O3 Gallery – The Radcliffe & St Mary’s Church from the corner of Brasenose, Oxford

Posted on 24 April, 2013 by Susan Isaac
Susan Isaac - The Radcliffe & St Mary's Church from the corner of Brasenose, Oxford

Susan Isaac – The Radcliffe & St Mary’s Church from the corner of Brasenose, Oxford

This was one of my early workings of the Radcliffe, seen from the end of Brasenose Lane.  It was really exciting to get my teeth into this ornamented architectural subject, with so much opportunity to be playful with textures, not just of the building itself but also the cobbled road and the string of tethered bikes waiting to be reclaimed. I also liked the faded motif of St Mary’s Church in the background and the oversized street lamp cantilevered over the road from the corner of Brasenose College. Its silhouette is striking against the paling sky.

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O3 Gallery – The Harbour at Polperro below Chapel Hill

Posted on 22 April, 2013 by Susan Isaac
Susan Isaac - The Harbour at Polperro below Chapel Hill

Susan Isaac – The Harbour at Polperro below Chapel Hill

In this painting of Polperro, my focus is particularly on the arrangement of hillside cottages, backlit with a lemony glow of low sun. The harbour is shaded with soft blue and pink, the white of the boats reflecting the ambient light. The becalmed areas of the composition are struck through vertically by the two masts and I used both the sharp fall of the hill in the background and the sweep of the rigging in the foreground, to give the painting its dynamic.

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O3 Gallery – St Aldgates & Tom Tower, Oxford

Posted on 22 April, 2013 by Susan Isaac
Susan Isaac - St Aldgates & Tom Tower, Oxford

Susan Isaac – St Aldgates & Tom Tower, Oxford

In this second painting of Pembroke Square, I loved the rich colours in the light and shade playing on the yellow limestone of St Aldgates, and the fanned out silver birch dancing in front. The morning light gives this church its moment in the sun, with the shaded Tom Tower echoing the form of the church tower. The rough cobbles of the road give a contrast in texture to the smooth facings of the pavement and walls of Pembroke College on the right.

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O3 Gallery – The Old Harbour Wall at Polperro

Posted on 21 April, 2013 by Susan Isaac

After the throng of St Ives in season, Polperro seems like an undiscovered tranquil location. Perhaps it is the more tightly constructed geography surrounding the harbour that protects it and promotes the feeling of shelter from the world.

Susan Isaac - The Old Harbour Wall at Polperro

Susan Isaac – The Old Harbour Wall at Polperro

In this painting  I liked the juxtaposition of sunlit cottages on the far bank with the shaded section of old harbour wall running at right angles, creating an area of interest in the foreground. The mast of the sailing vessel connects the two areas of the painting, its blue hull further emphasising the bright blue shadows that abounded on this bright summer day.

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O3 Gallery – Low Tide at Harbour Beach, St Ives

Posted on 18 April, 2013 by Susan Isaac
Susan Isaac - Low Tide at Harbour Beach, St Ives

Susan Isaac – Low Tide at Harbour Beach, St Ives

I couldn’t resist the beautiful lines of this sailing vessel with its towering masts puncturing the vast blue canopy above it and the scoop of its mooring ropes, like lead reigns, drawing the viewer in. It dwarfs all other boats on the harbour beach and the distinctive St Ives foreshore itself is pushed back to the horizon. Although the tide is out, there is plenty of reflective water, and a full trench in front of the boat mirrors the sky helping to unify the colours of the composition.

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O3 Gallery – The Radcliffe & St Mary’s Passage, Oxford

Posted on 18 April, 2013 by Susan Isaac
Susan Isaac - The Radcliffe & St Mary's Passage, Oxford

Susan Isaac – The Radcliffe & St Mary’s Passage, Oxford

For this composition, I liked the interplay of forms side by side – the slim dark silhouette of the lamp post positioned alongside the silhouetted set of railings of St Mary’s Church, with these railings below and running towards the evaporating mass of the Radcliffe Camera. A single bike has been left leaning nonchalantly against the railings and the painting is contained at either side by masonry, on the left by the long run of Brasenose College buildings and on the right by an angled buttress at the north west corner of St Mary’s.

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O3 Gallery – Smeaton’s Pier at St Ives

Posted on 15 April, 2013 by Susan Isaac
Susan Isaac - Smeaton's Pier at St Ives

Susan Isaac – Smeaton’s Pier at St Ives

This viewpoint is in St Ives, standing on Smeaton’s Pier and looking back towards the foreshore – it is one that I return to often. The backdrop to the composition has a very characteristic grouping of houses that stand where the pier springs out from ‘The Wharf’ to encompass the teal blue waters of the harbour. Three small dinghies sit lightly in the water behind the solid barrier of the pier’s monumental stonework. They are pointing towards three relieving arches picked out by evening summer sun just ahead of where the massive retaining blocks hit the water. I like the way in which these blocks are delicately traced with lines of mortar running across the surface of the pier. They and the railings pull the viewer back towards the protected safety of the shore.

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O3 Gallery – Tom Tower (Christ Church) from Pembroke Square, Oxford

Posted on 15 April, 2013 by Susan Isaac

This quiet road, tucked away close to the busiest areas of Oxford, is punctuated dramatically at one end by Christ Church‘s Tom Tower. The dark foreground roadway, edged by parking lines, draws the eye towards this iconic tower, heraldically lit from the west on this autumn afternoon, with the silvery light of the archway at its base revealing another life beyond.

Susan Isaac - Tom Tower (Christ Church) from Pembroke Square, Oxford

Susan Isaac – Tom Tower (Christ Church) from Pembroke Square, Oxford

I loved the soft mauve shadows of the scene, with the tree bringing a fanfare of ochres and reds into an otherwise very tonal composition. The view is from a position just in front of the lodge entrance to Pembroke College, whose buildings frame the painting to the right. Students wend their way on foot or cycle along this route, and there are bicycles leaning against the college buildings, marking their owner’s passage this way. J R R Tolkien was a fellow of Pembroke College at the time he was writing ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ – he had rooms overlooking this square and would have seen the tall, Citadel-like Tom Tower every day.

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O3 Gallery – Porthleven Harbour from the Slipway

Posted on 13 April, 2013 by Susan Isaac

One of the distinctive elements of Porthleven is its series of harbour walls, acting as a system of baffles against the caprices of the Atlantic Ocean. From the vantage point of the slipway at the head of the harbour they lead, alternating from either side of the inlet, toward the Institute building.

Susan Isaac - Porthleven Harbour from the Slipway

Susan Isaac – Porthleven Harbour from the Slipway

In this painting, the viewer’s eye is channelled by the funnelling effect of the sides of the slipway. The shadow cast by the railing, its shape exaggerated by the low morning sun, also helps to direct the gaze. I loved the deep tonal contrasts of light and shade on the walls which I wanted to maintain throughout the composition. The blue of the water is, I think, all the more striking for that.

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O3 Gallery – Magdalen College along the High Street, Oxford

Posted on 13 April, 2013 by Susan Isaac
Susan Isaac - Magdalen College along the High Street, Oxford

Susan Isaac – Magdalen College along the High Street, Oxford

I found this viewpoint unexpectedly as I was walking up the main road towards Magdalen College Tower one late morning in winter. The tall gatepost terminating a run of low walling suddenly presented itself as a companion to the upright tower with a third dark upright in the form of a tree, whilst in the foreground the open filigree of the gate was a counterpoint to the solid mass of the gatepost. I also liked the sharp lemon of the grass, contained and contrasted with the shadowed wall and reflecting the funnel-shaped wedge of sky. It all leads the eye to the iconic Magdalen Tower.

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