Broadway Arts Festival 2021

I am pleased to announce my oil painting, ‘After the Rain’, has been selected for the Broadway Arts Festival 2021. This piece depicts an area on Cannock Chase that I discovered on a walk just before the last lockdown. The forest was quiet and the mist made the landscape look very atmospheric. For me, surrounding myself with nature has been a great way of staying calm and focused during a period of unrest.

My work featured in the Broadway Arts Festival last year but this time it will appear in the real world rather than online. I’m looking forward to exhibiting again and meeting the other artists. The show runs from the 4th to the 13th June.

Wandering

I took some time off over Christmas and didn’t make any art near the end of December. After a break I always like to start back with some drawing and have recently created a new piece entitled ‘Wandering’ in pencils.
This drawing is another in a series of work based on Cannock Chase but what attracted me to this scene was the snow that had covered the ground. It made a familiar view look quite different and it was interesting exploring the area from another angle.

Escaping into nature is my way of relaxing and I always feel much better after a walk in the forest. In recent times this has been a welcome retreat away from the drama of the news. I like to just walk about without a destination in mind.

It is important to me to represent nature truthfully without turning the scene into a decorative exercise. I wanted to capture the cold weather and rugged look of the winter landscape.

Society of Graphic Fine Art Open Exhibition - Draw 19

I am really pleased to announce that I have been selected to exhibit in the Open Exhibition for the Society of Graphic Fine Art, Draw 19. I created a drawing specifically for this exhibition and took inspiration from a unplanned photoshoot that I did earlier this year on Cannock Chase. My selected drawing, ‘Waiting’, is based on a similar area to my watercolour, ‘Frozen Earth’ and captures a very quiet and frosty scene in the forest. I’m looking forward to seeing the show in London and meeting the other artists.

XA II

I have just completed another painting in the new woodland series which is titled 'XA 2'.  This is the companion piece to the previous piece although it exists in it's own right.  This work looks at the relationship between people and nature and how we leave traces of ourselves behind.  Often in nature it is easy to forget that changes are happening but the markings on the tree give evidence of a recent event.

I feel like my new woodland series is amongst my strongest work and look forward to producing a few more.  I'm also working on an ink drawing on the theme.

XA

I have just completed another painting which is part of the new woodland collection.  This series differs from the previous work in that it looks at the interaction between people and nature.  The new painting, 'XA', shows a scene with a spray painted tree indicating a recent interaction. I recently visited a beach in Northumberland where a similar interaction had taken place.  

As with my other work this piece also looks at silence and stillness - there is something beyond words that is felt and not spoken and the painting is my way of expressing that.

Woodland

The Woodland exhibition is now on at Reuben Colley Fine Art gallery in Birmingham.  It features my drawings and paintings of Cannock Chase.  I am very happy with how the show looks and am delighted that a few pieces have sold quite quickly - the response has been very positive.  This work has been a pleasure to make and it taps into my love of nature and connection to the forest which i have visited all my life.

The exhibition also features work by Reuben Colley who has produced drawings and paintings of Sutton Park and a few pieces by Mark Godwin and Mircea Teleaga.

I am currently working on a commission off the back of the exhibition as well as finishing off a painting of a Birmingham pub.

I'm planning on a trip to Scotland later this year to gain inspiration for a new body of work.  Possibly mountains......

Paintings and teaching

I have a painting and two drawings included in the Brampton Museum Open Art exhibition at Newcastle Staffordshire.  It's a very mixed show and the gallery is nice.  One of my students from my art class, Emily Bradshaw, also had one of her paintings accepted which is well deserved.

I am currently working on my painting of the New Navigation Inn, a derelict pub near the canals of Birmingham.  This piece is interesting because it is full of contrasting elements.  Strong colour next to dark shadows, textured areas next to flat blocks of paint, detailed areas near open space and so on.   I will be following this up with another, quite unusual painting which is based on a striking photo that i took in Birmingham near the canals.

I am currently doing slightly less teaching over the Easter period but will be back with my college courses as well as my own regular class at Gainsborough Artworks soon.  The Gainsborough class is getting quite full but there are spaces on my college courses should you wish to join.  See my art classes page for details.

I am getting excited about the forthcoming "Woodland" exhibition at Reuben Colley Fine Art gallery in Birmingham.  This show features my Cannock Chase drawings and paintings and will be one of my largest and strongest exhibitions to date.  This work has a lot of depth and meaning to me but also will resonate with anyone who appreciates nature.