Fairy Glen

Oil on Mountboard! 16 x 20 inches

Now here really is a blast from the past. I was digging out my watercolour paper today, having been hand-painting frames for a week, and discovered this oil painting of mine, circa 1968, 45 years ago, phew!

Having painted it on mountboard, it's deteriorated over the years as can be seen with the mildew on the left-hand side .  

I think I've got better over the years......hopefully!  This should give hope to any of you folks who despair at your efforts. Next one WILL be a new one, a watercolour if all goes to plan....

Bristol AAF and Patchings Open Art Competition

For any of you who are going to the Bristol Affordable Art Fair http://affordableartfair.com/bristol/ , you can see some of my recent daubs for sale on the Marine House Gallery stand.  The Fair is on today, Friday 26th - Sunday 28th April. 

I'm also thrilled to have got two paintings accepted for the Patchings Open Art Competition, in The Artist Magazine section:

Icy Vista by the Welland

The Big Freeze at Lyndon

 and one rejected but 'highly commended':

Fifty Shades of Grey

 

Sunlight Sequins

Pastel on Pastelmat, 9 x 13 inches

I've painted this little Pastel for the Leicestershire Pastel Society annual exhibition next month.  I've called it Sunlight Sequins for obvious reasons - those lovely sparkles of pure light in the water amid the dark of the tree reflection, and that's what drew me to paint the scene.

Next, I may try some....Watercolours!  Rub eyes, look again...yes, Watercolours!  I haven't ventured into the medium for some years, but I'm itching to have a go again.  Just need to break the ice and DO one to conquer the fear. Watercolour done properly, is the most difficult medium in my eyes - it's a one-hit chance..if it doesn't come off, in the bin it goes, whereas an Oil or a Pastel can be scraped or scrubbed back and repainted.

Wish me luck...over the top I go

Paintings at Blenheim Palace

All the paintings below can be seen at the Cotswold Art and Antique Dealers Association Fair at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, starting today Thursday 18th, through until Sunday 21st, on the John Noott Gallery stand.  Again, if you do go along, say you know me...

Click on any photo for a full screen image

 

SOLD

 

SOLD

SOLD

Steep Snow Banks

Oil on Board, 6 x 8 inches

Here's another one for the Bristol Affordable Art Fair http://affordableartfair.com/bristol/  I shall have a few recent paintings for sale on the Marine House at Beer stand, so if you go along, please look them up and say you know me!

Having done two Spring subjects and a frosty one, I thought I would complement them with a snowy painting just to remind us all of the glorious subjects the harsh winter has provided us artists.  My favourite bit of this painting is the jagged edge of highlighted snow near the bottom of the Willow trunk overhanging and nearest the water on the right of the painting.  I'm a man of small pleasures...

Spring Carpet

Oil on Board, 6 x 8 inches

 

Just another little frisbee-sized panel for the Bristol Art Fair. This is a view down an ancient by-way a couple of miles from my studio that has a few English Bluebells growing in it, indicative of an ancient woodland.  I used a little artistic licence and added a few more Bluebells in to the drift...well, they do look gorgeous when there's a carpet don't they.

April Swans on the Nene

Oil on Board, 6 x 8 inches

This is more my meat - you just can't beat a good, slow-moving river to paint, and put in a couple of Swans and voila.  I guess it's my default subject, but you know that by now!  

I was always drawn to water as a boy, either fishing for Dace, Chub, Minnows and Bullheads in the Sor Brook in Bodicote, or Roach and Gudgeon in the Oxford Canal, or Chub, Sticklebacks and Perch in the River Cherwell, or Brown Trout in the rivers near Llan Ffestiniog, or Rainbow Trout in Llyn Trawsfynydd, or........happy days of yesteryear, reading the Mr Crabtree books - now come on, who remembers them - Mr Crabtree and his son Peter, written and illustrated by Bernard Venables - that's stoked up a few memories for some of you hasn't it? 

Frosted Track

Oil on Board, 6 x 8 inches

Here's the first of four 6x8s to go to the Bristol Art Fair later this month.  I do enjoy painting the sun as it is partly hidden behind trees, trying to capture that intense brightness as it casts strong dawn shadows, yummy!

Bluebells in North Leigh Wood

Oil on Board, 10 x 14 inches

This is just a reminder of how things will look in about three weeks time, IF it ever warms up!  I played golf yesterday and it was as cold as any day in the winter, and my face felt as if it had been sand-blasted.

I wasn't going to include the branches on the right that twist over to the left, but then I decided they would give some movement and depth to the picture, especially the one that grows out and towards the viewer from the branch on the upper right. 

This is the last of four new 10x14 paintings I've done for the Cotswold Art and Antique Dealers Association Fair at Blenheim Palace from 18th - 21st April 2013.  You can see them and five others on the John Noott Gallery stand.

Crack Willows by the Foss

Oil on Board, 12 x 17 inches

The last of the snow has fallen, surely by now, April 4th, although it's still perishingly cold out there. 

The Foss, a tributary of the River Chater, is the stream that bisects my village of South Luffenham in Rutland.  Foss is old English for a moat or ditch - there, you can stun your friends tomorrow with this knowledge.

I loved the pattern of broken and fallen branches of these ancient Willows, especially that one to the left of centre poking out towards you, the viewer.  The remaining snow cladding helps to describe the contours and directions of these branches, adding the sense of three dimensions on this flat surface...hopefully!  After a sustained period of concentration painting the network of branches, I had fun painting the lumpy snow on the foreground banks and the rusty-coloured vegetation on the left, then finally the babbling water.  Aargh, finished!