A trip to Margate



Looking towards Kingsgate Bay

Botany Bay

A little trip to Dartford in Kent for a very special party - Nan and Granddad's 70th wedding anniversary. I can only hope that His Nibbs and I have that many years together.

On Friday we had a stop off in Margate to go to the  Turner Contemporary Gallery  to see a show called 'Turner and the Elements'. The emphasis is on 76 watercolours with just 12 of the oil paintings on display. To be honest this was one of the big draws for me as it's his watercolours that I most enjoy. They feel more intimate and more of a direct response. I also feel that they are closer to what Turner saw when he painted them as a lot of the colours of his oils haven't weathered colourwise as well. Saying that one of my favourite Turner's Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth was on display in the last room. If you are in the area I would recommend a visit as it is a very interesting exhibition.


I had hoped to be able to show a photo or two of Margate but unfortunately whilst we were there a heavy mist cloaked the town and all you could see was dense white. In the afternoon we drove on to Botany Bay for a walk on the beach where the mist had mostly burnt away. It's not a beach I had been to before but is one I will have to return to sketch.


Driving to Dartford I sketched the sky from the car. With my sunglasses on the colours were beautiful warm neutrals, my head was full of Turner's watercolours and thoughts of what he would have made of contrails and how he would have used them in paintings.



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