BY MARIO YACOUB
I am a semi-retired design architect and architectural illustrator and recently took up painting with watercolours. For over 30 years I have designed a great variety of projects all over the world and the closest to home is the masterplan for the New Garden Village at Longcross. As an antidote to these pressures I have completed many paintings since March.
The Thames River scene is located between Chertsey and Sheerwater from a photograph by my friend and former teacher Father Dickson.
The water lilies painting is of the Cow Pond at Windsor Great Park, a place I went on many walks over the summer.
The bottom painting is from my imagination, I was experimenting with forest scenes and using salt crystals for effect. I added the deer later after visiting Bushy Park to give it a focal point.
The cover painting of the Crouch Oak in Addlestone was inspired by a curator at Chertsey Museum who suggested some local scenes for them to sell as greeting cards.
Painting is very therapeutic and reduces stress, you don’t have to be a brilliant artist to enjoy its benefits, especially when so many of us are sat at home.
Perhaps you can pick up a pen or a brush and have a go or maybe join an art club, you might find that you have a hidden talent.