Transports of Delight

Moving on from the Year of the Ox, Reg came up with our next theme which was that of Transport. This proved to be a wide ranging topic which started with Oxen and ended up in all sorts of paintings.

I decided I wanted to explore the subject of rickshaws and the first painting, below, was inspired by a photograph of a sleeping modern rickshaw driver. I really enjoyed painting this as a study and learnt about the mechanism of a modern rickshaw:

Sleeping through the heat - Claire Seaton 2021-02-18 — Sleeping through the heat – Claire Seaton 2021-02-18

This enabled me to use this knowledge in my second painting. This, too, was inspired by a photograph of a rickshaw rank in a street in old Beijing but I completely changed the framing of this painting to give it a more Chinese perspective rather than keeping with the perspective in the photograph. I also made sure that there were an auspicious number of rickshaws (eight) disappearing in to the distance in the painting. The Calligraphy on their red covers is an impression of Chinese Calligraphy rather than something specific:

Rush Hour in Beijing - Claire Seaton 2021-02-18 — Rush Hour in old Beijing Street – Claire Seaton 2021-02-18

There now follow a couple of wonderful paintings on an even more contemporary theme. This is what Pat has to say about her paintings:

“Coasthopper buses run along the North Norfolk Coast between Wells-next-the-Sea and Sheringham and are much loved by visitors, walkers, bird watchers and locals. They pass Cley Windmill and Norfolk Wildlife Trust Cley and Salthouse Marshes, where Blakeney CBP Group hold regular exhibitions of their work. It is delightful to look out from the Gallery, to watch these sturdy little buses, bouncing along the coast road, bringing visitors.”