My very recent drawings

charcoal on scored paper

70cm x 50cm

These are two of my very recent drawings in which I have been experimenting with the paper surface. Those of you who came to my shows last year will be familiar with my drawing methods of scoring into the paper surface, applying charcoal and then working with the resulting marks to make the drawing. In these latest drawings I have been crumpling the paper and using the creases in the paper as an integral part of the drawing. I love working like this because of the element of risk and unpredictability involved!

Thankyou for viewing my work and I would love to hear your comments.

Wonderful lush greens!

'View from my Studio Window'

oil on board

 8" x 12"

When I went into my studio this afternoon I was immediately struck by the wonderful lush greens I saw from the window and decided I had to paint them. The sun at that point was high in the sky and shining directly onto the field so the light stayed pretty much the same for the whole time I was painting. I put a thin ground colour of yellow ochre onto the canvas first which gives the painting a warm glow. 

Castello complete!

'Castello in Spring'

oil on board

6" x 6"

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Here we are, as promised, the completed painting of 'Castello in Spring'. For some unknown reason, it has proved a difficult one to photograph. I don't know whether it was me or the camera but it took me ages to get the settings right...even set on automatic didn't work. But never say die, and after a multitude of attempts I got there in the end! By the way, our house is the one nearest to you in the foreground.

Work in progress

I wanted to show you the first stages of a painting that I started today. The subject is our house in Spain. I am painting this from an image (I don't have the original any longer) of a larger version that I did quite a while back  I've reduced the scale and changed the format from landscape to square. Since I took this photograph I have reached the final stages of the painting but the light has now faded too much for me to take another photo...! I will post one for you tomorrow...I promise! 

'Jug with lemons'

'Jug with Lemons'

oil on deep canvas

30cm x 40cm

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This painting has altered quite alot from when I first started it....for the better I hope! I changed the area at the back from dark to light, added a glass and painted out a coloured napkin. I finally brought it to a state of completion this afternoon!  The people who attend my classes will undoubtedly recognise the jug as it's a regular prop that I take in from time to time. So I thought it was about time I painted it myself! I think the painting has a summer feel which is appropriate as it seems summer has finally arrived!

'Amaryllis in Bloom'

'Amaryllis in Bloom'

oil on board

8" x 8"

SOLD

This is my beautiful Amaryllis which is in it's third year of flowering! This year I decided to paint it. The blooms are huge and I wanted to do them justice so I filled the canvas with the image in order to portray the 'hugeness'. This resulted in the scale of the flower head being slightly larger than life. I made the painting at the time of flowering and put the finishing touches to it this afternoon. 

'Paintbrush Pot and Paint'

'Paintbrush Pot and Paint'

oil on board

8" x 8"

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I made this painting this afternoon and used a limited palette of burnt sienna, cobalt blue, ultramarine, yellow ochre, titanium white and added a touch of cadmium yellow and red for the brush handles. I'm liking the muted colours that have resulted from the limited palette. I also set a time limit in order to stay 'loose' and almost made it to the finish line in time! I might re-visit the pattern on the pot as I'm not sure it's quite there yet. Over all it's been a good afternoon's work.

Chasing the shadows!

'Pin Cushion and Scissors'

oil on board

6" x 6"

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Sometime last week whilst looking for something, I came across these large dressmaking scissors and pin cushion stuck full of needles and pins. The scissors are really old fashioned ones and the pin cushion is the lid from an old sewing basket which I have owned for years. I decided they would make excellent subjects for a painting! The hazy sunlight through the window cast some gentle shadow areas which I wanted to capture. The sun seems to move round very quickly when you are trying to record shadows...however, very good for making you work quicker!

Early Morning Across the Lake

I've been working on this painting again this afternoon and although it is more or less done I might have to strengthen the shadow areas as I've lost a little of the dramatic light that prompted me to make the drawing in the first place...apart from that it is finished. I don't like working on a piece too long as it becomes harder to retain spontaneity and freshness of the paint. 

Back from London

What a weekend! My first live opera, which was just brilliant and the rest of the time idled away in galleries. It was a real treat to be able to take my time and not have the usual rush to see as much as is humanly possible in one day before charging back to meet the coach or catch the train with only a minute to spare!  

I ended up in the sculpture hall in the V&A museum (somewhere I haven't been to in a very long time) and made some drawings from the sculptures which I have posted here for you to see.   

Study of the head of Neptune from the sculpture

 'Neptune and Triton'  

by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini 1622-3 

Drawing from the sculpture

'Mother and Child'

by Alfred Turner 1936

Yesterday's painting

'Early Morning'

12" x 10"

This is the painting from yesterday which I was too late to photograph because the light had faded. It isn't quite resolved yet, but not far off. It was made from a little drawing I did last year of a stunning moment in summer looking across a lake that was bathed in early morning light. The only reference I had was the small drawing, so I had to rely on memory to re-capture the colours and re-create the moment...very tough if not impossible! The painting in reality contains more of a violet hue which my camera hasn't managed to pick up.

