7 Cascades View Point- from start to finish 19 months

I started at the viewpoint in February 2011 and did many studies on site. I always take my dogs, Fox Terriers with me, they love to run and hunt in the forest below.  It is a lovely place, very quiet, and there is a CEB (Central Electricity Board) post just next to it with a security guard on duty, so very safe!

One Monday morning when I was there,  a group of men turned up and got out of their car with bottles of beer in their hands, they had come for a picnic at 9am in the morning.  I said to them "Good morning, you aren't going to give me any trouble are you?" They replied, "No, Madame, we are going to protect you!". They were fine, and when they left, offered me a bag of fried samousas!

1. Watercolour 30 x 45cm. On site

2. Charcoal study 30 x 45cm. On site

3. Oil 5x7" on board On site

4. Oil 50 x 50 cm On site

5. oil 5 x 7" on board. On site

6. Oil 20 x 25cm on board done from charcoal sketch in studio

7. Oil 20 x 25cm on board done from charcoal sketch in studio

8. Oil 20 x 25cm on board done from charcoal sketch in studio

9. Oil 5 x 7" done in studio from charcoal sketch

10. 160cm x 120cm oil on canvas from sketch above, no 9.

11. 5x7" on board done on site

12. 5x7" on board done on site

13. 5x7" on board done on site

14. 5x7" on board done on site

15. 20 x 25cm oil on board studio.

16. 20 x 25cm oil on board, studio

17. 5x7" on board done on site

18. 120 x 80cm oil on canvas done from sketch 8 above. Stage 1.

The last one, above, no 18 was the last in this series. I did this in June 2011.   I felt I had finished at the view point and started exploring the waterfalls themselves.  I visited my teacher in July 2012 , showed him my work and he commented on the study no 3 saying how much he liked it and how the foreground was working well.  I knew that my last oil, no 18's foreground wasn't working well and kept thinking about redoing it. But, not sure what exactly to do, I hadn't done anything.  Then, yesterday, 22nd September, 2012,  I felt like tackling it so, I took out my study no 3 and had another bash at the oil above. All this to tell you how you have to wait months sometimes before you get the answer and then the inspiration. But the wait is an important part of the process. Like the gestation period of a seed.

It changed quite a lot whilst I was working on it, but I slapped on the paint quickly and confidently, referring to my study no 3 all the time.  The colours are quite different in reality, the photo hasn't come out well, it's looks more redder than this. But I'm happy with the outcome. I understand the space better as I have been walking down through the forest on the left to the top of the 3rd waterfall and looking down for the last 9 months. This goes to show you how important it is to walk in the space and to understand it. In fact the reason why I ventured down to the 4th waterfall, the one at the very bottom, is because I wanted to understand what was going on down there! I think I can say it's finished now.  It's a lovely feeling, like getting to the top of a mountain after a long hard struggle, but even better!

120 x 80cm oil on canvas.