Pentle Bay, Tresco, Isles of Scilly

 

 

Pentle Bay, Tresco,  Isles of Scilly      Acrylic (c) Tessa Spanton

I am delighted that his painting has been selected for the Society of Women Artists 2019 exhibition

24th-29th September, at the Mall Galleries, London. More details here

I wanted to do a plein air painting on one of Tresco's beaches. I chose Pentle Bay, a beautiful long beach curving like a crescent at one end. It is fringed with white sand, shells and seaweed. I like it best when the tide is not too low. I found a cowrie shell as I walked along to chose a spot.

I usually use watercolour or pencil for plein air work and didn't have an easel so it was a bit of a challenge to avoid everything face palming into the sand! I did incorporate a bit of Tresco sand into the foreground and found that a few of the silvery particles of mica from the sand had found their way onto the painting.

This was followed by something delicious to eat and drink at the Ruin Beach Cafe at Old Grimsby. I will write about that in another post. Meanwhile more details here

I did some more tweaks on it at home and decided to frame it in time for submssion day at the Mall Galleries just a few days later.

 The frame is made with a hardwood moulding and appears a bit darker in this photo than in reality.

 

 Handing in is at the back of the Mall Galleries from Carlton House Terrace beyond the board and down some steep steps. Paintings are piled high so need to be in durable frames.

Then its back to Trafalgar Square to get a no 11 bus to Victoria.