A plate of pears, watercolour  32 x 40cm 

I am having a solo show in March this year at the Chappel Galleries in Essex. This has been one of my favourite galleries and I was delighted to be asked. The exhibition will run 1st – 30th March 2025 (Wednesday – Sunday or by appointment). The private view is on 1st March from midday untill 5pm and it would be lovely to see you if you can come.

The Chappel Galleries have taken 28 paintings and have asked to show several pieces that I kept back from the very successful exhibition at the end of my time as Project Artist during the building of the Millennium Tower on St Edmundsbusry Cathedral. It’s hard to believe it is 25 years ago and it’s made me reflect on my journey since.

The Cathedral project had a big influence on my work and led me towards still life which has been my main preoccupation since then and forms most of the exhibition in March so I am delighted that some of the original Cathedral pieces are included (having said that, both architectural and lanscape work will feature in other exhibtions this year – more on those in another post).

Why was the Cathedral project such an influence? Well, I sat for many hours over the many years on the building site (or at the stone mason or flint knappers) looking at all the components before they were used.  They were beautiful in themselves but only significant when their independence evaporated and they became part of the whole. There is an analogy there somewhere….. So, I homed in on things, from the tower’s heavy carved stone sections to the ceiling’s complicated wooden sections and from scaffold poles and boards to flints. They all spoke to me.

Drawing on site

New crocket, drawing 29 x 41cm

The Suffolk Cathedral Millennium Project was a groundbreaking project. When was the last time a complete gothic lantern tower was built on a Cathedral?  Not only was it one of only two Millennium Projects with a religious significance, it was also being built by a surprisingly small team of craftsmen, using many medieval techniques. And yet, when had a vaulted ceiling construction ever been aided by a computerised cloud survey or been built piece by piece using computer-led cutting machines (see the offcuts, below)? You can see more about both the tower and the vaulted ceiling projects at the beginning and the end of this page

CA 17s, sanded,  watercolour 49 x 30cm

Offcuts,  watercolour 47 x 28cm

I was very lucky to witness this unique building project and to enjoy the company of those who built it piece by piece and I’ve been homing in on objects ever since – this exhibition is testament to that!  As I’ve said in a previous post, still life is intimate yet worldly, simple yet powerful, quiet yet evocative.

I do hope that you can visit.

Hobnail boots   watercolour 45 x 49cm

March 2024

I am involved in several exhibitions in 2024 which I have listed below. My work is also available from Adrian Hill Fine Art in Holt, Norfolk

You are very welcome to the Private views which I have noted where applicable but I hope that you can make the shows either online or in reality whenever you can!

Annual exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, Mall Galleries, London  Thursday 28 March – Saturday 13 April, 10am – 5pm (Private View 12 -8pm, Wednesday 27 March)

I’ll be down in London in a few weeks’ time to help the RI team with hanging and judging the RI exhibition. It is always an exciting time to see the best in water-based media. The RI is proud that almost half the exhibition of over 400 works is by non-members who submitted this year and that there are many awards for young and upcoming artists as well as established ones.

Here is a link to view and buy the work.

International Watercolours Masters’ exhibition, Lilleshall Hall, Shropshire, TF10 9AT  Wednesday 15 – Friday 24 May

I am proud to be an invited Master at this year’s IWM exhibition where some of the world’s best watercolour painters will be demonstrating their skills alongside the exhibtion. My paintings were delivered a few months ago for this popular and prestigious event. You can buy tickets here .   Unique to this event – and a first of its kind – is the launch of IWM TV. By using this link and paying, viewers can see over 60hrs of live and recorded content (demonstrations, interviews, exhibition tours) throughout the 10 day show and as often as they like for up to 6 months.

RI Members’ exhibition,  Iona House Gallery, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, OX20 1TF   Saturday 1 June – Sunday 7 July (Private View Saturday June 1^st 11am – 5pm)

An exhibition of Members’ work in the beautiful town of Woodstock (the home of Blenheim Palace) in Oxfordshire

 RI Members’ exhibition, Watermark Gallery, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG1 2SZ   Friday 27 September – Saturday 12 October (Private View Friday 27^t September)

Situated in Harrogate’s Royal Parade this exhibition will show all new work from RI Members

October 2023

Jonathan and I have known each other for many years. Our practices couldn’t be more different – fire and water come to mind – but one of the themes that we share is working with repeated objects. This year has been no different and it will be interesting to see how the gallery puts us together. Their previous exhibitions have been full of variety and interest and I hope that ours will be too.

