Young Swallows watercolour painting

Young Swallows © Tracy Hall 2010

2.25" x 1.75" Watercolour on board

(ghost penny shown for scale)

The last of the swallows for the time being. Shall be busy with illustration work for a while but will hopefully fit in some miniatures amongst it all to post here. Better title pending...I hope :)

Two new miniature paintings

'Newhaven Quay' Tracy Hall 2010.

1.75" x 3.25" watercolour on board

In progress and as yet untitled (but it has swallows in it!) Tracy Hall 2010

2.25" x 3.25" watercolour on board (penny shown for scale)

Two new miniatures to end the week. I've been too busy to post, apologies, but its calmer now, albeit briefly :)

The first is of a little boat, the St Rognvald, that we saw tied up at Newhaven Quay near Edinburgh over the summer (while enjoying a fantastic meal at Loch Fyne seafood restaurant. Highly recommended!). It was early evening and the light was beautiful - unlike the scan of this painting which is suffering from a bit of glare.

The second is still in progress, some swallows from the garden recently set amongst the ruins of an old croft on Burray called Taftnica.

A reminder also that the Society of Wildlife Artists exhibition 'The Natural Eye' has just opened in London at the Mall Galleries and is absolutely worth a visit before it finishes on October 2nd! I have two pieces in the show, a Redshank and some House Sparrows. I can't get down to see it unfortunately, but if you do I would love to hear from you.

Swallow watching

The garden has been filled with beautiful swallows recently, family groups preparing for the long haul to South Africa for the winter, swooping and calling around the buildings - and using the old basketball hoop as a convenient resting point.

The parents have been feeding the youngsters non-stop, and they've progressed from being fed on the perch to flying up and meeting their parents in a nifty mid-air manoeuvre to grab the mouthful of flies as they pass.

It's so much fun to watch them and I'll be sorry to see them go - lets hope they all make it back in the spring. I feel another swallow painting coming on!