Clare, a small town in East Anglia, England, was our base for one week as we toured the low country. That holiday was one of our best and I hope that joy shows in the painting.

Years ago Ontario sponsored visits by journalists from Britain to the wonders of this province. Through that programme we became acquainted with a woman who has become a friend. She now lives near Cambridge in the small village of Elton, so that is why I visited Elton and had a chance to see this view.

Marilyn and I spent a romantic week in a rental cottage in Clare, Suffolk. Among the many distinctive features in this area are pink painted houses, some with thatched roofs. As with all of England, gardens embroider the edges of these houses. Although this scene was inspired by a river walk in this small town, I moved one of the prettier houses to a position next to the bridge to replace the plainer dwelling that overlooked this storybook setting. Added as well is the Victorian style boathouse from the small lake that surrounds Scotney Castle in Kent.

During my time at the Ontario College of Art, I met an architecture student who made architecture seem most attractive. From that time on, I have had a fondness for structure, from cathedrals to bridges, from walls to fountains. Materials used, as well as forms, relate so strongly to site. All areas demonstrate the rule of climate, soil, location and influence. This painting of a small town square in Lavenham, Suffolk displays the craft of the builder through stone/brick construction, as well as timber/parge approach in the yellow building that is almost 500 years old.

This difficult-to-paint view from the top of a hill in a small town in East Anglia in Suffolk, looks out over a sea of grain. Many, many years ago, this flat land may well have been covered with water. While living in a town like this, a person gets to enjoy wonderful jigsaw puzzle views and to improve cardiac function from the climbs up steep hills past rows of slightly wonky houses, some of which are five hundred years old.

This is a part of a small town in East Anglia called Bildeston. As you can see, it is a pretty town, a quiet town, especially on a Sunday afternoon. Although the town is attractive, we spent way more time in this place than we wanted because I very cleverly locked the keys in the car when we had stopped for lunch. I blush to say that this is not the only acquaintance that I have had with the road service industry in Britain, but on this occasion a large truck appeared from my plea, with an entire car-fixing set-up inside.

These trees stood up like beacons along a country road through the plains of Suffolk. This is Constable country. In this bit of England, covered by the North Sea millennia ago, every feature stands out against the sky.