To me, still life is intimate yet worldly, simple yet powerful, quiet yet evocative. From the early years of still life painting objects were used as coded messages and symbols, conveying something more than their everyday purpose. My still life work is not conventional – I don’t arrange my objects within a scene – I lay similar objects infront of me as if they were on display in a museum, presenting them to be studied simply for what they are and what they evoke.

2024

I am already preparing for 2024. Besides exhibiting at the annual RI exhibition in April at the Mall Galleries, London, I have also been invited to exhibit at the International Watercolour Masters (IWM) exhibition in Shropshire in May. In the same month I will be exhibiting at an RI satellite exhibition at the Iona House gallery in Woodstock.

My website has had a makeover – I hope that you like it!

6 January 2023

The 2023 exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI) is fast approaching (April). Being a member of the RI and exhibiting at their annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries is always a privilege. There is a huge variety of work on show  – water and pigment can combine in so many different ways and, together with all the diverse artists using it, the variations are endless and inspiring. The RI shows the work of members and non-members alongside one another, and the numbers of non-members’ work often equals that of the members’ work.  There is so much talent out there!

Reeds  watercolour 29.5 x 63cm

This year I am going ‘off piste’ and exhibiting 6 landscapes instead of my usual still life paintings. I think it’s important to have a little break sometimes and show what else I can do (!) but, if I look back at what I have done over the years, landscape played a very important part on my journey towards still life and it still does. It offers a freedom that I hope my still life work benefits from and vice versa…. we shall see. I am still captivated by the long format – I feel that it has something to do with the flat landscape around me – it makes me feel as if I am looking through a wide-angled lens with everything laid out in front of me.

Barley   watercolour, 29.5 x 63cm

23 November 2021

It is inevitable that artists get attached to their work as they invest so much in it. For all sorts of reasons, we don’t necessarily get attached to everything to the same degree. They are all important of course because that’s why we did them – they struck a chord which we needed to record.

There are some paintings that stick in my mind – some that have sold and a few that I decided to keep.  Whatever ‘it’ is, ‘it’ is in the eye of the beholder so what sticks with me is totally personal and often a mystery.

So below are the are ones that I still remember well.  I haven’t included commissions although some have meant a great deal to me. There isn’t a common theme – there is landscape, still life and architecture. Some are from a while ago, some more recent.  Some are still with me and some left long ago – I haven’t forgotten them…….

Blue door, Marrakech 32 x 49cm

Rain 46 x 70cm

Three pears 32 x 41cm

Birds and beasts 30 x 95cm

Yellow door, Wroclaw  30 x 47cm

Canal bank 45 x 63cm 

Broken chair 54 x 44cm 

Fen smoke  35 x 59cm

Bedside 33 x 41cm

Pile of pillows 33 x 41cm

Burnt out 52 x 54cm

Decommissioned 35 x 93cm

Beetroot 32.5 x 48.5cm

4 November 2021

I had a successful and interesting time through the North House gallery’s exhibition in Manningtree in September. The exhibition ran in conjunction with the Stour Valley Festival initiative to eat locally, within 30 miles, for 30 days.  I took up the challenge and it was a real insight into roadside selling, limited availability in supermarkets, petrol consumption, wonderful local producers and how badly we compare to other countries.  It’s now ingrained and has resulted in quite a few more paintings of local produce – some of which, above and below, will be exhibited in ‘Connected by Colour’, an exhibition at Adrian Hill Fine Art in Holt, Norfolk, 12 November – 23 December 2021.  It was quite a challenge to paint these before they dried out – a spay bottle comes in handy….

A pair of cobs  34 x 44cm

Titles – a thought……

I usually title paintings fairly obviously because I dislike obscure over-fancy titles and large signatures but I recently titled a long painting of very old trainers ‘Worn out’ and a painting of zips ‘Up and down’.  I wasn’t really conscious of doing it and, although still rather simple, I think that the titles may have reflect my lockdown mood! Who knows?

