See this painting larger by clicking here West Compton is a modest hamlet a few miles up the road and over the hill from the village of Pilton where I live. A local resident asked me to paint their home in oils. It is beautiful 18th century home with a lovely extension on the side,Read more…
Sign up to my newsletter and you can enter the free draw to win this preparatory pencil study. What is it? When I first came to live in Somerset from London I went to The Royal Bath and West Show. I never knew there were so many varieties of pig around. One of my favouriteRead more…
Sign up to my newsletter and you can enter the free draw to win this preparatory pencil study. Who are they? I had a commission in the seaside resort of Dymchurch, Kent last year. As part of the work I drew these studies of the clients family watching the younger family members playing rounders. TheRead more…
I was recently asked to do a painting of a small section of the river Cam in the University City of Cambridge. I have painted the town a few times before so I was looking forward to painting the river too. The focus of the painting was to be rowing Cambridge and Oxford are famousRead more…
A while back, I took a visit up to Northumberland for a few days painting. We booked a small cottage in the quiet and isolated fishing village of Craster, which is the home of the kipper, so the locals told me. To plan my painting trip, I decided to set up shop in the localRead more…
A while back, I spent sometime in the Cotswolds on a painting trip for an exhibition. Prior to my trip, I had only really passed through this stunning part of the UK on the way to somewhere else. It seemed such a pity not to stop. So when an exhibition came up, I jumped atRead more…
About North Curry The village of North Curry is situated on a slight rise plumb in the middle of the dead flat expanse of the Somerset levels and Curry moor. Its advantageous position, above the annual flooding, makes it an ideal spot for habitation, so it’s no surprise that there has been a settlement hereRead more…
You can buy a limited edition print of this painting here I pulled into the near empty sea front car park in Dymchurch at about 9am. It wasn’t the best of weather to say the least. The sea was in a foaming, booming rage. I peered through my flapping wipers with dismay. The gale wasRead more…
This Summer I treated myself to a quick trip to St Ives in Cornwall on the very tip of South West England. About St Ives St Ives has been there since at least the 5th Century and was named after an Irish saint. For the most part it has plied its trade through fishing thoughRead more…
Often I work a few days at a time in the studio and though the work is great I do on occasion get a bit ‘stir crazy’. When I get a bit up tight I grab my box easel and go out into the hills and valleys around Pilton where I live just to paintRead more…
Converted volkswagen dormobile camper used as an ice cream Bus As I am fortunate enough to live in Pilton where the Glastonbury Festival is held, and living here makes it easy ofr me to get out with my paints and do a spot of work in between bands, larger and hog roast. I did a fair bitRead more…
As the summer is here I thought I would busy myself in getting down to the sea side and paint a few of our traditional sea side towns. I have always loved Lyme Regis so I checked the weather and visited on one of our recent hot days. Lyme Regis is a small, ancientRead more…
As a resident of Pilton where the Glastonbury Festival is held, it is pretty easy for me to get out to draw and paint the goings on. It is a vast site and there are plenty of subjects to paint. I am now offering limited edition giclee prints of some of my paintings for thoseRead more…
Glastonbury Tor 30cm x 14cm Oil on Board Over the bank Holiday weekend I decided to take a quick trip over the back hills of Pilton to do a spot of traditional outdoor oil painting. It is not something I do on a regular basis though sometimes its just good to splash a bit of paint aboutRead more…
Victoria square is A leafy Early Victorian promenaded square of sumptuous four story town houses in stone that glows the colour of toast, commonly known as Bath Stone. In the centre of the square are very well tended gardens with not a cider bottle in site. The square was designed to resemble a quadRead more…
I arrived back from London at Castle Cary station on an October afternoon. Autumn was on its way, it was blowing a bit and none too warm; what turned out to be an excellent Summer was certainly in the past so I picked up the pace to get to the car and get aRead more…
Oil on Board 29cm x 12cm I was pretty busy last week with commissions and various other commitments, and although it always good to be busy, and its a great job you can sometimes get a wee bit full. So on occasion you need to just get out with your easel and a flask of coffee andRead more…
I have just finished Somerset Art Weeks (mentioned in a previous blog). It was my first festival and lasted two weeks at Worthy Barn, Pilton so I thought I would post a small summary. As I am a recent resident of the village of Pilton, I thought I would do mainly local workRead more…
I visited the The Royal Bath & West Show earlier in the year and was so impressed by the showing of pigs that I did a blog on the whole proceedings and this drawing of a handler skilfully tapping his pig around the arena. The drawing measures 23cm x 19cm and is mounted onRead more…
I am currently putting my work together for this year Somerset Art Weeks (SAW) an artist-led organisation and Somerset’s only countywide agency dedicated to developing the visual arts. It is running from 21st September to the 6th October. This is my first year exhibiting with SAW and I am looking forward to it.Read more…
I paid a quick visit to Porlock Weir on the North Coast of Exmoor National Park. This is a very tiny fishing village tucked beneath the high hills and bluffs of the National Park, accessed by a single and often precipitous road. As you enter the village there is a short terrace of ancient cottages built directlyRead more…
Today it was sunny, really cold but sunny. Even though I have loads of studio work to do I decided to make the best of this rarest of days and do some work outside. Grabbing my gear I took a short walk through the village and out on the hills at the back ofRead more…
Last year I was approached to paint a picture of ‘Glorious Goodwood’ in West Sussex, England. This being one of the UK’s premier rececourses. It was a large and complicated composition so I thought I would write a quick blog on my journey along the way. The first step was to get to theRead more…
After 23 years in London we have finally decided to move out to the country. We are now living in the Somerset village of Pilton, the home of the Glastonbury festival. They tell me we have free tickets for life. Now that’s not bad. It’s a fine location for a painter as it’s onlyRead more…
I have written a quick round up of this year. Some of the articles link to blogs in the site if you wish to see more detail. Exhibitions I have been involved in a few exhibitions and was lucky enough tofeature again in The Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition in London. It’s always a unique pageantRead more…
I am very pleased to hear this very dull Monday morning that my painting I entered in The Bath Prize had sold at the auction on Friday. A tricky competition to do as they choose where you paint. It is of ‘North Parade Bridge’ which would not have been my first choice by a longRead more…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…