New Porthleven Paintings 2

c-Susan Isaac - The Ship Inn at Porthleven IMG_7378

Susan Isaac – The Ship Inn at Porthleven

For this second Porthleven painting, what initially drew me to the view was the combination of the iron strut straddling the harbour wall and the dynamic top line of the wall sweeping around the harbour towards the Ship Inn. The wall was stacked with lobster pots, whose textured netting made an interesting counterpoise to the smooth blocks of masonry. In the foreground, a massive rusting chain trailing across and into the composition, anchors three sides of the canvas.

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New Porthleven Paintings 1

c-Susan isaac - Porthleven Harbour IMG_7384

Susan isaac – Porthleven Harbour (oil on canvas)

I’ve been working on a series of paintings of Porthleven. In this composition my eye was caught by activity on one of the harbour walls. I like the way these walls traverse and interrupt the inconstant waters of the harbour, the cross walls encroaching alternately from right to left – the final horizontal carrying with it the distinctive Bay View Terrace, whose stuccoed white and slate blue line ends at the Institute building. The vertical line of this building drops down through a jagged blue run of harbour water to the foreground boat and its tether.

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Updating My Blog Site

Susan Isaac Blog 2015

Following a busy year, both family and work (a mixture of supplying galleries, completing commissions, involvement in open studios and developing new ideas), I decided over Christmas to revamp my blog. Hence, I’ve added a series of pages that give a flavour of my painting and sculptural work as well as information about my galleries and studio. I’ve also changed the template for the blog. I hope people like it.

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Affordable Art Fair 2

Here are two more paintings completed for the Affordable Art Fair’s Wren Gallery stand. In these Cornish works, the high sun illuminates the atmosphere in both, but the shadows are orchestrated differently according to the lay of their respective coastlines.  St Ives beaches, outward facing and stretching into the Atlantic, brazenly soak up the light, leaving little room for shady hues. By contrast Polperro has a more guarded aspect, unfurling from its estuary and the folds of the land and turns of the sea walls create a multitude of shadowy tints.

Susan Isaac - Old Harbour Wall at Polperro

Susan Isaac – Old Harbour Wall at Polperro

In ‘The Old Harbour Wall at Polperro’, I like the rhythmic tilt of the boats in the foreground and the visual connection to the cottages above them by the wooden ladder scaling the harbour wall. These sunlit cottages make a striking contrast with the deeply shaded wall, whose edge is further defined by the brightly gilded cottages in the distance.

Susan Isaac - The Wharf, St Ives

Susan Isaac – The Wharf, St Ives

On a languid summer’s midday at St Ives, the wharf curves around the harbour beach. Cool silvery mauves of the wharf contrast against the warm pale sand whilst in the foreground the colourful deckchairs, casting a fugitive aubergine shadow, stand empty inviting passers-by to take a seat and join the scene.

Posted in Galleries & Events, Polperro, Seascapes, St Ives, Wren Gallery, Burford | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Affordable Art Fair

During January and early February I was preparing paintings to send to the Wren Gallery for their stand at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park London (on 13-16 March).

Susan Isaac - Footbridge over Staithes Beck

Susan Isaac – Footbridge over Staithes Beck

My compositions focussed on the harbours of Staithes in the north east and Polperro in the south west. I was struck once again by the similarity between these two locations, with their land contours cascading down to the water’s edge, tethered fishing vessels and vernacular building forms. But at the point where I was choosing my palette of colours I became more aware of the contrasts in colours, textures and light.

The exposed soft red sandstone of the Staithes Nab, which dominates the harbour, is echoed in the terracotta pantiles and bricks of the cottages of the town.

Susan Isaac - The Old Pier from The Warren, Polperro

Susan Isaac – The Old Pier from The Warren, Polperro

In Polperro the silvery mauve of the underlying rock, when formed into cottage walls reveals its glinting nature; and the ochre lichen clinging to the soft blue greys of the slate roof tiles seems to capture and reflect back a bit of the sun even on the greyest of days.

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Wren Gallery Autumn Exhibition 2013

The Wren Gallery in Burford, Oxfordshire has put a selection of my work in their Autumn Exhibition. Their focus for my work is seascapes, particularly of Cornwall. There is a preview on Sunday 27 Oct (11am-4pm, with wine and refreshments) and the exhibition continues through November (open daily, 10am-5pm).  The catalogue is available as a pdf on their website (under ‘Exhibitions) or you can ask the gallery for a copy. Below is an extract of the bits about me!

Wren Gallery Autumn Exhibition Catalogue 2013

Wren Gallery Autumn Exhibition Catalogue 2013

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Pulteney Bridge from Riverside Walk in Bath

Amongst my paintings at the Bath Contemporary exhibition is this view, just below Pulteney Bridge. The riverside path at this point presents a very inviting set of compositional elements, from the seventeenth-century colonnades in the background and Pulteney Bridge itself, to the old channel radiating out in the foreground, emphasised by modern railings. Vibrant sunlight is dampened down by the mature tree whose verdant mass is met by the rose bay willow herb growing in the leat.

Susan Isaac - Pulteney Bridge from Riverside Walk, Bath

Susan Isaac – Pulteney Bridge from Riverside Walk, Bath

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Bath Contemporary Exhibition

I have been visiting Bath in the summer months for several years now and have found it a rich source of inspiration for my paintings. In the summer sunshine there is an underglow in the seemingly endless Georgian parades of Bath. It seems as if the imaculate ochre building blocks, in their setting, had absorbed the warmth of the sun and are gently radiating it back from beneath the every day trappings and historic details that overlay them.

Nine of my most recent impressions of the city are going to be on show at the Bath Contemporary (7-28 September) under the heading ‘Kingdom and County’, alongside the work of three other artists, and there is a ‘private view’ this Friday 6 September, 6-8pm, to which all are welcome.

Kingdom & County-1

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Kirk Gate, Newark-on-Trent

This second painting at the Newfield Galleries is of Newark-on-Trent.

Susan Isaac - Kirk Gate, Newark

Susan Isaac – Kirk Gate, Newark

Kirk Gate has a lively mixture of facades ranging from medieval timber-frame through to quite grandiose Italianate Victorian, all following a serpentine line towards the main entrance of St Mary’s Church. Wherever you stand along the length of the street, you find a fresh and inspiring glimpse of interesting shop frontages and roof lines.

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Derwent Reservoir Dam

Derwent Reservoir recently featured in reportage on the 70th anniversary of the ‘Dam Busters’ wartime campaign, as the reservoir was used during WW2 in practice manoeuvres for the assault on the German dams.

Susan Isaac - Derwent Reservoir Dam

Susan Isaac – Derwent Reservoir Dam

I was unaware of its wartime significance at the time of painting this view and had just been marvelling at the grandiose neo-gothic architecture of such a functional piece of masonry. In this perspective of the dam wall  I liked the way in which the steps, lined by their delicate wooden railings, zig zagged sharply down to the left as the massive rusticated facade marches solidly up from the right and toward one of two central towers. The wall of overspilling water is just glimpsed between the branches of the spruce trees.

The painting is at the Newfield Galleries in Newark-on-Trent.

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