It snowed here over Thursday night, in the north and south-west, and whilst it was nothing to worry anyone used to winters in North America or Canada, it was enough to cause panic and fears of ‘safety’ in a country which every year maintains we don’t have enough of the stuff often enough to bother to learn how to handle it – despite evidence to show that our winters could be more severe in the future.
I pity the people of Cornwall who came to a standstill on the main road into and out of the county, especially those who had to spend the night in their cars or abandon them in search of emergency accommodation where they could. The weather took them by surprise, but one can’t help feeling we should be better prepared in this country instead of grinding to a halt whenever we get a few inches of snow?
Anyway, the rain last night washed away any of the snow which remained unmelted by the weekend sun and we, in this corner of the country, are back to business as usual at least for the time being.
At least it provided a chance to sketch some snow scenes. This is a replica stone-age roundhouse – originals are hard to find, but for those who don’t know, there is evidence of early settlements in the area and a lot of archaeology has been done, so it is not that someone just decided to build one on a whim. This one has educational value and is part of Greystones Farm and the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.
This is also an exercise in a very limited palette of French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna, with a minute amount of Yellow Ochre.
Graham Findlay Watercolours 