Solo

The Art in Music 2018 exhibition was hung at Newbury Corn Exchange today, and this painting is part of that exhibition.

Landmarks

"Also notable are [Amanda Bates'] trio of small works, hung as a vertical panel: Thatcham's Bluecoat School, Donnigton Caste and Newbury Corn Exchange. The subjects are tightly cropped within the frame, with little context, giving them a palpable presence."
Newbury Weeky News: Lin Wilkinson

Three wooden panels, each 15  x 15 cm, painted over clear gesso so that the wood peeps through the thick oil paint. These three pictures were painted for, and are currently on display as part of, the Artikinesis Springtime exhibition at the West Berkshire Museum, The Wharf, Newbury - but only until Sunday 23 April.

The exhibition also features work by Rosemary Lawrey, Elinor Cooper, Adeliza Mole and Brian R. Marchant.

Thatcham Bluecoats / Newbury Corn Exchange / Donnington Castle

Oil on wooden panel

£50 each

T

Violinists and Piano

This was based on a couple of line sketches made of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra rehearsing in St. Nicolas' Church, Newbury - part of the Open Studios / Newbury Spring Festival collaboration. It was a far more complicated subject than my usual fare, but I enjoyed the challenge.

Oil on canvas, 40 x 80 cm

UPDATE: I wasn't entirely happy with how I had painted the pianist; here is the revised version (slightly wonky photograph):

Picture This - the pictures

Last October, this happened - but I didn't show you any pictures. So, here they are... along with the relevant bits of my cringeworthy parody lyrics.

All I want is red, yellow and blue
A sight worth seeing, a vision of New(bury)

From atop a car park with a view, oh-oh
Town hall clock, chiming the hour

Sterling cables, the telecom tower

Corn Exchange, chimneys and roofs, oh yeah

and

 Picture this... a day in October
Picture this... reasonable weather
Artists in town, wielding cameras and canvas
Is that someone painting the garage?
If you could only oh-oh  

Picture this... with acrylic and knife
Picture this... a Victorian gas works

Botallack Count Houses and Newbury Lock

Botallack Count Houses

Two more - rather watery in theme - line and washes. Both were done from photographs using dip pens, acylic inks (sepia and white) and watercolour.

St. Nic's Art Exhibition

St. Nic's in Newbury is holding an art exhibition on Saturday 27th June, into which I will be putting several pieces. I am hoping to inclde this one, (the church tower does belong to St Nic's) if I can manage to get it framed in time!

Line and wash, approx 12 x 20 inches

Urban Poppies

It was something of a surprise to encounter poppies growing through the block paving on the edge of the Sainsbury's roundabout in Newbury last week. It was a striking image, though, and I endeavoured to get a photograph, but the camera on my tablet camera wasn't quite up to the job. Nonetheless, I got  enough information to allow me to put this together.

It's painted with the Chinese knives again, with last minute assistance from a rigger brush.

Acrylic on canvas-covered board, 12 x 10".

St. George and the Exhibition

I was going to write a straightforward I'm-really-looking-forward-to-exhibiting-at-St.-George's piece.

But then the title of the post occurred to me.

And then the drawing had to happen.

But I am really looking forward to exhibiting at St. George's (in Wash Common, Newbury; the exhibition is this weeend, 17th to 19th April 2015). I'm taking them pictures of trees. No dragons. I hope they don't mind.

New Artists in Newbury - Open Studios (West Berkshire and North Hampshire)

If you go down to the shops today 

You're sure of a big surprise 

If you go down to Newb'ry today 

You'd better believe your eyes

For every artist that's new to the scheme

Has taken art right into the town

Because today's the day the

Parkway becomes the art scene!

That's enough of that. All the new Open Studios artists have been invited to exhibit work in an empty retail unit in Newbury town centre (near Costa Coffee, in the new(ish) Parkway development). 

I took Vinho Verde.

• Read the official press release

Gearing Up

The 2015 Open Studios season is nearly upon us,  and the Newbury Spring Festival team have published a thought-provoking article, conveniently illustrated with an image that I (and only I) have the freedom to reproduce...

Over on the Sketch blog, you can read about today's visit to the tiny Norman church of St. Paul and St. Luke, and - of course - see some pictures.

Evergreen (Newtown Common)

Evergreen

Oil on canvas, 50 x 100 cm

The title may be something of a misnomer, as there is scarcely any green in the painting (there was more in the source photographs), but the trees on this part of Newtown Common were pretty much all evergreens.

The colours weren't the only thing I changed; I also added a second path, to give you a choice of which way to go...

Work in progress: Newtown Common (Evergreen) + News

This is one of those moments when I take stock and reconsider using "real" colours. It isn't finished; there is more to do, but how close to reality do I take this now?

Trees, Gorse and Heather

I spent the afternoon on Greenham Common today, and this is the result. I wanted to show that the Common isn't just about the old air base.

Fire Hydrant - new pictures

Above, a new photograph of "Fire Hydrant", taken this afternoon.

Fire Hydrant

The UK doesn't really do overground fire hydrants. Not on streets, anyhow. We may have them on airfields, I suppose, but I don't tend to hang around on many airfields... except for this one.

Trailer Park

Technically, I suppose these aren't actually trailers. They don't have wheels. They are shipping containers, stacked up in New Greenham Park, the industrial park that was created on the built-up area of the former USAF base at Greenham Common, Newbury. The view point is from Greenham Common itself, from the heathland area that used to be the runways.

The painting was done from a photograph; I liked the contrast between the bright, artificial colours of the containers and the scrubby greens and browns of the heath. I've brightened the colours a little compared to the photograph (which was taken on a cloudy day) so that they reflect my memory of the scene better.

Oil on canvas, 50 x 20 cm

Sluice on the Kennet and Avon

Time for another old painting?

"Newbury Bridge over the Kennet and Avon,” 19 May 2002

This is another old painting, as indicated by the post title. It was painted with a brush, en plein air, on a Sunday morning. Most of the work was done before the Sunday shoppers started moseying up the tow path (for such was my location). I felt slightly self-conscious, being in such a public place, but as I'd been there for long enough to establish my place - and my painting - it wasn't too bad. Most people wandered by with a passing glance, at most. Of the few who paused, all were pleasant and were careful not to distract me too much.

But the best thing about making this painting was hearing several people commenting that they had never really looked at the bridge before, and didn't realise how attractive it was. It felt good to open people's eyes to the unnoticed beauty around them...

Donnington Castle, 2002

This is an old painting - 30 July, 2002, to be precise. It's of Donnington Castle, a civil war ruin near Newbury. Not to be confused with Castle Donington, a village in Leicestershire with one less "n" and some sort of motor racing track (and a "Monsters of Rock" music festival). The castle site is a favourite picnic destination - and it's where I went with the children today (on another unseasonably hot day), hence the appearance of this post now. The painting - an early plein air knife painting - was the first that I was ever happy enough with to want to live with it. It still took me a while to get around to framing it, though... it was about 7 or 8 years, I think.