Markshall in May
Yesterday I visited Markshall as for my monthly Twelve Months on an Essex Country Estate painting project. It was the 29th May, which you may know is Oak Apple Day. This commemorates the restoration of the monarchy with King Charles II in 1660, and was for many years a public holiday.
Bearing this in mind, I decided that the Honywood Oak should be the subject of my big painting this month. I found a sunny spot to sit and sketch this veteran tree, which is estimated to be over 800 years old.
The Honywood Oak
It has a little fence around it to protect the roots from soil compression caused by people walking close to it.
I used Caran D’Ache Neocolour II water-soluble wax pastels to make a little sketch of the tree.
While I was walking around the arboretum afterward, by a strange coincidence I saw a twig of oak leaves with an oak apple lying on the track, which I have brought home to draw.
An Oak Apple is not, of course, an apple at all, but is caused by a tiny parasitic gall wasp who lays her egg in the bud of the oak, prompting the tree to develop this swelling. The new wasp eats her way out when she has hatched. You can always see the tiny hole where she made her exit . . .
The Walled Garden, and the Coach House Garden were both looking really lovely, full of roses, irises, poppies and peonies. Here are a few that particularly caught my eye . . .
A cuckoo was calling intermittently all the time that I was walking round, the peacock was screeching and the geese on the lake honking! Everywhere was very lush and green, and – away from the busy café – there were very few people around, so mostly I had the place to myself.
It is a lovely time of the year to visit Markshall – do go if you are in the area!
Flowerings
I was a bit late finishing both my February and March Flowerings paintings for my Markshall project. But now they are both finished and on the Small Paintings & Drawings page.
For February I painted a beautifully scented Daphne Bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’. It was growing in the area of trees and shrubs to the right hand side of the lake. This was painted in gouache on Saunders watercolour paper, with some details added in Caran D’Ache Neocolour II water soluble wax crayons.
February Flowerings
For my March Flowerings I had to choose daffodils as they were everywhere around the gardens! I walked up to Robin’s Grove, where I painted the snowdrops in February. The snowdrops had all gone, of course, but in their place the Grove was filled with primroses and daffodils.
This painting is in Unison soft pastel on Clairefontaine Pastelmat. Like all the Flowerings paintings it is 9 inches (about 23cm) square.
March Flowerings
I shall be making my April visit quite soon and I’m wondering what will be flowering this month . . .
March visit to Markshall
Yesterday, on the Spring Equinox, I made my third visit to Markshall for my Twelve Months on an Essex Country Estate painting project. It was the most beautiful day, the warmest so far this year by a long way, with clear blue skies.
I decided to take one of the Woodland Walks rather than go into the garden, and followed the Blue Trail to Crowlands Wood – for those of you familiar with the grounds.
Part of the track runs along between the wooded area and the edge of the fields and I found a good place to sit on the grassy edge of the track facing into the trees, with a large coppiced hazel covered in rusty coloured catkins in the foreground.
I liked the intricacies of all the trunks and branches and thought it would be a real challenge to paint!
It was very quiet and peaceful sitting in the sun sketching with my Caran D’Ache Neocolour wax pastels, and only two walkers came passed – one of whom said, ‘Are you drawing anything nice?’ . . .
There were lots of pheasant crowing near and far, and several times I heard the laughing call of green woodpeckers. The silky silver buds of the pussy willow are just opening, but the blackthorn in the wood was still in quite tight bud, hardly showing white at all, although I have seen it elsewhere in full flower. I picked a little twig of each to draw for this month’s Pickings.
Here are a few photos from the woods.
Once I had finished sketching I left all my gear in the car and walked round the gardens. Robin’s Grove, where I painted the snowdrops last month is now full of daffodils and primroses.
In fact there were daffodils all over the gardens, in the grass, under the trees, wherever I looked – so daffodils are going to be the subject of my Flowerings painting this month.
One more photo – beautiful reflections in the lake . . .
My last month’s Flowerings painting, which I was rather late finishing, is now on the Small Paintings and Drawings page, and there is another new pastel painting, called Into the Wood, on the Gallery 2025 page.