Last night I dared to venture out of my London manor to The Inaugural Exhibition of ‘The Plein Air Brotherhood’ at The A & K Wilson Gallery in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. ‘The Plein Air Brotherhood’ are A new group of talented artists and like minded souls who enjoy the considerable challenges of painting in the greatRead more…
I have over the years painted my neighborhood, The London Borough of Hackney. Hackney could well be the most famous borough in the country and despite its often insalubrious reputation there is still something of the ‘Exciting reckless friend’ about it. Even big international brands have recognised the ‘outsider’ reputation and attempted to buy intoRead more…
More good news. Creative finder have also decided to make me a featured artist in their newsletter and on their home page too. It’s a really great site to be on and offers excellent opportunities for commissioning work and for other curative’s to see and appreciate the work of their peers. [contentblock id=1]
I recently visited the French Pyrenees for a painting trip. It’s a wonderful place, and along with the paintings I took some time to write a small journal for this blog. Thanks for reading. Our landing at Lourdes Of course the most famous thing about this modest Pyrenees town, the thing that absolutely everyoneRead more…
Luz-St-Sauveur See part 1 I was very glad to get to Luz-St-Sauveur. The day was hot and the car was dry. Luz-St-Sauveur is a lovely pre medieval village sitting at the bottom of a valley on the lip of the Pyrenees National Park and all the views you can eat and mountains all around. AsRead more…
I am pleased to say that Winsor & Newton have paid me the honour of being their featured artist on their July 2011 Newsletter. I have never won a beauty parade before (not even on Monopoly) and am blushing as I type. I have heard there are 1,000’s of artist on the database too whichRead more…
June 7th -15th August 2011 I am happy to say my painting ‘Lazy Afternoon’ was selected for this year’s Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition. This year being the third year in a row. When I was first selected I was surprised to discover that on the Varnishing day you are not immediately allowedRead more…
This painting is availabe as a limited edition print I have just finished an oil painting of Brick Lane Market. Well technically it is Sclater Street although most people will know it as part of the Brick Lane market. It’s just tucked around the corner a wee bit. Blink and you’ll miss it. It isRead more…
This kind of painting is not really my sort of thing (it has a sky in it). Though as it was sunny and I was ‘between paintings’ so to speak I decided to pop over to the village of Cookham in Berkshire to do some traditional outdoor (plein-air) work. I got to Cookham at aboutRead more…
First thoughts on Havana This painting is available as a limited edition print Imagine taking the wonderful, captivating, exciting architecture of Fortnum and masons’ in London’s Mayfair, emptying it out, then leaving it to rot for 30 years and finally moving a pound shop in. That’s what almost the whole of Havana is like. IRead more…
Well technically it is Sclater Street although most people will know it a part of Brick Lane market. Brick Lane Click on the image to see it larger Like any area in transition there are quite distinctive parts. On the south side can be found the Bengali community who replaced the Jewish community, and inRead more…
At the weekend I went to Southend-on-Sea and Clacton-on-Sea to paint something for the Threadneedle Prize. I was most excited and planned it for weeks. This over planning was the beginning of the as yet unseen problem. In my ferment I had it all done it in my head first before checking the places out.Read more…
In a previous blog or two i went through the process of how i build a painting up from the drawing stage. Since that time i have painted the picture and it sits below. You may notice there are a few changes since the initial drawing. I have taken out the landscape at the backRead more…
It all started with that latrine, you know the one, originally cast to be just another receptacle in the privies of Paris. Then in 1917 it was re-cast by Duchamp to take centre stage in a revolution. He signed it, interestingly not with own his name, and boldly declared that anything can be art. ThisRead more…
I though I would blog the process I use in developing an oil painting. Initially it begins with a very simple idea or message. This is often very loose and oddly for a painter who paints a lot of architecture the characters can come first. These are often based on people who I have metRead more…
In between Christmas and New Year I took a freezing trip south of the river (always scary for a North Londoner) to the Dulwich Picture Gallery (DPG) to see the Norman Rockwell exhibition. Although the DPG is tricky to get to and no doubt suffers as a consequence, it is an ideal space to showRead more…
We went to Bath over the new year and I took time out to get wrapped up and get a few sketches together as a spot of pre planning for the Bath Art Prize in the summer. I am not sure which one i shall do yet. I think I will go back in the spring toRead more…
At the LLEWELLYN ALEXANDER (Fine Paintings) LTD London I have a water colour exhibition at the Llewellyn Alexander in Waterloo. All six are scenes of London. Do pop along if you have the time. Chase away the January blues! “Familiar and unusual scenes of London by this group of nine well-established artists: Dianne Branscombe, RoyRead more…
An inspirational Christmas collection of paintings, sculptures, original prints, ceramics, glass, textiles, craft and exclusive jewellery will be on show in the gallery. I will be showing three paintings at the show (see two below) and the opening times are: Byard Art, Cambridge Monday – Saturday 9.30am – 5.30pm & Sunday 11am – 4pm ClosedRead more…
When I plan my paintings of the gardens, allotments and such I often do small studies for reference. Secondly i have begun to collect those dreadful discarded ornaments that are found in charity shops. I suspect these are just picked up in house clearances and handed to the shops en masse. They all have aRead more…
