During lockdown, as part of the ‘exercise thing’, I began packing watercolours in my bike pannier and going into the countryside to paint postcard sized pictures. I really enjoyed it. In those difficult times it was a great tonic for both body and soul. I even recorded a video about (read more…)
Earlier this year I was asked to illustrate a book on flower gardening. I rather enjoy painting flowers as there are so many varieties. With this kind of work comes different challenges around colour, tone and structure. The one thing they all have in common however is delicacy. It’s a (read more…)
Win this original painting of a fishmonger and Brill in Beer, Dorset worth £120. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour study of this fishmonger and a Brill fish is 25cm x 20cm and is signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will (read more…)
I was delighted to learn that my painting ‘A bee in a country allotment’ (yes, there is a bee in there) has been selected for The New English Art Club’s (NEAC) Annual Open Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in Central London between 23 June to 2 July 2022. You can (read more…)
During the lockdowns, I decided to embark on a large project based in my home village of Pilton, Somerset. I mused over a few ideas but finally settled on the village allotment. You can buy a limited edition print of the painting here Over the years I have painted many (read more…)
The great debut of the last festival, held in 2019, was the Glastonbury-on-sea pier, designed by The Mutoid Waste Company. The festival, however, is many miles from the sea, so it looked striking and rather dream-like up high on a hill, overlooking the Somerset countryside. You can buy a limited (read more…)
Win this original painting of a Saddleback pig and owner at The Royal Bath & West Show, Somerset worth £120. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of a Saddleback pig and owner is 27cm x 18cm signed, and mounted on acid-free (read more…)
I often visit London often and to get across the city, in general, I would use the tube, although since the pandemic, I have been more inclined to walk. And really, if you have the time, it’s a far better way to travel, especially in an ancient city like London. (read more…)
Win this original painting of The St Kew Inn, St Kew, Cornwall worth £170. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of The Kew Inn is 27cm x 17cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the 12th (read more…)
I often get asked to paint book and magazine covers, but rarely whole books. When books do come along its difficult to guess what they might be, so I was much intrigued when asked to illustrate a book on cultivating mushrooms. My knowledge of mushrooms I have to say that (read more…)
Occasionally I get asked to paint client homes, and last year I was pleased to be asked to paint a family home in Warrington, Cheshire. This property is about 200 miles from my home in Somerset but, as I also had jobs booked in Liverpool and Salford at the same (read more…)
Win this original painting of Lauderdale Road from Elgin Avenue in Maida Vale, London worth £150. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of Lauderdale Road from Elgin Avenue is 28cm x 16cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out (read more…)
You can buy a limited edition print of the painting here I love a bit of history, so I was thrilled to be asked to paint the Greenwich waterfront. Interestingly, my client did not want a contemporary view but how the area looked circa 1930. I had a small (read more…)
Win this original painting of King Street, Ludlow worth £150. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of Ludlow is 19cm x 25cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the 2nd December 2021. I look forward (read more…)
Earlier this year, after visiting a client, I took the opportunity to visit Liverpool and do a spot of painting. While there, I thought I would produce a small video of my experiences. I hope you enjoy it. You can buy a limited edition print of the painting here (read more…)
Later this month I will be exhibiting my painting ‘Back to Padstow’ at the Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition at The Mall Galleries in London. You can buy a limited edition print of the painting here I am really looking forward to getting back to exhibiting again and (read more…)
Win this original painting of Port Isaac, Cornwall worth £150. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of Port Isaac in Cornwall is 29cm x 16cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the 23rd September 2021. (read more…)
You can buy a limited edition print of The Standard here You can buy this painting of The Standard here In late 2019 just before the world went mad, I took a painting trip to New York City. It was a research expedition for studio paintings. This essentially meant visiting (read more…)
In May, the lockdown eased a wee bit and I seized the first opportunity I could to get out and do a spot of painting. I wanted something within easy distance of Pilton where I live so I pulled out a map and studied my options. You can buy this (read more…)
Win this original painting of Campo Santa Margherita, Venice worth £160. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of Campo Santa Margherita is 20cm x 20cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the 15th July 2021. (read more…)
When the first lockdown hit, obviously I could not get out and about like I used to, so I had to come up with a solution that included a bit of exercise that might prevent me turning into a bit of an old hermit. My solution was to take up (read more…)
You can buy a limited edition print of the Padstow painting here I really enjoy marine painting, you get to see many aspects of life, landscape and seascape. With the town of Padstow, in Cornwall, you are treated to a cornucopia of each. My main aim for the painting trip (read more…)
Win this original painting of Greenwich Church Street, London, worth £120. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of Greenwich Church street, London is 21cm x 16cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the 18th March (read more…)
Last year a client contacted me to paint an anniversary present for his husband who he married in 2019. The wedding reception was at The Lamb Tavern in London’s covered Leadenhall Market and he wanted an interior scene of the market showing the pub exterior with him, his husband and their (read more…)
I was asked to paint a small allotment in the village of Fonthill Bishop. This modest village is about nine miles from the Wiltshire town of Warminster. It may go unnoticed but for the Fonthill Park Estate. Fonthill Park Estate In one form or another, the Fonthill Park Estate goes back (read more…)
