November 2019

Exhibitions at the Campden Gallery and Fairfax Galleries

I hadn’t planned to have two shows at the same time but the unusual circumstances caused by Brexit and the first deadline i’m May led to reschedule. The result now means that both open at the same time and on the same day. The day after the new and second Brexit deadline. The impact of Brexit has meant that many galleries have noticed overt he past year a fall in sales despite good visitor numbers. I do hope my shows go well but feeling somewhat apprehensive.

Download the Catalogue for my exhibition at the Campden Gallery here

See the paintings included in this show here

October 2019

I’ve lost count of the numerous times I have visited and painted the Ashdown Forest.  It has become part of my history and the paintings I make there are a reflection of my deeply held feelings for the place. I have worn a path to a few particular locations in the forest that have continued to inspire my interests as a painter.  With each visit comes a new determination to find fresh ways of conveying my encounter with a familiar place.  There is a feeling of scale, light and beauty in this landscape and that, perhaps is the reason that keeps me going back.

Autumn, Ashdown Forest 66x71cm oil on board

September 2019

In September I traveled to Guardabosone in Norther Italy to spend the month painting the landscape around the lakes and mountains. On previous visits I had come across a beautiful medical town of Orta San Giulio and made a number of sketches and drawings. It has a lively town piazza on the edge of lake Orta, full of sunlight and colour. Deciding to paint here meant a long walk down from the car park to set up but well worth the effort. The locals were a bit unsure of me at first but as the first week progressed I was being offered complementary pizza, ice cream and beer to help keep me going. My day started at 8am and finished at 10pm when the restaurants had emptied so the sustenance was a great help. I made numerous studies and paintings there and was very reluctant to leave.

Morning in the Piazza. Orta San Giulio. Italy oil on canvas 96x102cm

July 2019

In July I visited the beautiful island of Kefalonia in Greece, staying in the North of the Island near Fiscardo. It was a time to enjoy spending time with my family, visiting lots of different places and trying to relax and experience all this stunning place had to offer. I did make numerous sketches that recorded my trip. It was such an inspirational time that and I wanted to and planned ideas to make a series of large paintings on my return.

June 2019

My plans to visit the West coast of Ireland began in 2016. I happened to mention to most visitors to my studio during Dorset Art Weeks that it was my next project. As sometimes happens the best laid plans don’t always work out. However, I never gave up on the idea and made the crossing in early June.

My initial itinerary would take me to Galway on to Connemara and then down the cost to Dingle, Kerry and Cork. A good friend of mine had for years been telling me to visit a place called Brandon. By the time I left the ferry at Rosslare I decided that this would be a good place to start, so I headed for the Dingle peninsular. 

To my delight it was the perfect, ten-mile-long beaches, surrounded by blue mountains with the Atlantic Ocean crashing in. What could go wrong? Of course, the weather went wrong. For the first few days the sea mist completely obliterated the views. I could have been anywhere. It was very frustrating but eventually and very gradually the landscape was revealed. From then on it was a case of experiencing and trying to capture the raw beauty of this place. Brandon kept me captivated for my entire stay with future plans to return in the Autumn.

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May 2019

I visit North Norfolk once or twice a year and have done since 1991. For a brief period I lived and worked there before returning to London to take up a teaching role. It was and remains a place that affects me deeply, with it’s transient light, endless space, and huge skies. On this trip I made a small series of paintings that focused on the North Sea. The weather was inclement and the infamous easterly wind was cutting and cold. Narrowing down my focus is quite a challenge with less to paint. The moody sea and brooding skies though were enough to find the variations and expression I needed.

Incoming tide. North Sea oil on board 35x35cm

April 2019

Water is an important subject in my paintings for many reasons. I had been drawing the chalk streams close to my home and wanted to take these in to painting. The Wash Ponds in Broadmayne became my focus and I started a series of works on paper. Using ink and watercolour I worked very fast and loose on two to three pieces a day. The wooden footbridge, I admit was a direct influence from Monet. It added a solid structure to the drawings that contrasted to the quality of water. I wanted also to get a feel of the movement of the stream and made a small set of paintings that studied the fluid shapes light. The work was pinned up in my studio and led me to make a large painting, which hasn’t been successful. I plan to revisit the Wash Ponds in the Autumn.

January 2019

I had the idea to make a series of drawings that followed one of the chalk streams that runs through Dorchester. Aware that I rarely make work close to home, it was an opportunity to explore a landscape so familiar to me. Numerous sketches allowed me to quickly respond to a variety of places and views before turning to larger sheets of paper and working freely with an assortment of materials. I was conscious of holding back from painting, in order to give me the chance to take more risks and push the work to what felt like a breaking point. Having spent the month in what seemed like endless dark, and colourless days there was a dramatic change as a blanket of snow settled. I quickly responded and painted before it all disappeared .

A Winters Day by the River Frome oil on board 61x81cm

Castles in the Air

Drawing and sketching has always been a vital part of my practice as an painter.  I use it to discover new places as well as finding new  possibilities for my work.  Subjects, marks and composition made in a drawing can often find there way in to my paintings.  If a drawing doesn't work it is unlikely that I will choose to set up and paint there. 

Corfe Castle in Dorset is a ruin, a result of being blown up by Parliamentarian troops loyal to Oliver Cromwell at the end of the English Civil war in 1646 .  What remains, I think is a beautiful ruin and for me more exciting having been destroyed. 

Keeping up with the Weather

It all started so bright and sunny and the painting shown was full of blues, yellow and orange. As a storm started to build out in the North sea so the painting changed.  The sky turned black and orange accompanied by thunder and lightening. I had to keep up with the changes but struggled to capture the real drama and colours that were constantly changing.