ARTSITECAROLYN PAINTING BLOG TRIPS BY CAROLYN LAMB

cheddar retreat revisited

5/10/2026

Most of the work I did on my artist's retreat in Cheddar at Gorge View Cottage at the end of March. Nice to have a week to play around with different media. Oil pastel, oil paint, watercolour, fineliner, soft pastel and pencil. My third visit to include scenes up the gorge, painting out the window and another cosy night in, this time with red booties.

First outdoor watercolour of the Season

3/17/2026

Misty day, Weak sun, Bin on the Downs. Pencil and watercolour. 25x28cm. 5th & 9th March 2026. Cornelissen Green Sketchbook. 300g acid free paper. First page of my new sketchbook. Sat in the car for a couple of hours as it was in a string of cold damp and windy days so too cold to sit outside. Alas this is normal for this time of year.

Drawing Out of Hibernation

3/1/2026

Model didn't turn up so we drew each other

Model Ruth did come on a different day

People sat for 15 minutes

Ruth. All these drawings are in coloured pencil.

Two Oils at the Yeo Valley ORganic Garden

12/22/2025

Allium Heads Yeo Valley 27th June and 4th July 2025. Oil. 8x8"

Upcycled Sink. Yeo Valley Organic Garden. 28 and 29th August 2025. oil. 10x10"

Summer At YEO Valley ORGANIC GARDEN

9/20/2025

New planter troughs at Yeo Valley Organic Garden. Pastel pencil.

Wisteria Pods

Pond with Bullrushes and insect hotel.

Constant developments at Yeo Valley Organic Garden never fail to provide new quirky features that attract me to paint. Although this summer I have done more sketching with pastel pencils than my normal oil paintings. Got a lovely Sennelier pastel paper sketchbook for my birthday so I have been trying it out. Less kit to carry round. I did mean to do these as preliminary studies for some oils, but I guess these will happen next year as the garden shuts in a weeks time.

Artuk.org Anne Redpath and Gwen John

8/25/2025

Thought you might like to see the two pictures I had in mind which prompted me to paint my own oil painting 'Hommage to Anne Redpath'. Images of every painting in Uk Public Collections have been digitised over a number of years and are available free at artuk.org. (formerly known as the Public Catalogue Foundation).

Anne Redpath. The Indian Rug (Red Slippers) c 1942. Collection: National Galleries of Scotland: Modern

A Corner of the Artist's Room in Paris 1907–1909 Gwen John (1876–1939). Collection :Sheffield Museums.

BS9 Art trail - Off to New Homes

6/18/2025

Hommage to Anne Redpath. Oil. 12 x 12".

Not my normal landscape subject but painted during my artists retreat at Gorge View Cottage in Cheddar in 2017. I had brought my pink slippers and when I saw the Indian rug in my holiday cottage I immediately thought of the lovely oil painting 'Red Shoes with Indian Rug' (National Galleries Scotland) - by Anne Redpath .
Hence my title, Hommage to Anne Redpath. Then upstairs was a wicker chair which made me think of Gwen John's 'Corner of an Artists Room' ( Sheffield Museums) so I brought that down to join in. And on the window sill is a little sketch of mine I had just painted from the top of Cheddar Gorge. And the cup on the floor is an early piece by potter Joanna Howells. So that is 4 lady artists represented.

Bluebell time

5/11/2025

First oil painting of the season is usually on a trip to the lovely Bluebell woods. Such a pleasure to sit in the quiet woods accompanied by the scent of all the wild garlic plants and rustlings in their leaves from a family of shrews dashing about underneath. A deer ran past. You don't experience any of this if you only paint from photos.

MY CARDS AT yeo valley organic garden

4/11/2025

EIGHT CARDS OF MY OIL PAINTINGS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE YEO VALLEY ORGANIC GARDEN SHOP THIS YEAR.