Win this original painting of Wardour Street, London, worth £150. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of Wardour street, London is 21cm x 16cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the 21st January 2020. I (read more…)
“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” To me, this quote is the quote of 2020, we are living through a pandemic so businesses must quickly learn to adapt to the challenges of the ‘new normal’. In normal circumstances a school would hold open days (read more…)
My normal process of work is to go on-site to begin initial drawings and watercolours of the scene in front of me. These visual notes are then used as a basis for the final painting. Earlier this year I was given a rather unusual commission. My client requested a scene (read more…)
Win this original painting of Worcester Cathedral, worth £160. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of Worcester Cathedral is 17cm x 23cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the 21st December 2020. I look forward (read more…)
I first became interest in the Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, when I was about 17 or so. I think I heard a few things on the radio that piqued my interest. Thomas was essentially a poet who mused upon the everyday, the passing world. Simple day to day existence was (read more…)
Dittisham (locally pronounced Dit’sum) is in South Devon and near the mouth of the River Dart it is a fine ancient fishing port and real treat for painter and tourist alike. I have visited here previously when I lived in London. Then it was about 250 miles, which included the (read more…)
Win this original painting of The Coach and Horses pub in Barnes, worth £140. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of The Coach and Horses pub is 20cm x 15cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on (read more…)
I get asked to work all over the country but, for this commission, I did not have to go far as it was in the village of Pilton, Somerset where I live. See the final painting here The property looks as though it began as a modest farmhouse that over (read more…)
I received an email a few months back, requesting that I paint a house in West Street, Harrow on the Hill. A bit of a trip down memory lane as I used to work in Harrow on the Hill years ago, so many of the streets are familiar. I used (read more…)
Win this original painting of Five Fournier Street, in Spitalfields, London, worth £150. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of Five Fournier Street, London is 13cm x 21cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the (read more…)
Although I do go on location to paint, much of my time is spent inside the studio so it’s extremely easy to become unfit, not to mention to pile-on the pounds. Consequently, to keep fit and mobile, I like to get out and cycle a few times a week. (read more…)
Win this original painting of The Royal Exchange, worth £150. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of The Royal Exchange, London is 21cm x 18cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the 30th May 2020. (read more…)
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Lisa Grainger of The Times newspaper. Lisa explained that she was writing a feature about artists who take commissions on painting houses and requested that I contribute. I really enjoy doing house portraits, to me, they are not just straight architectural images, (read more…)
As I type, we are right in the middle of the Covid-19 lock-down and it is all feeling very strange as it must for you too. I cant see my family, I can’t go to any locations to paint as I normally do, and I can’t even go to my (read more…)
Win this original painting of Port Isaac, Cornwall, worth £120. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of Port Isaac, Cornwall is 14cm x 21cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the 17th April 2020. I (read more…)
Please share if you feel it would be of use to another Discover a new world inside. As a painter, much of my life is spent in ‘self-isolation’ anyway so its not much different for me. But for those of you getting bored or in need of some creative (read more…)
Whilst browsing the internet a short while ago and I was surprised to see my work being singled out for praise in a review by the ‘MAKING A MARK’ website. The review featured my painting of the Tate and Lyle Sugar Refinery shown at the NEAC Annual Exhibition 2019. As (read more…)
A client packed me off to Port Isaac in North Cornwall to paint the view across the harbour from Rosearrock Hill. I love Port Isaac so I was looking forward to it, marking out a day or two to get down there and complete the job. I would also paint (read more…)
Win this original painting of Thomas Hardy’s Cottage, worth £120. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of Thomas Hardy’s Cottage is 18cm x 23cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the 28th February 2020. I (read more…)
I have learnt that everywhere, no matter how small or prepossessing, has something unique about it. So, on investigation, I have discovered that Highworth is the highest town in the county of Wiltshire! I really enjoyed this commission and was keen to do a blog on the town. OK, it’s (read more…)
By kind permission, I visited the Glastonbury festival Carhenge storage area to do a bit of painting. Here is where they store the dystopian sculptures, derelict aircraft and vehicles while the festival is not running. You can buy this painting here You can buy a limited edition print of the painting here I’m (read more…)
Win this original painting of St Enodoc Church, Cornwall, worth £190. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw This watercolour preparation study of St Enodoc Church, Cornwall is 29cm x 17cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the 29th January (read more…)
I mentioned in previous newsletter that I took a painting trip to New York for a week. It was a tremendous experience, but when I got home I was very much in need of a bit or rural! To indulge myself, I took my oil painting easel down to the (read more…)
Mousehole is a small fishing village on the south coast of Cornwall which the Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, described as “the loveliest village in England”. He must have thought so as he spent his honeymoon in Mousehole. At a pub. So no surprises there. You can buy a limited edition (read more…)
Sign up to my newsletter and you will be able to enter the free draw to win this original painting of Zennor, Cornwall, worth £190. This watercolour preparation study of Zennor in Cornwall is 29cm x 13cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the (read more…)