Passing Through

A red-and-green narrowboat noses along the cut past a row of thatched cottages, the steersman in a straw hat and shirtsleeves. Behind him a cricket match is under way on the green, swans and mallards work the far bank, a red pillar box stands at the towpath gate, and a kingfisher waits on a reed by the bow.

The boat and the buildings go together quickly; the grass, the water and the open sky take longer. Finished size 48 x 34cm.