On the Sapphire Coast of NSW, Tathra Beach Tourist Park

Reg and I stayed in a beautiful caravan park  the Tathra Beach Tourist Park at Tathra on the Sapphire coast of NSW.  We had a wonderful site.
Our caravan site was alongside the beach on one side and opposite two swimming pools on the other. The photos are of the pool, me swimming in the pool practicing my 800 meters swim leg for a triathlon. 

The shopping centre was an easy walk or short drive away and there are interesting shops containing gifts and gourmet  food opposite. I raved about the organic local chicken I bought there and roasted, it was the best chicken I'd eaten in years.

The beach here had a wide expanse of clean sand. We went for a long beach walks every evening with Indigo our dog.  Yes we loved it there and the Tathra Beach Tourist Park was another pet friendly park we give the thumbs up to.

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Heritage Gardens is one of the most beautiful places in the US. What appealed to me most about this photo was the water. I wanted to dramatise it, and bring it out as the primary focus of a painting, with a colour harmony of green and yellow-green of tree and shrub, plus waterlily leaves contrasting with red-violet and the blue, violet blue of the sky reflection. 
I wanted to simplify the colour scene to draw the eye's focus onto the moving water. 

I set up my studio with an inviting view out over the Goulburn Valley. The image of Heritage Gardens, provided by Christine Dilkes Cook, is up on my 27" iMac screen. Christine tells me that Sandwich is one of the oldest and most quaint towns in Cape Cod.

I've only been to California and Hawaii in the US. I've seen gardens with this landscaping influence before, but not this one. I'd like to add a little of the heritage of the area to this blog. I'm sketching it now; I needed to make sure I'm researching the right place. :-) 
I'm buying some equipment so I can show snippets of my working, but I don't have that set up yet, so I'll take stills as I work.

No studio is complete without a studio assistant. Valentine is selecting the art materials for me to use. 

The paints are MaimariBlue Artist Quality. The world's best. The brush is a Raphael size 16 petit gris pur. Another of the world' finest artist's supplies. Yes, I've been spoilt with the best. It was my profession for more than half a century.

Valentine is still hard on the job. He hasn't tired. I have. I've made coffee and want to get more done before bed.

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An early block in phase, after the art masking fluid (which now appears yellowish), has been applied to cover the area that will remain white. 

Unfinished progress shot. Deliberately out of focus as it's not complete.
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Okay, creatives. I need a couple in love sitting on this bench. I need a love story about them. Plus I need the title of their story. While you are inventive, who writes their love story?

Moving on to detail stage.

A twelve-hour, mixed medium (transparent and opaque watercolours) painting of Heritage Gardens, Sandwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, US by Kathy Shell.
Thank you for providing the inspiration, Christine Dilkes Cook.

I write of crime, betrayal, resilience, love and historical fiction set in Australia, in my Ryn Shell author name, and I illustrate in with my Ryn Shell artwork. 

Above, the Framed Print original mixed media painting of Heritage Gardens, by acclaimed artist, Ryn Shell

“Allow nature’s peace to flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.” John Muir