There is an occupational hazard and a feature of sketching and painting by the sea which cannot be ignored - seagulls! In later years, Holland generally worked outside wearing a floppy hat against sun and other things, so was spared some of the more unfortunate accidents that can happen. However he did find that seagulls tended to pose rather. In this painting of Cancale harbour, the seagull in the centre would apparently not move until he had been painted.
[Cancale, Brittany, 1986, oil on board, signed, framed, exhibited at the Art Connoisseur Gallery, London 1997, available to purchase.]
This earlier lino cut of a seagull was derived from sketches done in England, France and Holland. The clever part of this particular lino cut is that it was designed to be printed on dark paper, so only the green, white and yellow blocks were made. This was used as a Christmas card in the 1960s.
[Seagull with fish, 3 colour lino cut on black sugar paper, undated, unsigned.]
The final gull picture has something of a history attached. When he finally took retirement in about 1980, Holland started an art class for friends in the Tunbridge Wells area. When the weather was favourable, the group would visit gardens and set up their easels. On a couple of occasions they went off to southern France, where some members had properties. During the winter, finding subjects was less easy however. People could be persuaded occasionally to sit for their portraits, although not always flattered by the results. Sometimes class members worked from photographs.
Frequently Holland would resort to setting up still life groups as subjects, and anything was suitable for this - dolls, musical instruments, flowers, fruit, bottles, drapery. Occasionally supper would be commandeered for the purpose - game in feather or fur, fish, on one occasion a very large Savoy cabbage. One week a friend produced something that could only be described as road kill that he had found in his garden, thinking it would make a good subject for the class. Sadly he produced the item on a Thursday, and that week there was no Friday class, only a Wednesday group, for which it was too late. My mother refused to have it in the house for long, so Holland painted a loving portrait of the bird, and then with his friend, buried it away from the ravages of foxes and dogs. The art class missed out on a memorable subject.
[Herring Gull, 1987, oil on board, signed, framed, exhibited at the Art Connoiseur Gallery, London 1997, available for purchase]