I never know what l am going to confront when l am out on my bike in Bath. Coming up Great Pulteney Street this morning (Wednesday, March 16th) l found a man with an easel standing in the empty basin of the Laura Place fountain.
Turns out he’s Stephen Bower – a Sheffield-born artist who now lives in my old Devon home of Totnes.
Stephen told me he happens to like architecture and someone suggested Georgian Bath might suit.
Getting himself the exact angle on Pulteney Bridge that he wanted involved stepping over into the much loved – but sadly neglected – basin of the fountain they call the Ash Tray.
On his website – www.stephen-bower-art.co.uk/about/ – he says:
“The bottom line is that I’ve always loved colour, whether it be badly tuned video screens, flower gardens or atmospheric effects like sunsets.
My recent paintings are of Totnes, Devon where I now live; often painting very early morning frosts, sunrises and the like.
I always stand to paint, often just at the side of the road and I suppose that makes me one of the ‘old school’ open air artists.
Recently the gas mains in Totnes High Street have been replaced, I painted this event.
My paintings are usually acrylics for practical reasons; they dry much quicker, I also use MDF boards as they don’t warp or twist.”
