Mid-Winter Hiatus

It's the coldest day of the year so far and I have been busy re-assessing where I am with my work. I ended up taking a very unplanned hiatus from work while I cleared out and reorganised my life. After drowning in paper and half finished ideas I can finally see the wood for the trees and my studio is back in a functioning state.

A Working Studio

Sometimes it pays to take a step back and work out what I should be doing, so with a new action plan in place I am looking forward to achieving goals for the summer.

I have neglected my Etsy Shop so this will be my main focus over the next few months. I am hoping to launch new prints and develop designs for cards, calendars and textiles. 

I have decided to take a break from the Emsworth Arts Trail this year, but for those that want to visit other artists and find out dates here is the link for the web site. www.emsworthartstrail.org.uk/

Of course that doesn't mean there's no painting happening. I have a few paintings rumbling along in the background and when I'm ready I will be re-opening my studio to the public.

Studies of Natural Objects

July 2018 Newsletter

Summer is in full swing here in the UK with glorious sunny days all week long.

I started July by taking a week off to explore Cornwall and visit some of it's most beautiful coastlines including St Ives and Falmouth. With a new sketch book at the ready I am hoping to find inspiration for new landscape paintings ready for 2019. St Ives was particularly amazing with dramatic skies blowing in off the Atlantic and the cliff tops covered in summer haze.

Falmouth Harbour

Having returned, my focus is now on a new painting for the Emsworth Artists Exhibition. I will be exhibiting Winter Storm and hopefully a new piece inspired by the Cornish coast. With the hot weather continuing for at least the next week progress has been good with drying times speeding up quite nicely.

Winter Storm, 2018

In a quiet moment I've been looking at the work of Eric Ravilious, in particular his wood engravings.
I am tempted to put the paint brushes down and start carving at some wood blocks but as I have yet to finish a certain puffin reduction linocut I have to be self disciplined and hold back. The sketch book is filling with a few ideas though so maybe once the painting is complete I shall get carving.

Wood engraving by Eric Ravilious

Making Books by London Centre for Book Arts

Finally I have treated myself to a book about books! Having dabbled in book binding in the past I thought I would combine my new found printing skills with handmade notebooks for my Etsy Shop.

Possibly there might be a wood engraving/book binding combination on the horizon.

May Newsletter 2018

Thank you to all those that made their way to my show on the Emsworth Arts Trail. Thankfully the second weekend was beautiful and sunny and made it a relaxing and enjoyable event. As well as my faithful regulars it was great to see some new faces making the trek to see some art.

Inspired by National Garden Week I have been developing new paintings by making some drawings and planning out composition. Next time you see this image there should be a bit of colour.

Finally congratulations to my daughter who successfully completed her illustrated book Paula Brown's New Suit by Sylvia Plath. Visit https://www.instagram.com/aliceillustrates_/ to see a quick flick through the pages and like it.

April 2018 Newsletter

Spring has sprung and April is hotting up, well a liitle bit, so I thought I would give an update on what I have coming up this month.

I am currently finishing off paintings for this years Emsworth Arts Trail and starting to organise how I will exhibit them in my studio. It takes me a week to lift and shift my cupboards and tools to make way for wall space and lighting, but eventually it will become an exhibition space.

Arts Trail 2017 in the sunshine

'Cloud Formations', 2018

'Cloud Formations' is a series of nine paintings recording dramatic skies that form at sunset along the coast of West Sussex and Hampshire. These will be hung along side landscapes inspired by visits to Cornwall and storms that hit the south coast this winter.

'Orchids', 2018

To celebrate the start of Spring I have been focusing on botanical art, painting a selection of flowers on to MDF. Mary Delany has been an influence in the triptych 'Orchids'  that I will be exhibited during this years Arts Trail with other studies planned.

The art of Alonsa Guevara has introduced to me the idea not only of fruit and vegetables, but also a complete change in palette. The idea of painting with bright colours is a very exciting proposition and I am looking forward to exploring new compositions over the next year.

Alonsa Guevara, Fruit Portraits Installation 2014- 2017

But I'm getting ahead of myself..... before I even think of embarking on new work I will be finishing the 30 very wet paintings ready for the Arts Trail launch on the 28th April. Over the next few weeks  I will be posting the finished results on my blog, Facebook and Instagram hopefully with some success.

'Cloud Formations', series of nine paintings, 2018