I love painting rain and I love painting markets so perhaps it was inevitable that when I found myself delivering paintings to the Menier Gallery one wet Monday that I would wind up around the corner at Borough Market taking references for a painting.
I love the colours, the business and the close interactions between people that you get at all markets but each one also has it’s own character. Being at London Bridge in the heart of the busiest part of central London has definitely shaped Borough and you will never here the common market refrain of ‘Pound a Bowl’ at Borough! Tourists enjoying the look of the beautifully laid out stalls and well heeled Londoners with specialist dinner parties to throw are much more the order of the day.
I wanted a light hatred holiday mood for the painting with lots of colour and light despite the heavy rain which I depicted by laying down small streaks of bright colours. This worked in an almost pointillist way allowing for optical mixing and keeping the image bright and providing a slightly blurred effect for the background. It was also great fun to paint.