Here’s the second half of my post about making one of my small paintings.  You can read the first part here. 12.39 I paint in the background, which is white,  although it appears a violet grey blue in this light.  I try to paint it  a bit darker than it appears to leave ‘room’ for [...]

I’m really pleased to be taking part in this year’s Royal Institute of Oil Painters annual exhibition.  The exhibition runs from Wednesday 7th to  Sunday 18th December 2011 at the Mall Galleries, London.  I will be exhibiting the following painting: Red and Blue Bowls with Cherries 9×6″  Oil on panel ‘The ROI is the  only [...]

I thought it might be interesting to show you what goes into making one of my small paintings. Firstly – why do I paint so many of these small alla prima studies? For one thing, I think I get a bit greedy and impatient – I see something and want to paint it, then I [...]

I’m  excited to have had three paintings accepted for this year’s Cork Street Open exhibition.  Its the first time I’ve entered this exhibition which is held across two art galleries  in Mayfair.   As I was dropping off my paintings I glimpsed some of the other entries – there were some really amazing looking pieces which [...]

Huxley Clothing ‘s founder Benjamin Benton talks about why he chose my painting for the Huxley purchase prize: http://www.huxleyclothing.co.uk/blog/the-huxley-purchase-prize-at-the-discerning-eye/

When I was a child I was always thrilled to open a box of crayons or  water colours and look at the spectrum of pigments laid out in pristine rows. Even the names of the colours seemed magical – scarlet lake, crimson, viridian, ultramarine.  I am sure that this is something I share with many [...]

Today is the shortest day, and I think its also the darkest I’ve seen!  Not a great day for painting. Here’s a little  seasonal still life just finished .   hope you all have a very Happy Christmas : )

Thursday evening saw the Mall galleries packed to bursting point for the Artists’ preview of the 2010 Discerning Eye exhibition.  It was so busy it was hard to see the paintings, so I will be returning at a quieter time to have a better look. Of course I did manage to find my own - always got to check they’ve been [...]

I’m excited to be taking part in this year’s Discerning Eye exhibition - I have had three pieces accepted, which is a step up from last year when I had one in the show. I really enjoyed looking round  the 2009 exhibition  – there was an abundance of great work by both established and unknown artists,  and I [...]

I found this interesting quote today in a book I’m reading.  It’s from Marcel Duchamp, taken from a letter he wrote to Hans Richter: ‘This Neo- Dada, which they call New Realism, Pop Art, Assemblage etc., is an easy way out, and lives on what Dada did.  When I discovered ready-mades I thought to discourage [...]