Just as Tranquil Lake was the last drawing I did before moving house, this was the last painting I did that year. Most of the intervening time was spent doing the house up to sell, choosing where we wanted to move to, or editing books and other work. I’m surprised I found time to do this painting that year, but I think it came about as a necessary pause in a hectic 12 months. I find artwork to be relaxing, even if things don’t go quite the way you want them, although that was certainly not the case with this painting. An atmospheric sunrise landscape was just the thing to chill out doing and it seemed to come together with very little to worry about. It is based on a photograph taken in Scotland, but with a little fantasy twist in some of the colours.

Medium: Pastel
Size: 36 x 30 cm
Materials: Clairefontaine Pastelmat paper. SAA soft pastels
Mount Colour: Green