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 [...]

Last weekend I went to see my friend Iain Herdman’s studio over in Woolwich as Second Floor Studios where he is based were having Open Days. I hadn’t seen any of his new work and it was fascinating how the change of locale has brought in a difference in colour and subject matter. His new [...]

I went onto heathland around the edge of the ‘Little Sea’ one bright morning last week. A small holly was shining as if it’s lights were on. I decided to return the next morning with an MDF panel and acrylics. It struck me that I wanted to work with its vibrant abundance. On that second quiet morning I doubted [...]

I used my projector as a light box and traced the photo. Is this cheating?

As my residency progressed, I began to get more and more interested in drawing in ink. I haven’t used ink all that much in the past; in fact most of my work has always been about colour, so it was great to have a chance to really explore this medium. I liked the slightly nerve-wracking [...]

I am about to go off on a rather self indulgent rant and I am not sure how much sense it will make to anyone but here I go… I’ve always used my own body for most of the nudes I paint, this started for purely practical reasons…..but I never dared to paint a self [...]

What with summer holidays, portrait commissions and now half-term it has been difficult in the last few months to find time to work on the still lifes. What I have been doing however is storing up ideas and making studies. I find doing studies is invaluable for experimenting with colour and fine-tuning the composition. Here [...]

A couple of miles down the road from our house is Biddulph Grange Garden, a National Trust property I’ve visited many times since I was a child. It’s proved to be the perfect place to take an unsettled babe, so inspiring and exciting in equal measures.. He falls asleep, I get to wander and dream. [...]

A visitor shrew slips out from a crack in the floor a busy snout I reckon he has been feeding on the dead flies whose body parts and wings litter the floor since my last visit. He runs up my drawing board and over the back proccupied  and unafraid

I sometimes cheat by just tacking canvas to a large board. This way I can stretch and prime the ground of paintings but I don’t have to nail my self down to a particular size. It then doesn’t matter if the image strays off into its own tangent. The two small Power House paintings happened [...]