I decided to use Bodenham Lake as a painting in its own right because of the interesting shapes that I had discovered. I was also reading a book by Kandinsky at the time; Concerning the Spiritual in Art and in one section he explained his theories about the use of colour. Therefore, I decided to apply these ideas to create a vivid, balanced coloured composition that gave the impression of depth. Tending towards yellow comes forward and blue goes back. There was also a certain natural rhythm in the various layers of woods and so I decided to exploit this.

The magical and almost realistic effect of the reflection in the water was discovered by accident. It is easy to duplicate a layer in Fresco and to flip this vertically. I then simply erased some of the layer on top to expose the reflection below. I would suggest that this effect would be unique to iPad because the erasing has to done freehand to get the right effect. 

Bodenham Lake – background information from Herefordshire Wildlife Trust

From the 1920’s Lady Close Farm was used for gravel extraction and in the 1980’s the resulting pits were linked together to produce Bodenham Lake. Up until March 2016 the site was managed and maintained by Herefordshire Council before being taken over by the Herefordshire Wildlife Trust and New Leaf Community Interest Company (CIC).

Bodenham Lake is 44.5 hectares (110 acres) of varied habitat including 22 hectares of open water, riverside meadows, community orchard and wet woodland.  Bodenham Lake is the largest area of open water in the county and one of the most valued wildlife areas in Herefordshire. It is crucial as a resting site for wintering and migratory wildfowl and breeding otter. The site has public access and a bird hide for visitors, plus a community owned orchard with veteran specimens of rare apple and pear varieties.  The lakeside meadows represent communities of species rich grassland with traditional grazing and there are areas of wet woodland and emergent vegetation.

The Lake is designated a Local Wildlife Site and is immediately adjacent to the River Lugg, which is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The Lake lies under Dinmore Hill Woodland SSSI, which forms the background of this painting.