Orb and Sceptre
May 2023 and King Charles III is to be crowned. The Driftwood Gallery at Photovogue in Frinton on Sea is hosting a Coronation art exhibition for all local artists to show one piece of work in celebration of the event. The work must be loosely on the theme of the coronation which may relate to any part of the life of King Charles. Although not my idea initially, I found myself organising this event. As the time drew closer, I became aware that the entries were going to be very loosely related to the event itself and became concerned thatRead More »
Don Quixote
Why does an artist suddenly produce such a painting…and well you might ask. Well, Don Quixote was originally a painting of a donkey – I played on the word for fun. I was preparing for an exhibition and was to submit some work in frames and some in mounts only. I decided to submit the donkey as a mount only, and sent off my entry form with that information. Being rather busy with a few exhibitions to put together at the time, I inadvertently had the donkey framed. Oh dear! I could have contacted the organisers, but felt they hadRead More »
Aggie
My friend’s daughter just loves Highland cows and asked if I could paint one. Well you don’t know what you can do until you try, do you? I thoroughly enjoyed researching Highland cows to find an image I could use as a stimulus for a painting of one one of those lovely bovine creatures. With artistic licence, I put my own spin on the colour of the beast and created Aggie. 28cm x 38cm unframed Framed in white wood with complimentary double mount of cream/orange
Mischa – Commission NFS (FRAMED PRINT AVAILABLE)
I had been researching and exploring using watercolour in a loose style. Having successfully produced a rather nice image of a cow – see Cate – I thought I’d explore putting paint down like like this again. Never happy to sit in comfort, I decided to make things really difficult and try painting a white animal on a white background. I know… you’d have thought I’d have learned my lesson trying to paint snowdrops on white paper earlier that year. Anyway, I’d been intending to paint my cousin’s very pretty, white, fluffy fur baby for a number of months andRead More »
Flight of the Stenograph
In 1592 John Willis, both a Stenographer and Mnemonic graduated with a BA from Christ’s College, Cambridge. In 1602 John Willis developed a system of shorthand published in ‘The Art of Stenographie’. This was the first usable scheme of modern shorthand founded on a strictly alphabetical basis. There were earlier systems invented, but they were completely impractical whereas Willis’ method was published many times and improved upon by others. In 1606 The Revd John Willis was appointed Rector of Little Bentley in Essex, a village not far from where I live. I was preparing for an art exhibition to beRead More »
Flock Coat
This pretty snow scene was filed away as a ‘practice piece’ for a while as it was created at a watercolour workshop I attended and I wasn’t completely satisfied with the finished product at the time. When I came across her a number of months later, whilst searching for another piece, I couldn’t for the life of me think why she’d been shut away from the world. I hastily took a frame and dressed her ready to exhibit. I’m so happy I avoided a near disaster in keeping her from the public eye. Proudly introducing ‘Flock Coat’!
Cate
I take regular painting lessons to keep my skills honed in. There’s always something new to learn, however small it might be. I visit Watershed Studio in St Osyth’s for annual workshops in acrylics and oils with various tutors and I attend twice weekly watercolour sessions locally. Watercolour as a medium is by far the most difficult for me, but I persevere in training because it is so informative about art in general. Cate emerged at a lesson I attended to explore a looser method of putting down watercolour. I was so excited to see the finished product that IRead More »
Frinton View
Living in such a beautiful place as I do, it would be criminal not to paint the views that I am surrounded by on a day to day basis. In the warmer months, visitors come in abundance to enjoy the peace and quiet, and laid back way of life in this little spot on the East coast of England. There are lots of opportunities to soak up the scenery, but a favourite is to take in the sea view from high above the beach on the famous Frinton greensward. The greensward is an unspoiled area of grass where the simpleRead More »
Secret Garden
As with so many of my paintings, this little beauty started life at a workshop I attended with the intention of developing new skills. The workshop was focusing on how to handle heavy bodied acrylics which I had explored but wanted to hear how the experts worked. Sylvia Paul was leading the two day event and was very inspiring. We were to choose our own stimulus of a garden but, not being a gardener, I did not have an abundance of reference images. The night before the workshop, desperate for inspiration, I grabbed a book my partner had on hisRead More »
Walton Backwaters
This is a view that locals will know very well. Some describe the area as the saltings but to most it’s simply the backwaters. A tidal area, the landscape changes twice a day revealing different scenes depending on the depth of the water. Sometimes the little rivulets allow yachts to sail inland and sometimes the mud flats trap them leaving them high and dry until the next flow of water. A haven for wild life, birds nest and feed while grey seals swim and bask. Like most places in the UK, Walton on the Naze is seeing a rise inRead More »
Royal Residence
The year 2022 will go down in the annals of time as a year both of great joy and deep sadness. Queen Elizabeth II acceded the throne on 6 February 1952. Celebrations for her Platinum Jubilee were delayed until June to take advantage of the summer weather. The country rejoiced in the royal pageantry. Three months later the nation was to see all the pomp and ceremony of a state funeral. As the nation mourned Queen Elizabeth II, they welcome King Charles III. This was a very royal year. In memory of our Queen, I felt inspired to create aRead More »
A Bit of Weeding
This painting originated with the main focus being on the house. It was an exercise at a watercolour workshop I attended. I was not enamoured with the final outcome, and was about to discard it when a thought occurred to me. It needed some action, some movement. I’m never happy with my work if it looks static. This painting was already very busy and didn’t lend itself easily to being adjusted which is why it nearly found itself in little pieces in the bin. I remembered an oil painting I had done called ‘Mermaid’ which had a figure hidden inRead More »
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