Oil on Canvas

280 x 122 cm

2024

Deepest dreichest Dorset mid to late winter, a break of a few hours between the unending deluge. I forced myself out and up to Hod Hill to see if I could see what I had formerly only glimpsed; a view through a thickly wooded ridge to the flooded Stour below. Me being me I went off piste and slithered uphill through the woods to find a view. It wasn’t until I had reached the clearing upon Hod Hill that I had any kind of view and after circumnavigating this ancient hill fort I decided, as the feeble sun slid below the far horizon that I would not find the view I was seeking. And then upon my descent - looking across to the adjacent hill fort of Hambledon and against the tree line a flock of about twenty Little Egrets floated into view and silently, rhythmically ghosted through the valley between and I had my painting.