ORFORD MEMORIES

On a lovely sunny day I took a boat trip around Havergate Island from the little port of Orford on the Suffolk coast . I was presented with a view just made for watercolour. The Church Tower and Castle Keep made striking motifs against a cloudless sky. I took several photographs of them astern from the boat. Keeping to a strict topographical treatment would have resulted in a very elongated composition because the castle is some distance from the church. So I’ve portrayed them close together by taking the motifs from separate photographs.

Other memories which linger are of the small groups of avocets on the waters’ edge of Havergate. So I’ve included a little group of four. Strictly they’re in quite the wrong place. But does it matter when you’re painting a fond memory?