Artwork Description:

Title: Calke Abbey Window with Dahlias

The National Trust property of Calke Abbey in Derbyshire has a wonderful kitchen garden which is an inspiration for many artists and photographers.  Each summer there is a beautiful display of dahlias, some flowers had been cut and displayed in the windows of the garden bothy building where they mixed with the uneven reflections in the old glass.

Oil on wooden panel.

Artist Bio:

Working quickly with a fountain pen, waterproof ink and watercolour, Tom captures views of cafes, city streets and rural views in an urban sketch style.  Some of these are worked into larger pictures back in the studio using pen and wash or oil.  Sometimes an image demands to be painted and battles a path via sketches and photographs to be released from just an idea to become a finished piece of work.

Tom has always been fascinated by our impact on the landscape and started sketching the urban environment of cafes, railway stations and airports while travelling for work.  Now Tom can often be found sketching and painting in and around Derby and enjoys chatting to onlookers about art techniques, the history of local buildings or where to find the best coffee and cake.