We have got used to seeing a Daily Image on this site as a new image has been posted on the net every single day for the past seven years but ten days ago we started a new experiment with the artist Richard Clare who will be posting on a daily basis for the next twelve months, a Daily Sketch.
Richard has often appeared on these pages since he moved to Barga with his family nearly a decade ago – In 2002 English landscape artist Richard Clare and his family came to Barga just for a holiday, but the magical beauty of Barga seduced them into buying a property here. Richard can often be seen wandering around Barga’s alleyways with his box of paints, sketching and painting plein-air. complete article with many images of his very colourful landscapes can be seen here
Since then he has tried painting in the dark in Barga Vecchia making use of just the ambient street lighting (article here) and opening one of the smallest galleries in the city, only 7 metres long and not even two metres wide – in fact if you stood in the middle with outstretched arms it was possible to touch both walls but size had little importance when it came to quality and high quality there was to be found there (article here)
Award-winning landscape artist Richard Clare is known for his colourful and dynamic paintings of the northern landscape of England, and more recently of Tuscany (Barga) where he lives most of the time. Making most of the hot climate, Richard paints plein-air. For his moorland inspired works, he goes back several times a year to his studio in Delph, on the edge of the English Pennines, creating his vibrant paintings from memory or sketches (never photographs), using vibrant colours which are not normally associated with the British landscape. Richard has gained a reputation for high quality, exciting and dynamic paintings. He has received media attention in national magazines and his artworks are included in many private collections throughout Britain and more recently in France, Italy, Spain, China, USA and Australia.- his main site is here
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The first of his sketches was outside of Aristo’s bar, the unofficial cultural centre of Barga but from then on he started to move further afield around Barga with his sketch book.
Sharp eyes readers of giornaledibarganews will have already noticed the small thumbnails of his sketches which appear at the bottom of the front page but now after the first ten days of this experiment we can see some of his images together for the first time.
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Daily Sketch No.1 Aristos Bar, Barga, Tuscany – This is the first sketch of a year-long project to produce a sketch/drawing everyday, documenting the medieval hilltop town of Barga and surrounding landscape in Northern Tuscany where I live most of the time. Some sketches will form the basis for future paintings but many will just simply be a record of the landscape throughout the seasons. These sketches will also cover trips to other areas of Italy, France, Northern England and anywhere else I may be! To be updated on my progress, please subscribe to my mailing list and become a member. If you also a sketcher, let me know and I can put your link on my site. Thanks and wish me luck!
Daily Sketch No.2 Farmhouse on the Terraces, near Barga, Tuscany – Sometimes inspiration for a sketch/drawing does not come visually but from what I hear around myself. A perfect Spring day, sitting outside with a coffee in the sun, the birds singing, a few buzzards circling around and I was inspired! This sketch is the view from our terrace garden, looking across the valley where there is a lovely farmhouse with a tree-lined hillside in the background.
Daily Sketch No.3 Late Afternoon Sun, Barga, Tuscany – At the moment there is a wonderful quality of light around 4pm in the afternoon. I liked the contrast of the dark shady trees against the sun-kissed buildings. This spot in Barga, just below the Duomo is so peaceful, just a few cats lounging around in the sunshine and the bells of the Duomo chiming every 15 minutes.
Daily Sketch No.4 Barga Duomo with ‘Sleeping Man’ Mountain, Barga Tuscany – This is the most famous view of the Barga Duomo with the ‘Sleeping Man’ Mountain in the background so called as you can easily see the outline of a man lying down with his knees up. I drive past this view nearly everyday on my way down to Barga and everytime the colours are diferent depending on the time of day and the seasons. This was sketched around 4pm.
Daily Sketch No.5 Villa Biondi near Barga, Tuscany – This is the beautiful old Villa Biondi just outside Barga which is a Bed & Breakfast. I loved the box hedging leading up to the front entrance and the cast shadows of the trees on the faded facade. Sketched around 5pm.
Daily Sketch No.6 Barga Duomo through the Trees – This area of Northern Tuscany is covered by thousands of trees, many of them Chestnut trees, the chestnuts made into the flour used for making pasta in times past. During Winter and early Spring, with no foliage on the trees, buildings can be seen but come Summer they vanish. This view of the Duomo in a month or so will be no more, just green foliage and tree trunks!
Daily Sketch No.7 Olive Trees in the Garden – Just down the road from us (35kms) is Lucca, a stunning walled city. The surrounding hills around Lucca are famous for the quality of its olive oil. We have a few young olive trees on our terraces which are famous for NOT producing any oil from the olives!, but the silvery green leaves provide some contrast on the terraces.
Daily Sketch No.8 Hills around Lucca – The hills around Lucca offer wonderful wine and olive trails where you can drive around wine groves and terraces covered in ancient olive trees. The odd cyprus tree adds some vertical interest. The landscape is vastly different to the Garfagnana region where Barga is situated.
Daily Sketch No.9 The Fornacetta, Barga, Tuscany –
Daily Sketch No.10 Watermill near Barga, Tuscany – There are several old watermills dotted around the Barga area. This one is on the road to Sommocolonia. I liked the various outbuildings scattered around the main house.
More images from Richard Clare can be seen here
Wonderful idea. Few artists have studied the colors and shapes that define Barga more closely than Richard.