Winter portraits

3/17/2025

Sammi

Stephen

Ruth

Ten YEars at The Yeo Valley ORganic Garden

11/29/2024

Eleven oils out of the 53 I have painted at the Yeo Valley Organic Garden since 2014

Over the last ten years I have visited the Yeo Valley Organic Garden, at Holt Farm, Blagdon between spring and autumn to draw and paint. Oils mainly on 8 x 8 inch canvas boards (20x20cm) which I can paint onsite over one or two days. My work is a bit like a history of how the garden constantly changes but there are certain features which always attract me ; the crab apple blossom avenue in May; the camassias, the beehives, the silver birch glade, trees at any time, and any quirky new feature.

Valley of the Rocks, Lynton, Exmoor

10/15/2024

First session on my oil. Only had 3 hours at Castle Rock when I arrived. Late afternoon so it is in silhouette making it hard to see. Not finished so needs more work.

Castle Rock, Valley of the Rocks, Lynton, North Devon. Oil. 8 x8" Final image after 3 more hours on 7th October but as it was in the morning the sunlight is on the opposite direction so easier to see the rock structures but you end with a different picture.

Valley of the Rocks in Devon has been on my 'must do' oil painting list for some years. But part of the reason for coming to a Charcoal Landscape Sketchbook Course run by artist Kate Boucher at moorandseaholidays was my hope to have a chance to fit an oil painting in as well. Charcoal is one material I never use because it is messy so I wanted to give it a chance and spend 3 days doing tonal drawing. I can thoroughly recommend this workshop plus there is an art room at the accommodation free to use even if not on a course.

Natural and compressed charcoal , rubbers and blending cloth. Kate taught us all the charcoal techniques, and we also made charcoal over a fire .

On the second evening I was able to spend a bit of time at Valley of the Rocks to practice with an onsite charcoal sketch and get to know my subject better

On the charcoal course I could use the image from my Castle Rock photo to practice techniques in the A5 sketchbook.

I also did a quick tiny pen sketch to try and work out how the rocks were placed.

WATERSMEET, LYNTON

10/10/2024

Watersmeet, Carolyn Lamb, Charcoal, A2. At the end of my stay at Moor and Sea Holidays and the Charcoal Sketchbook: Landscape workshops I did a large drawing of the waterfalls at Watersmeet, National Trust, Lyn Gorge, Exmoor. Thanks to techniques demonstrated by artist Kate Boucher I no longer hate charcoal.

London Calling - Some quick Tiny sketches

9/12/2024

A welcome seat at Chelsea Physic garden. Micron pen. 83x118mm.

Needing a prop. Mulberry at Dulwich Picture Gallery. Micron pen. 83 x 118mm.

The Real Thing at the Old VIc. Micron pen 83 x1 18mm

Eastbourne Groyne. Derwent watercolour pencil. 142 x1 85mm. Robersons Fabriano Artistico 300gsm. NOT. sketchbook.

Staying in London for five days to catch plays and exhibitions. My tiny Hahnemuhle D&S Sketchbook is perfect to carry in a pocket to catch a few quick sketches on the go. Then a colour sketch on Eastbourne beach after visiting the Towner Art Gallery to see Melting Ice, Rising tides solo exhibition by Emma Stibbon,R.A.

Yeo Valley ORGANIC GARDEN Oil paintings

7/29/2024

My first oil of the 2024 garden open season at Yeo Valley Organic garden. The Old Willow in the Camassia field. I sat in the Doorway of the Yurt to keep out of the cold wind and rain splatters. Oil. 8x8". 19th April 2024.

Crab apple blossom from the stream path . Oil. 8x8". 3rd May 2024. Yeo Valley Organic Garden. Yet another rainy and overcast day but this meant very few garden visitors so I could sit undisturbed on the little path over the stream

My next oil was of the Caged Parrot Tulips. Oil. 8x8". 25th /26th April. Yeo Vally Organic Garden. I sat under the shelter of the cafe awning to keep out of the rain splatters.

At last a sunny dry day. The Apple blossom and blue camassia's are going over but the white one is coming out. 10th May 2024. Oil. 8x8". Although the garden is ever changing sometimes you find yourself repeating views.This is similar to one I painted in 2018