As the snow melts on the mountain tops in the springtime the Guisane river swells and thunders through the village of Chantemerle. This painting shows the older part of Chantemerle from the other side of the river ( l’Envers). I really liked the crumbly building perched on the riverside in the foreground. I believe it [...]
There are some very magical places in Serre Chevalier and this is one of them. The Chapelle St Roch was built in 1755 to commemorate victims of the plague. It is situated in the forest on the north facing side of the valley. There is a path which leads to the chapel from l’Envers du [...]
The Col du Lautaret is a high mountain pass which links the Serre Chevalier valley with the Romanche valley. I have wandered around the Jardin Alpin a number of times with family and friends over the years. Every visit has been delightful and educational. Although it was June when I took the series of photographs [...]
This painting was based on a photo I took very quickly one Sunday morning in springtime. The scene is located near the river Guisane in the older part of Chantemerle. “L’Envers” means “the other side”. The pink building with the trompe-l’oeil decoration is ‘La maison Milou’ which is divided up into holiday apartments. I can [...]
This painting has a special place in my heart. The paved area is the patio garden of the former Hotel le Yeti, scene of many parties and concerts until it was demolished around 2007. They chopped down the willow trees too. On sunny days there was no better place to gather for a beer and [...]
Having grown up in the mild climate of north London, England, I was fascinated by the huge mounds of snow that fall and harden during an alpine winter. This pink cottage was just so pretty with its blue woodwork. Some years later I was delighted to meet the new owners of the cottage at the [...]
One morning, on the way to work, I spotted this classic Renault 4 covered in snow which was just starting to melt. The “No Parking” sign on the garage seemed rather ironic. I quickly took some photographs and used them to develop quite a technically challenging watercolour. I really like the contrast of the dark [...]
‘The History of Serre Chevalier and Briançon’ was published in December 2012 by CreateSpace. It is the first book written in English about the complete history of the Serre Chevalier valley which is located in the southern French Alps. The project required five years of research and three years of writing. This book is now [...]
During the winter season of 2002-2003 I was living in a caravan in my friend’s back garden. A pretty chilly existence in the wintry French Alps. I started to go for walks around the picturesque village of St Chaffrey, mostly to warm myself up! I quickly spotted some very interesting and characterful buildings, such as [...]
I painted this self-portrait for a homework assignment during my A-level Art course at Lowlands Sixth Form College, Harrow. The brief was to use an unusual coloured light source to create an interesting atmosphere. One of the challenges was working in a darkened room, with a fairly dim red light bulb and trying to guess [...]