A place palette laid out on the shingle at Chesil Beach at sunset

Frances kneeling at the tide line at Lulworth Cove, working on a long painting laid on the beach

working with rather than working in a landscape

Photograph — Richard Gregory

a space where anything can land without prejudice or judgement

Photograph — Richard Gregory

Place palettes

if these palettes could speak, they would say: we were here and this is what we noticed

infused with geology, traces of weather, circumstance and chance

weather is neither good nor bad — it simply is

Photograph — Tom Hanmer

observing topography and the particular

Photograph — Richard Gregory

linear time relaxes, it ebbs and flows with the tides

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Calendar

Until 31 Dec 2026 Royal Watercolour Society RWS Gallery, Whitcomb Street, London Join us at the RWS Gallery to celebrate the opening of our new display of paintings. This new showcase brings together both Members of the Royal Watercolour Society and a number of invited artists, all united by an exploration of water-based media. To toast the opening of this refreshed display, you are warmly invited on Thursday 24th September, 6–8pm.

Work available to view at

The practice

‘There is magic underfoot’

Work is made on the ground. Rucksack essentials consist of a surface to paint on, a couple of brushes, primary colours, a tube of white and a binding medium.

‘Hanging around’ in the landscape with no outcome in mind is an intentional stance. Something always occurs: the light changes, the tide turns, a particular rock formation crops up, an atmosphere shifts. Then, the work begins.

More about the artist & practice

Frances Hatch sitting on the floor of her studio beside a work in progress. — In the studio — photograph, Tom Hanmer

Studio Newsletter

I like to keep in touch via a personal Studio Newsletter a few times a year. I offer reflections about my practice as well as information about exhibitions, events and workshops — you’ll be the first to hear.

Elsewhere