173 'OLD GUILDFORD'
by Edward Wilkins Waite (1854 - 1924)

This picture could be subtitled "The Invisible Fisherman". For here is a rod and line, an open
book and absolutely no sign of the man himself............
Read on and all may be explained!

Guildford, the County Town of Surrey, lies to the south-west of London and on the incredible River Wey. This idyllic spot was inspirational for the artist. It lies right in the heart of Surrey's ancient fortress town, built to protect a vulnerable gap in the high hills of the North Downs. This view is a late summer snapshot which seems to contain everything picturesque; - a church clock-tower, warm redbrick old housebacks, tall trees, and gardens which drop down to the slow moving river. There is an abundance of blooms dominated by hollyhocks and huge sun-flowers. With the pair of idling swans reflected in the slowly flowing river, it's almost too beautiful to be real, but indeed it was.

We can just make out the young girl in a large straw hat, the sole human being at the top of this sweet-smelling garden. The afternoon air is warm and the bees will be busy with their work, mezmarised by the mixture of scents which pervade the whole atmosphere - the house has its windows thrown open to absorb all these natures' delights. The occasional brightly coloured dragonfly will be hovering around the edge of the water to make the scene complete. How many of us dream to live in such a place I wonder?

But where is the fisherman? His baited rod lies resting on the wooden jetty and his week-end novel lies open beside it. Why does his punt lie abandoned? Is he behind the Hollyhocks? Is he digging for more bait behind the tree?, Has he gone in for a cup of tea? He is nowhere to be seen in the picture. But notice the girl.

She has just waved her bunch of flowers, at whom? Yes You've guessed. He is the artist, the man looking at and painting such a beautiful scene. Having left an open book and ironically his rod as bait for the gullible witness, he has set up his easel on the far bank and is blending the wonderful colours of nature on his canvas. As he paints, he sees a young girl gathering flowers from her garden. He has just waved his paintbrush at her and she returns his wave with her bunch of flowers, - establishing a link across the river. This is artistic communication at its best!

By that wave she has earned herself a place forever in this painting.

Wilkins Waite was a prolific landscape painter who lived just outside Blackheath, and later at Reigate and Dorking. Although painting mostly in oils, he was a member of the New Watercolour Society and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1878. His picture titles include "The Daisy Field", "The Pineapple Inn", "The Old Mill", "The Silent Highway" and "Autumn at the Mill" amongst many other beautiful paintings.