Chalk stream obsession!

There’s a particular quality of light on a chalk stream you don’t find anywhere else. The water runs gin-clear, and sunlight drops straight through to the gravel bed, throwing dappled patterns across ribbons of waving weed. I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to capture exactly that, working from reference photos taken while punting down the River Avon here in Salisbury.
Chalk streams are one of the rarest freshwater habitats on the planet — only around 200 exist worldwide, and the vast majority are right here in England. Rain filters slowly through the chalk downland before emerging as spring-fed water, kept clean and at a steady, cool temperature year-round. That’s what gives these rivers their clarity, their gentle constant flow, and those trailing beds of ranunculus that turn the riverbed into an underwater meadow each summer.
Punting gave me a totally different vantage point to paint from — low, slow, moving through the scene rather than looking on from the bank. Reflections shifting with every pole stroke, weed bending in the current beside me, light catching ripples in ways you’d never see from standing height. I took far more photos than usual: long views downstream, close studies of the weed beds, shots looking straight down through clear water to the chalk bed and trout below.
Chalk streams are deceptively hard to paint well — the real colour is subtle greens, ochres and soft greys, not the flat blue people expect. I’m building up thin, layered glazes in acrylic and oil to get that sense of depth and quiet movement. It’s slow work, but these rivers reward slowness.
This series is still in progress, and I’ll share finished pieces as they’re completed. If you’ve walked or punted the Avon yourself, I’d love to hear which stretch stayed with you most.