Anne Of Cleves

ACEO, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, watercolor, gouache and gold ink, June 2007.

Anne of Cleves was the fourth wife of Henry VIII. The marriage was a political one. Henry agreed to the marriage only having seen a portrait of Anne and having heard glowing reports of her virtue and honesty. However, when Anne finally arrived in England and the two met, Henry was bitterly disappointed with her and was furious, feeling he had been lied to. Anne spoke no English and while she spoke and wrote German and was skilled at needlework, she was rather innocent and naive. One doubts if Anne was exactly thrilled at the sight of the enormously fat Henry either. However, the marriage went ahead as planned in 1540. The weding night was not a success - Henry was so repulsed by Anne he was unable to consummate the marriage - Anne was so sexually naive she was unaware of this and her ladies-in-waiting had to explain it all to her. Six months later the marriage was annulled, the minister who had arranged the whole debacle, Cromwell, had been executed and the King was making plans to marry Catherine Howard. As for Anne, wisely she agreed to the annullment and went along with all that was asked of her. She was given money and property and lived out the rest of her life quietly, dying in 1557. This painting is not a likeness - if is intstead a portrait of how I feel her character to have been.

Katherine Of Aragon

ACEO, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, watercolor, gouache and gold ink, June 2007.

Katharine of Aragon was the first wife of Henry VIII. She had been married to Henry's older brother, Arthur when she was 16,in 1501, but a short time later Arthur became ill and died. It was then agreed that Katherine should be betrothed to Henry, as she had stated that the marriage to Arthur had never been consummated. This would become of great significance. She and Henry were wed in 1509, after he became King. They were married for 18 years and in that time Katherine was only able to give Henry one surviving child, a daughter, Mary (later to become Mary Tuder or "Bloody Mary"). Henry was desperate for male heirs and by 1527 was looking for ways to escape the marriage. He believed that by marrying his brother's former wife they were cursed. He was also deeply enamoured with Anne Boleyn. The Pope refused to annul the marriage and he situation led to the English Reformation, the break from Rome and the setting up of the Church of England with Henry at it's head. He had separated from Katharine in 1531 and then married Anne in 1533, even though his mariage to Katherine was not formally annulled until 4 months later.Katherine was a devout and pious woman who never accepted the new Church or that her marriage was over, despite being banished from Court and forced to live in much reduced circumstances. She died of cancer in 1536, signing letters as "Katharine the Queen" until her death.

Catherine Howard

ACEO, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, watercolour and gouache, June 2007.

Catherine Howard was the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She had been a Lady-In-Waiting to his previous wife, Anne Of Cleves, and was a cousin of his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Henry was 50 and fat when she married him, she was in her late teens. She was rather young, foolish and indiscreet. She was beheaded two years later after being found guilty of adultery and treason.Only one miniature painting identified as being Catherine Howard exists. Most images of her were destroyed after he execution. This painting is, as such , not a portrait.

White and Gold Alstroemeria

Watercolor, 5 x 7 inches, June 2007.



More flowers from my garden. These alstroemeria ( sometimes called peruvian lilies) come in a wonderful range of colours. They are very striking and the white and gold's make a wonderful contrast with the green foliage behind.

This painting is currently for sale on Minigallery.

Garden Hat

Watercolor, 4 x 6 inches, June 2007. I recently became a member of a watercolour group on ebay - each month there is a "challenge". Members submit photos (up to 5 in all) and then vote on which one they would most like to paint. At the end of the month , once all the paintings have been submitted, we then vote on the which we think is the best. This is the first month I have taken part. It was interesting because this is not subject matter I would choose for myself. I changed the composition from the original picture (there was another tool on the right which just distracted) to make it more my own.

Red Poppies

5 x 7 inches, watercolour, 2007.

Red poppies from the garden. I'm really enjoying painting these flowers. I tried to keep this one a bit looser in style.

Padme Amidala

5 x 7 inches, watercolour and gouache, 2007.

A painting of Natalie Portman as Queen (or Senator) Amidala as she appeared in "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones". I painted this as a birthday present for my step-niece as she is her favourite character from the films.

Miniature Red Tulips

5 x 7 inches, watercolor, June 2007

This painting is, as titled, some mini red tulips. They are from my garden and have opned up to catch as much sunlight as possible and display the black and yellow centre of the flower.

Pink Poppy

ACEO, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, watercolour.

A pink oriental poppy from my garden.

Down Among the Bluebells

5 x 7 inches, watercolour and gouache, June 2007.

This is my dog Ziggy. We were out walking him on a warm spring day, throwing his frisbee for him. Once we reached the woods he lay down among the bluebells to cool down and have a rest. He looked so sweet I took a few snaps and painted this from them.

Stormy Sands

Stormy Sands, Watercolor, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, June 2007

This was based on a photo I took a few weeks ago while down in Devon on the UK South coast. It had been quite a changable day weather-wise, and in the afternoon the sun was out so we took the dog to the beach for a walk. As we returned back to the car I turned and saw these dark clouds looking above us.

White Aquilegia

Another ACEO, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, watercolour, of a White Aquilegia flower. I have these growing in my garden, in diffrent colours and varieties. The flowers are very strange and interesting with long tentacle-like parts to the petals. Before the open up the buds look like squids. I've painted them before because they are interesting and unusual. It's listed for auction on eBay until June 10th.