Salisbury Market

Lets start with the corner of the marketplace. If its Tuesday or Saturday there is a bustling market. And in the corner we find this almost continental cafe scene under a row of London plane trees. Originally painted in 2021, I've made some improvements in 2023, so it looks even better!

As we head across the large square we get to see more of the surrounding buildings and the bustling Tuesday market filling the space. In this view its early Spring and so the plane trees are still bare.

On the far side of the square (where the traffic is!) a row of trees in Spring leaf bring dappled light across a statue.  The figure in question is Henry Fawcett, a Liberal politician who campaigned for Women's suffrage in Victorian times.  What caught my attention though, was the top hat.  There just happens to be a hat stall in the market today!

Back into the market, we have a good browse of the many interesting stalls, and maybe buy some cheap tiny brushes to help us paint the detail in these pictures.  And after all that I think its time for coffee and cake.  There are plenty of good places for that around the city, but since we are in the market and there is a vendor with seats in the sun, where better.

To see this view, you would have to linger quite some time, unless it happens to be mid afternoon in mid December.  For this stall, glowing in the gloaming, was perhaps the last to pack away on the last market day before Christmas.

And for contrast, here is a stall selling plants and flowers in the summer months. There is a lot more I could paint of the market, but I think you get the picture, so time to move on.

And here is one showing one of the international stalls that can be found around the Saturday market. This one specialises in French food (hence the title).

And should you come on the first Sunday of the month during the summer, you get a very different market.  This is the day of the art market, and this painting is based on July 2022, when I was sharing a stall with other members of the Salisbury Group of Artists.  I met a lot of interesting people, including a lady who lives in the turret in the background.  With a heavy shower brewing in the background highlighting the dome, I need no more inspiration for this composition!

Of course once the market has packed away there is a vast empty square.  The stone slabs are quite polished by wear and tear, so come the evening, the lights of the hostelries that line one side reflect off the shiny stone.