen for…
Announcing our Hvar Artist Retreat for 2015 – 6th to 14th September! After missing last year due to family commitments, we’re back for 2015! Our itinerary will be similar to the very successful event in 2013, though we also have a couple of new locations in mind, depending on interest. We’ll be based, as ever,…
It’s been a couple of years since I started painting the rocks and water of this beautiful coastline – and what an absorbing subject it has been! Considering that I only started it because of a very restricted pallette – mostly cool blues and turquoises and very few of the warm yellow, orange & red…
There’s something rather attractive about the colours and textures of rust. It adds a warmth and interest to metal objects, and although it can be destructive, it’s also rather lovely. Rust, that is iron oxide, often has flakes and crusty layers in a complex mix of shades, as the process involves both oxygen and water…
After a great start to our tour of Korčula, we arrived at the town on the island most visited by passing tourists. Set out on its promontary, fortified all around and bristling with artillery, for centuries this small town guarded a strategic shipping channel. Korčula is the name both of the town and the island,…
Go Hvar 
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