Bursledon windmill, Southampton, UK

Bursledon windmill, Southampton, UK

This is an oil painting of the working windmill at Bursledon, Southampton. It is the only working windmill in the county of Hampshire, UK, and is currently undergoing maintenance. It is hoped that the restoration will be complete in 2014, when the mill celebrates its 200th anniversary. Visitors are able to see flour being produced at Bursledon windmill, and view the other vintage farm buildings on the site, as well as the nature reserve.
This was painted in the winter of 2012 in oils on a canvas measuring 16" x 20". It is based on a photograph taken during September 2011. The image is quite timeless in a way, with nothing from the 20th century in the scene.
It was surprising to the artist to find that the windmill is painted in matt and gloss black paint, rather than a more 'woody' appearance. He believed that it could create a flat looking painting with the black colour reducing the amount of construction that could be shown, and meaning that the overall image would be dull. Fortunately the autumn light did help to show the form of the building however.

Bursledon Windmill, Southampton

Introduction

This blog contains paintings of the City of Southampton, situated on the south coast of the UK. Paintings depicting the local area around Southampton are also included.

Southampton is believed to have its earliest inhabitants in the area during the stone age but it is from the 11^th century that the town became a port. Today it is the second largest port in the UK, and a gateway for many cruises. Many famous ships have visited the port, including the Titanic which began its maiden voyage from there.

The town of Southampton became a city in 1964. Despite its industrial background the city boasts many interesting and beautiful locations and buildings, some of which are featured in paintings on this site. The oldest buildings have parts of Medieval architecture within them, but the earliest recognisable buildings tend to be Tudor.

The artist started capturing the area in paint from the year 2010, and hopefully this project will continue for some time. As the pictures are created they will be placed here on this blog. Some of the paintings have been exhibited in the local area, at museums, gallery, art shows and cafés.

The paintings are mostly done in oil paint. Some are done using acrylic paint, but all are painted on to stretched canvas. The size of the pictures are generally 20” x 16”. The artist tends to use his own photographic reference to begin with, taking pictures through out the year. Sometimes it may take over a year before the photograph is looked at again with regard to it forming a base for a painting.

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