A morning at low water on the sea wall
How a 30 cm board painted in ninety minutes becomes the start of a Tide painting (sample).
Oil paintings of the estuary, its tides and the rooms beside it
Iris Calder (sample) paints the tide line, the mudflats and the kitchen table from a studio above Harrow Quay. Originals are for sale from the studio, and commissions open twice a year.
1
2
3
4
5
1 m
On the studio wall in October (sample). Hung on a 145 cm centre line and drawn to scale.
1
Spring tide
Oil on linen, 2025
120 × 90 cm
Sold
2
White jug with garden roses
Oil on board, 2024
40 × 50 cm
$1,400
3
Low water, evening
Oil on linen, 2025
70 × 90 cm
$2,600
4
Mudflat, ochre
Oil on gessoed board, 2025
30 × 30 cm
$650
5
Blue hour, the channel
Oil on linen, 2024
75 × 50 cm
$2,100
Room sheet. A red dot means the painting has sold. Example prices, unframed.
Available paintings
Each painting is shown on the same square of wall, a metre across, so you can see its real size against the others. Prices are for the original, unframed.
Example prices. Paintings can be reserved for seven days while you decide.
Three series, one stretch of coast
Most paintings belong to a series that runs for years. Each starts outdoors and is finished in the studio.
Tide
The estuary at low water, painted from the sea wall at Harrow in the hour either side of the turn.
Since 2019, 34 paintings
Rooms
Still lifes from the kitchen table under the studio: jugs, cut flowers and the light from one north window.
Since 2021, 18 paintings
Fields
The farmland inland from the coast, after harvest and in the first frost.
Since 2022, 12 paintings
Numbers of paintings (sample).
Painted outdoors, finished in the studio
Small boards are painted on the sea wall in one sitting. The large canvases are built from them in the studio, over weeks, in thin layers.
The studio is one long room above the boatyard at 3 Harrow Quay, with a north window and space to step back from a two-metre canvas.
Ground
Linen, two coats of gesso
Paint
Oils, earth colours and Prussian blue
Outdoor boards
30 × 30 cm, gessoed birch
Commissions, drawn to size
A commission starts with the wall it will hang on. The four standard sizes below are drawn to scale; other sizes are possible.
Study
30 × 40 cm
$650
Two to three weeks
Small
50 × 60 cm
$1,400
Six weeks
Medium
80 × 100 cm
$2,900
Eight to ten weeks
Large
120 × 150 cm
$4,800
Twelve weeks
Example prices, unframed, including three colour studies. Commissions open in January and July.
How a commission works
From the first conversation to the painting on your wall in four steps.
1
Talk about the wall
Send a photo of the room, or Iris visits if you live within an hour of Springfield (sample). You agree a size and a subject.
2
Three colour studies
Small oil studies on board show three ways the painting could go. You choose one and keep it.
3
The painting
Painted in the studio over six to twelve weeks. You get photos at the halfway point.
4
Delivery and hanging
Delivered by hand within 50 miles and hung on your wall, or crated and shipped.
Open studio days
The studio is open to everyone on the first Saturday of the month. Come up the outside stairs at the boatyard; no booking needed.
3 Harrow Quay, Springfield (sample)
First floor, outside stairs. Step-free visits by arrangement.
Sat 1 Nov
Open studio
New Tide paintings on the wall
11:00–17:00
Sat 6 Dec
Winter open studio
Small studies and framed boards
11:00–19:00
Sat 3 Jan
Open studio
Commission list opens
11:00–17:00
Dates (sample).
Exhibitions
Where to see the paintings in person this season.
8–30 Nov
Harbour Light
Group show, Quay Gallery, Springfield
Six Tide paintings
14–17 Feb
Coastal Art Fair
Stand 21, Riverside Hall, Northgate
Small studies
Apr–May
Low Water
Solo show, Old Granary Gallery, Eastfield
New work
Exhibitions (sample).
Studio notes
What a red dot means, and how to reserve a painting
The red dot is a gallery habit with a simple meaning. Here is how reserving works at the studio (sample).
Choosing a size for a commission
Measure the wall, not the room: a few rules of thumb for picking a painting size (sample).