William Cashmore recalls his family’s annual trip to the Lincolnshire coast The end of an era this year for the Cashmore family. My mother sold her holiday house in Sutton on Sea, a small, unassuming seaside place (not resort) in Lincolnshire. From 1956 onwards we went there every year. Many of my contemporaries had theirRead more…
This painting is available to buy as a limited edition print This is the Whitechapel Road in East London. I have painted this scene a number of times and i am still drawn to it. A street like this will at first site appear static, unchanging. Though on closer observation you notice it is inRead more…
I have recently been commissioned to paint a scene in Sutton-On-Sea. The client’s mother used to own a house in the town though she is now too elderly to visit so he thought a painting which would recall many a happy holiday would make a nice present for her. I had never heard of Sutton-On-SeaRead more…
Really pleased that the Royal Academy has again accepted one of my paintings for The Summer Exhibition. And I am happy to say it has sold before the opening. This allotment by the sea may seem fantasy though the site is not entirely fictitious. It is based on my mum’s allotment in Portsmouth which is locatedRead more…
I managed to do a few paintings on a short art break to Wales, staying in a tiny village at the foot of Mount Snowdon, Betws Garmon. An idyllic place. Of course you had a view of the perfect mountain range from the front door step, in addition, however, you are also provided with a clearRead more…
Latest news. I have an exhibition entitled London Scene, A Capital Exhibition at the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery in waterloo. Exhibiting both watercolour and oil paintings. From the 11 January – 10 February 2010. Gallery Open 10am to 7:30pm Monday to Saturday: 124 -126 The Cut, Waterloo, London SE1 8LN UK (Opposite the Old Vic Theatre)Read more…
See the article here Taking a photograph in a public place has become the quickest way to attract police attention, as increasing numbers of photographers can verify. But now it has emerged that anti-terrorism officers are uneasy about a far less sophisticated piece of surveillance technology: the watercolour brush and canvas. Liam O’Farrell, an artistRead more…
I was stopped and searched twice near London City airport – for watercolouring! I was not even facing the airport. I was painting the Tate and Lyle sugar factory opposite. They said they saw me on a camera and thought that “no one would want to paint a factory”. I explained that LS Lowry didRead more…
am currently working on an oil painting and the preparatory drawing is above. The painting is based on an event at my mum’s allotment. As the growing season nears its end the members organise an “Allotment show”. Quite a jovial affair. They pitch a large marquee, have a jumble sale and sell cake. At leastRead more…
All good news that three of my six paintings have sold on the first day of the exhibition at the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery in waterloo. One of which is featured above. It is of the bridges above Bourough Market. When i was painting it every second person kept telling me “That pub was in BridgetRead more…
Latest news I have an eight man show at the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery in waterloo. Exhibiting both watercolour and oil paintings. It starts on the 8 – 28 November 2009. Private view on Wednesday 4th 2009. Gallery Open 10am to 7:30pm Monday to Saturday: 124 -126 The Cut, Waterloo, London SE1 8LN UK (Opposite theRead more…
To say that a work of art is good but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind of food that it is very good but that most people can’t eat it. Leo Tolstoy
I have recently finished another oil painting. ‘The Garden’. Oddly, all the plants are poisonous. You will find Hemlock (little sprigs of white flowers bottom left) among them. Socrates was forced to take Hemlock for upsetting his fellow Greeks. The daddy of them all however would be the Castor plant (the red one mid right).Read more…
I attended a debate at the Mall Galleries Threadneedle Prize this evening. Where is British art heading? Are the YBAs really dead? Who or what is going to replace them? Attending were leading Brit artist Bob and Roberta Smith, writer and broadcaster Brian Sewell and realist painter and Threadneedle selector Jock McFadyen for a livelyRead more…
This painting is available as a limited edition print After much aggravation in the initial drawing stage I have finally completed the painting of Columbia Road Market. It was a challenge to do and took much longer than I first anticipated. I just kept adding figures. The last being the small girl in the front.Read more…
We had one of those notorious “staycations”. Camping in Yorkshire. The campsite was in Glaisdale, this being a tiny village in the nook of the North Yorkshire moors. I say campsite. Really it was just a small patchwork of fields huddled around a few stone built farm buildings. It is ruled by well meaning octogenarianRead more…
I am currently battling away with a painting of Columbia road flower market. I say battling because when the market is open it is utter mayhem. A virtual 80’s trading floor at the summit of a black Wednesday. There are great eddying tides of people heavy with boxes of plants and flowers elbowing each otherRead more…
I visited the Stanley Spencer Gallery the other week and like many artists I jammed my nose right up to the canvas to dissect the mysteries of technique and style. I noticed flecks of sky blue on the top of the leaves. It was pure blue and fairly strong as well. I stood back andRead more…
I am pleased to say that my recent work “Waiting’ successfully made it into the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition this year. (click on the image to view it larger) The opening event was an odd day. I expected to turn up at Burlington House, have a few glasses of wine with the great and theRead more…