Painting where you live
I have travelled to paint. I have chased dramatic coastlines and mountain vistas. But some of my most meaningful work happens five minutes from my front door, at Carshalton Ponds, where familiar becomes extraordinary through sustained attention.
Inspired by Carshalton was painted en plein air on a bright summer morning. I arrived early, before dog walkers and families, when the light was still soft and the water perfectly still. I set up beneath the trees, looking through dappled leaves toward All Saints Church spire rising beyond the ponds.
The sensory experience of place
What makes painting on location different from working in a studio is the full sensory immersion. At Carshalton Ponds that morning, I was painting not just what I saw but what I heard and felt.
The rustle of leaves above me. The occasional splash of a moorhen diving. The way sunlight warmed my shoulders while my feet stayed cool in the shade. The scent of water and green growing things. The distant murmur of the high street waking up.
All of that finds its way into the painting — not literally, but through the energy and attention I bring to each brushstroke. Plein air painting is not just about accuracy. It is about presence.
Why hometown landscapes matter
There is a particular intimacy in painting places you know deeply. I have walked around Carshalton Ponds hundreds of times. I know how the light changes with the seasons, where the best reflections appear, which trees frame the church spire most beautifully.
That familiarity does not breed contempt — it breeds deeper seeing. When you paint your hometown, you are not documenting a tourist attraction. You are honouring lived experience. You are saying: this place matters. This light is beautiful. This moment deserves to be remembered.
Creative connection to community
Painting Carshalton has connected me to my community in unexpected ways. People stop to watch, to chat, to share their own memories of the ponds. Local history enthusiasts tell me stories about All Saints Church. Dog walkers pause to see the painting take shape.
Art becomes a bridge. A way of belonging. A conversation starter that says: I am here, paying attention, and I think this place is worth celebrating.
Inspiration begins outside your door
The lesson of Inspired by Carshalton is simple: you do not need exotic locations to make meaningful art. You need attention. You need time. You need the willingness to see familiar places with fresh eyes.
Carshalton Ponds will always be there. But that particular morning light, that exact quality of stillness, that specific arrangement of leaves and water and sky — that was a fleeting gift. And by showing up with my watercolours, I got to hold it for a while.
Explore the painting
You can view Inspired by Carshalton in my South London Collection. It is an invitation to pause, to notice, and to remember that inspiration often begins just outside your door.
Next time you walk past Carshalton Ponds, take a moment. Really look. You might be surprised what you see.
— Simon Robin Stephens, watercolour artist based in Carshalton, Surrey