LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE

Trevor Chamberlain is probably best known for his watercolours mostly done out of doors. There is another side to his artistic creativity which to me is just as inspiring and this is the way he paints quick oil sketches using a small pochard box. Very often these are quite small 7"x10" or 12" x 14."

Back in 2006 Halsgrove published a book 'Trevor Chamberlain: England and Beyond' that I couldn't resist. I was looking through it recently when I turned up this acrylic painting that I intend to show at the LAS Spring exhibition. I've tried to capture the same feeling created by TC's pochades. A loosely applied acrylic primer ground and forms expressed by means of colour rather than detail.

I'm not fully happy with it - it needs figures or something for foreground interest. TC uses figures - harvesting rice in Northern Iran or men cutting Brussels Sprouts. Farm workers in the fields is a motif which goes back to the 19th Century 19th Century Barbizon School - Millet 'The Gleaners.' - but I've only ever seen heavy machinery in use on these fields.

Can't explain the title either!