Andrew Dibben Paintings

Kelling and Salthouse Heaths - continued Two more pictures in this series, painted in May. Salthouse Heath Birches and Gorse (top), and The Level Crossing Keeper's Cottage, Kelling Heath. There are others too! There are now 14 paintings in this series, with more to come.

The current project is a series of paintings of Kelling and Salthouse Heaths. These examples are 38 x 56cm (15"x22") picture area. Two or three of the series can be viewed at the Picturecraft Gallery, Holt, North Norfolk. The 8 pictures completed so far show the heaths as they appeared in March and early April, with gorse in full flower, and the trees still bare, but with the lovely redish hues of the birch twigs, and the golden colour of the dead bracken. It is late April now, and the birches are beginning to display a pale green haze as their leaves start to emerge.

I am sorry that there have been no updates to this site for a long time; regrettably, I have been rather unwell for the last year, with an unusual form of pneumonia that has lingered for an awful long time. However, it would seem that maybe I have finally got rid of the infection with my 7th course of antibiotics - on top of two stays in hospital! So, normal service may be resumed soon. Above is the rough for a commissioned painting of a farm near Holt, North Norfolk, which is about the only watercolour I have managed in the last 12 months...

A small painting of the Sagafjord in her original Norwegian America Line colours; in the background, the older Bergensfjord . This was painted for an Australian client. 28 x 36cm. This may be my last ship painting for some time...! Other projects beckon...

Two more big and complex commissions for a former Clyde shipyard engineer. The first shows two ships on trials off the Isle of Arran; they are British India Line's Bamora, passing Britain Shipping Co's Willesden, two fine examples of 1970s Glasgow shipbuilding on the Clyde. The second shows Shaw Savill Line's Britannic, being towed by Flying Dipper, passing Ben Line's Benstac in the background, tied up at the Barclay Curle shipyard. To the left of this yard is Connell's yard. Each painting measures 76cm wide x 45cm high.

No update to the site recently, because I have been very busy working on a commission from an Australian client. The first of the 2 paintings is this one of the classic Dutch liner WILLEM RUYS, seen at sea passing another Dutch vessel, the ORANJE. WILLEM RUYS had a very long career, being built for Royal Rotterdam Lloyd in 1947, and almost making it to the 21st century as the cruise ship ACHILLE LAURO. The ORANJE started life for Nederland Lines in 1939, and was used on the Dutch East Indies run. She too was acquired by the Naples Achille Lauro company, and was transformed into a very sleek looking ANGELINA LAURO. She had a severe fire in 1979, and sank in that year on her way to the breakers. The painting measures 56cm x 76cm The second picture in this commission is of another classic liner, this time the Italian GUGLIELMO MARCONI, a beautiful vessel built for Lloyd Triestino in 1963 for the Italy-Australia run. This picture measures 28cm x 38cm.

3 small paintings of WELLS NEXT-THE-SEA, all 14cm x 19cm: THE QUAY LOOKING WEST DOG WALKER AT THE WHELK SHEDS THE CHANNEL & THE BIG DUNE Having done a large set of these small paintings, I'm probably going to go much bigger again now! One or two commissions to do first though.