A veil as thin as smoke

Days are quiet here now. My son has returned to university and daughter is back at school. September has returned and in the garden the flowers are still blooming, holding on as long as they can while the sun is still warm. There seems to be a lot of purple around. Here below is Verbena bonariensis one of my favourite plants. It's so pretty, the bees and butterflies love it, and it's quite a tough cookie.  Standing tall and very rarely falling over even in the heaviest of rains and wind.

This year, sadly there has been a distinct absence of butterflies here. No where near as many as we normally have.  Here though below is a blue butterfly enjoying the Oregano that I spotted the other day.

It's been a good year for the apples and the blackberries which are are abundant in the hedgerow.    

When the days have been warm  and dry, I've been sat with the doors open and re positioned my chair by the door for maximum daylight.

I wasn't alone, there is always company just a few feet away

This is what's been on the easel.  An A3 sized painting on wood. Here are some progress stages.

And the finished piece. 'A veil as thin as smoke' the colours are slightly different here. In reality the original is probably somewhere in between. Prints are available here for anyone interested.

Now I'm busy painting toadstools and the odd bee.

A trip to Stratford.

The heart of England? Some might say this was Stratford Upon Avon. Birth place and resting place of Shakespeare. I was here on Saturday wandering the cobbles, showing our daughter who is currently studying drama at A level.

I think my favourite buildings of all time/style of architecture has to be tudor. Maybe I had a previous tudor life?
 The top left above the swan, is Shakespeare's birth place. The grey oak dog below, decorates the outside of the Garricks head pub, the oldest inn in Stratford where we stopped for a bite to eat after getting lucky and managing to pick up some last minute tickets for 'The Merchant of Venice' at the RSC.  A big treat for my daughter, before she returns to her last school year, in a few days.

No photography of course during the performance.  Here is the stage though before and after. 

                 RSC photo of Patsy Ferran as Portia in The Merchant of Venice. Photo by Hugo Glendinning
Such amazing actors and actresses! I loved the reflections and light and the red dress, so striking in the dark and candlelight. It's made me want to use red in a painting. I don't think I've used red in a long while?
Summer is fading fast and is almost gone for another year. Soon it will be time to light the fire, the candles, make soup and enjoy the sparkly dew drop days that Autumn brings. 
I will leave you with this, by The Smoke Fairies.