The River Cam does something strange to the light in the late afternoon. The stone buildings go gold, the water picks up every colour around it, and for a moment Cambridge looks like it hasn’t changed in three hundred years.
I painted this from a punt. Balancing on the edge, phone in one hand, trying not to fall in while the scene was doing exactly what I needed it to do.
You can’t get this view from the bank. The river is closed off from most of the surrounding streets and colleges. The only way in is from the water.
That’s the painting. A view most people never see, caught at the exact moment the light decided to show up.
Watercolour on Arches paper. 31 x 41 cm. One of a kind.
