Journal – Page 3 – Marloes Gallery

First Night

First Night June 15^th 2025
From the imagination: a youngster’s first night swim – or, perhaps more significantly, their first solo night swim. With such perfect conditions, I hope you agree that they simply had to go! Still clear air, and a calm sea which we hope is gin clear, too; no phosphorescence, but maybe there will be next time.
A different technique to my usual, for this picture: using a sharp point to scrape through the deep blue top paint layer and find the pure white beneath.
Acrylic on panel June 2025
8” x 16”

Sea-Leap

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Sea-Leap June 15^th 2025
As soon as this girl was on the sand yesterday, she was literally jumping for joy; in her costume, she rushed about the surf line squeaking and laughing with delight, never still. I was lucky to capture something of her joy, I hope, when for a while she was jumping and prancing with the breaking waves. When shown this sketch, she was delighted; her mother explained, “She wants to be a mermaid, when she’s older”.
Charcoal, pencil, coloured pencil on paper
Size A4

Evening Primroses

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Evening Primrose
June 14^th 2025
The bank opposite my house is well drained and sunny. Since I and my neighbour have been keeping the coarsest grasses and the Alexanders under control, and scattering the seed heads of foxgloves and other wild flowers, it has rewarded us with copious flowers, some seasons; whilst this painting dates from July 2022, there is already a good evening primrose showing this year. The two hills are some way off, beyond St Davids: Carn Llidi (to the left) and Carn-Ffald.
Is that purple flower tufted vetch? I think so.

Oil on panel

Musselwick

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Musselwick
How one often sees swimmers at this beach, in summer – silhouetted against the sun-sparkled sea. While you see a figure, I did not depict one. This is a panel of marine plywood cut from a piece of wrecked boat found on Marloes Sands; the “girl” is an area of varnished veneer, nothing more. But your eyes and brain have no doubt that she is there! Used as an illustration in my book of poetry and songs, “To Marloes With Love”.

Oil on panel Painted May 2015
7 1/2″ x 10 1/8″

Kete Cottage

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Kete Cottage
An attractive house, beside the lane which runs down to Saint Anne’s Head: wonderful views, but open to every wind! Now it is surrounded by farmland; its immediate neighbour used to be HMS Harrier, a “stone frigate” as Royal Navy shore establishments were called. Here, Fleet Air Arm pilots and air base personnel were trained in navigation, communication, and air traffic control. To an untrained eye, little evidence of Harrier is to be seen now.
Oil on panel October 2016
12” x 12” Private collection

Lindsway Bay

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Lindsway Bay
The local beach for St Ishmaels: quite a tricky descent, but well worth it! Good for swimming, nearly always smooth sand as shown here; pretty good for beachcombing. It lies opposite the entrance to Milford Haven; this view looking south-west shows Dale Fort on the point at the far side of the Dale Roads anchorage. Painted in May 2017, during a spell of remarkably artist-friendly weather!
Oil on panel
12” x 18”

Wild orchids

I thought I would feature these as general inspiration regarding what Nature is capable of. These orchids are flowering right now in a local meadow which used to be a monoculture of coarse modern grass; Southern Marsh Orchids have been seen there for many years, but never before in 25 years have Early Purples appeared.

Picture Raffle

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Picture Raffle
An opportunity to win one of my oil paintings! The poster below tells you what you need to know; for good measure, there too is the sign which will be going on my gate later today. This is a “formal” raffle: so, if you cannot attend the fête but your ticket wins, the picture will be posted to you.

Good Luck!

Crystal Rollers

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Crystal Rollers
Painted in high summer, quite a few years ago. When the water is gin-clear and tall waves are coming in to break with a tumble close to the shore, the sea takes on such a glassy look, in each luminous moment before that crashing collapse turns all to snow-bright foam. The sound is distinct at such a time, too: especially crisp, it seems, carrying well inland on the breeze.
Oil on canvas
Private collection

Peregrine Poster on location

Our talk poster featuring the wonderful Peregrine Falcon sketch by Paschalis Dougalis is on display around the village; we are hoping for a good turn-out tomorrow evening.
Here’s the poster at the start of the footpath down to Musselwick Sands…