Before the Rain, Eel Pie Island

Grey gathering over the river, the light gone flat and silver before the rain. A red boat at its mooring, the far bank crowded with rooftops. Eel Pie Island low and green across the water, the day holding its breath.

An original watercolour of the Thames at Twickenham, looking across from the Ham bank towards Eel Pie Island and the White Swan on the far shore, painted on Arches HP 100% cotton paper. This quiet reach runs upstream of Richmond, between the Ham House meadows and the Twickenham riverside, with the island still carrying the memory of its old music hall. Wildflowers crowd the near bank under a sky about to break.