I won't be able to post over the weekend as I will be in London at the Opera!! It will my first time ever at a live Opera and I'm very excited!!

Fading light!

'Chinese Pot with Yellow Paintbrushes'

oil on board

6"x6"

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I was too late to photograph the painting I was working on this afternoon because there wasn't enough light to get a good photo by the time I had finished. But tomorrow is another day and another chance to photograph!  This painting of my paintbrushes and pot is one I did about two weeks ago. 

Oh! What a beautiful morning!

'Kiwi in the Sunshine'

oil on board

6"x6"

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'Oh What a Beautiful Morning' was the song that instantly came to mind when I got up this morning and looked out the window and beheld glorious sunshine! My cat has been in heaven all day,  stretched out in the sun, relaxing...as only cats know how! So to celebrate this wonderfully warm day I decided to paint some juicy, delicious, summer fruit, namely a kiwi. I had to work quickly though as it seemed to be shrivelling up before my eyes and fast losing its juiciness! The good thing about that was I didn't have time to overwork it!

Just finished!

'Teacup and Spoon'

oil on board 

6"x6"

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I thought I had finished this painting, so I went for what I thought was a well earned cup of coffee because it had taken much longer than anticipated. But then decided, when I came back to it, that it wasn't finished after all, so worked on it a bit longer and now I feel it's finally done!  So here it is!

The sun shined and all was well!

'Strawberries and Sugar'

oil on board 
6"x6"

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I've had a very enjoyable weekend chatting to people interested in my art...what artist could ask for more! It almost feels like an indulgence!  However, it's back to my ivory tower tomorrow to make more work! Hopefully, if all goes well I'll be able to post a new piece by the end of the day...or if it doesn't go to plan then you might be seeing work still in progress!  The above piece is another of my new little paintings that has been on show over the weekend. 

Good first day!

The first day of the Open Studios is now officially over as I have taken my sign in! Fortunately the weather has been kind so people have felt more like gadding about. I would like to thank all those who visited today. It was great to catch up with people that I haven't seen in ages and also to meet some new faces. 

'Bus stop Manhattan Late Afternoon'  

pastel on scored paper 

100cm x 70cm

This is another of the pieces that I have on show in my gallery/living room. It is a piece that was exhibited in the Sam Scorer Gallery in Lincoln last year.

Going through the Archives!

While I was rummaging through my archival work preparing for the Open Studios weekend I came across these pieces.  It's a good while since they've been out on show, so I thought I would give them an airing!  For those of you who haven't seen them before, they are from a series of drawings called 'Dance Series' that I made a while back. For those of you who do recognise them, I hope you enjoy looking at them again.

I love dance and looking at these drawings now, I realise how much I enjoyed making this series.

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'No.19 Dance Series' charcoal on paper 60cm x 70cm

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'No. 6 Dance Series' charcoal on paper50cm x 70cm

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'No. 14 Dance Series' charcoal on paper 20cm x 30cm

Getting organised!

Today I have been preparing for the Art on the Map open studio event that begins this weekend. As you can see my living room has now been transformed into a gallery!

I have work hanging in every place that I could find a hook or a nail. My new little paintings are in there too...they're lined up along the fireplace...paint still drying! Hopefully, the rain will hold off and we'll all have a busy weekend. Good luck to all those participating! For those who would like more information about Art on the Map click on the link below. 
http://www.artonthemap.org.uk/about/

Better late than never!

'Begonias and a Hot Cross Bun'

 oil on board

6"x6"

I'm a bit late in posting today as I've been teaching all day. I held my regular weekly class this morning. The class were collaging a self-portrait and I must say, although they began with reservations about the whole collaging thing they achieved some brilliant outcomes! And with the Life Drawing workshop this afternoon it means that there was no time today to get paint on canvas! So I decided to post 'one that I did earlier'! It's a painting that I did last week. I kept the hot cross bun all the way from Easter with the intention of painting it. Needless to say, I couldn't eat it when I'd finished the painting because, as you can imagine, it was just a little stale!! 

Post No.2!!

'Springtime in a Pot'
 oil on board
8"x8"

SOLD

Phew! I've managed another post! So I think I'm up and running now! 

I've linked the blog to the website 'Daily Paintworks' on which I am putting all my new work for sale. You'll see the link to the site on the right hand side of this page or you can link to it by clicking on 'click here to bid' under the image of the above painting .

The flowers in the painting remind me of the sunshine that we haven't seen much of lately! So I thought I would paint them to brighten up the day! Hope you like them too.