Step Over (Chysauster)

Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm (03/05/17)

This is the first painting started and completed in my new studio. It was painted while the studio was "open" for Open Studios West Berkshire and North Hampshire.

It's painted from my photograph of the steps over a Cornish Hedge on the approach to Chysauster, an iron age village in Cornwall.

Market Day (Basingtoke)

"Market Day", acrylic on canvas board, 40 x 40 cm

This is one of the paintings from late last year that I never quite managed to get a decent photograph of. The light was good today and I had my camera in the studio, so I did a bit of catching up.

The subject here is Basingstoke's bustling market at the "Top of Town" - the older bit of the town centre, a little uphill from the roofed-in modern shopping precincts. The large white building was once the town hall and is now the Willis Museum (run by the Hampshire Cultural Trust for the town).

This image was based on one of my pages from the Artikinesis colouring book, and painted for the upcoming North Hampshire Art exhibition, to be held at the Willis Museum in May.

South Central

South Central, acrylic on box canvas 40 x 40 cm

There's a new Arts publication in town. Well, in the region. The central south of England. It's a bit of an overlooked region in many ways - it's almost defined by what it isn't. It's not London. It's not home counties. It's not south east, because it doesn't have that flavour. It's not holiday-destination south west, either.  It's in the middle.

I'm a midlander by birth; I grew up in the Midlands. That's the Midlands that sits between the North and the South. Leicestershire, to be precise. I've lived in the South East (Brighton) and I've lived in the North (Hull, which is, of course, North East). In the South East I was considered a northerner. In the North I was designated a southerner.

It's almost as if I wasn't allowed to be something else. But I was. I still am. I'm a midlander.

I wonder if I'm drawn to these in-between places? I felt more at home in Southampton (another place that I used to live in, and a city that is definitely south central - neither East not West) than I did in Brighton or in Hull.

Anyway, all of that is really just to try and say that actually, I know precisely where South Central is coming from.


And where is it coming from? Literally, it's coming from Fareham (a small coastal town caught between the two large Hampshire ports of Portsmouth and Southampton). In terms of its name and it's concept, is coming from the not-one-thing-nor-the-other, it's coming from the under- represented, the casually neglected. It's coming from Hampshire and West Berkshire, from Wiltshire and Dorset,

And the painting? Painted for the competition to be featured on the front cover, it didn't win (the winner was a wonderful map-collage-labyrinth by Michelle Rumney), but was included inside the publication. It was an attempt on my part to represent the region as I see it.

I also wrote a short article for the first issue about West Berkshire and North Hampshire Open Studios in which I interviewed the chair, John Brazendale.

The launch event was held last week at Sticks Gallery in Fareham, along with the private view for Beth Davis-Hofbauer's fascinating instalation, In A Room. I got my hands on a copy of the publication (and a couple of spares) there and then. It's good. It's very good. But I haven't read all of it yet...

Shelves of Inspiration

Acrylic on wooden panel, 40 x 40 cm

INSPIRATION comes in many forms, in many places, in many things.

These are my shelves of inspiration.

My friends are here - in my address book.       My family are here - in my heart.

My art is here. My life is here.

Inspired by nature. Inspired by art. Inspired by words that come from the heart.
Inspired by living. Inspired by love. Inspired by beauty and joy in discovery.

Wayside Wheel

Wayside Wheel, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm

This (above) is the painting that I did on Sunday, the second day of Hampshire Open Studios 2015.

And this (below) is my source. Along with a bit of memory and imagination...

Dragon Quartet

An imaginary piece, a companion of sorts to Dragonheart.

Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40 cm

Clasp

Painted to the theme, "Together".

Acrylic on box canvas, 40 x 40 cm

Giger Counter (Abstract)

The title came to me early in the process of painting this; it's a dreadful pun conflating the name of the Swiss surrealist (who died this May) and the instrument used to measure ionizing radiation levels (spelt 'Geiger' and named after the German physicist). The texture of my picture reminded me of that of some of H. R. Giger's work. The painting was based on the leftover dribbly acrylic from painting the edges of my Really Big Canvas. I liked the effect of the dribbly underpainting on that work, and decided to make a painting that was just about that.

Brush Control

Ce n'est pas un pinceau.

 C'est un peinture, bien sûr.

Heart of the Village

This was a commission; it was good to get a scene that I have made images of twice before finally down on canvas.

Big LEGO(R) Ambulance Driver

Painted for an international customer, on commission; based on number 50 of the Minifigures on Canvas series - as shown above left. Her head was too big, so I changed the painting - as seen above left.

Gaily Mill in the Snow

I'm actually quite surprised that this is the first subject I've painted (apart from still lives) that is actually in the village I live in. Well, it's sort of right on the edge of the village, but it's a building, so it "belongs" in the village, while largely unbuilt-upon hills do not.

Primary Pair - SOLD

This isn't a "standard" minifigure painting. It's a bit bigger, for a start. Nearly 6 times bigger. And of course there are two figures. It was also painted (partly) with a knife, and I restricted myself to the CMYK + white palette that I have adopted recently for acrylic knife-work.

Lumberjack Poppies - SOLD

Towards the end of the poppy season, we took an evening stroll up on the local hills, and encountered poppies growing in front of a large pile of logs.