Worn out  37 x 96cm

Up and down 29 x 93cm

4 November 2021

I’ve been a bit busy getting work together for four shows during September and October

Four onions    26 x 47 cm

I am exhibiting some new work at the North House Gallery in Manningtree. ’30×30: A Cornucopia’ runs from 3 September to 2 October and is inspired by the 2021 campaign by the River Stour Festival to encourage people to try and source all their food from a 30 mile radius for 30 days – quite a challenge which I am up for!  The North House is one of my favourite galleries and I am exhibiting alongside work by Ffiona Lewis, Alan Turnbull, Jane Lewis, Ruth Philo, Sarah Milne and Tilly de Willebois. The gallery is open Saturdays 10am-5pm or by appointment – 01206 392717))

Power tools  31 x 92cm

I will be showing some of my landscapes and a little lockdown still life (below) in the Summer Show at The Old Fire Engine House Gallery near the Cathedral in Ely. It runs from 25th August until 2nd October.  Their popular restaurant will be open too but you’ll need to book.

Lock, unlock  17 x 33cm

Across the reeds 22 x 43cm

I am also taking part in AKA Fine Art’s show in Cambridge in aid of the mental health charity, Arts and Minds – 1 and 2 October 2021 at The Clore Centre, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge CB3 0AQ. I will be exhibiting alongside Charlotte Cornish, Lawrence Edwards, Corinna Button and others. It includes two of my nest paintings, one of which I have just finished, below.

I will be exhibiting three new pieces at the annual show at Thompson’s Gallery, Seymour Place, London W1 from 28 September to 23 October – images will be available when the catalogue is published in mid September.

Fresh root veg,   21 x 91cm

5 April 2021

It’s a while since I did my last blog.  I look back at those months since Christmas when I had just finished the painting above and, as the number of Covid cases soared, I sometimes felt as if I was a bit creatively stagnant. Then I realise that it’s just an attitude of mind – I’ve actually been doing a fair amount  – perhaps it’s the feeling of inertia that many have felt during lockdown.  My creative process seems to take a while anyway – look at the Leonard McComb quote on the home page and you will be able to guess which watercolour route I take….. a slow building up rather than a quick dash!

The annual RI exhibition approaches. It has just gone online and you can even go and see it at the Mall Galleries in London from May 20 – 29. To compensate for the lack of actual demonstrations and talks in the gallery, there will be several videos by members on the Mall Galleries’ website including my very informal one about the work I have on show and my way of working. There were a record number of submissions (over 1700) to the exhibition and we made a selection of just over 200 works. Together with the RI Members’ work there are over 400 paintings to look at and, in the spirit of our inclusivity as an ‘open exhibition’, there is a 50/50 split between Members’ and non-members’ work. They represent some of the best work around in water-based media from a huge variety of artists and styles, both traditional and contemporary.

My last post was about my long paintings.  Along with my 4 other pieces, there will be two long ones in the RI exhibition.  ‘Fresh root veg’, at the top of the page, was painted in October/November when the veg were coming out of the ground (I kept having to wet them to keep them going and to keep the colours fresh). I left the dirt and the freshness there and enjoyed the freedom that both of them inspired.

Lockdown A-Z (including detail),   26 x 97cm

In contrast to ‘Fresh root veg’, I painted ‘Lockdown A-Z’, above, where I homed in on tiny everyday objects. This painting provoked a far tighter method of working – the objects are small and detailed (and not so easy to capture on a long photo!). I’ve always been drawn to little things that often get overlooked. They are important either through memories they conjure up or simple familiarity and usefulness.

Everything is close to home…….

Please give yourself time for a private tour of this year’s RI exhibition online and even escape to London to see it in May.  There’s nothing like the real thing!  I wish you all the best and thank you for your support of all the arts over this difficult time.

Two fat pears and Eggbox in progress – in the RI exhibition

I’ve done a small edition of 10 prints of Fresh root veg, which you can see here . There is also a new print of a row of stone carver’s mallets there.

9 December 2020

For about 6 years I have been painting, amongst other things, long still life paintings.  Each time I think ‘enough of this’ another one pops into my head.  It all started with a present for my niece who wanted a painting to go in a particular place where only ‘long and thin’ would do.  She is very sporty so it became ‘Six balls and a shuttlecock’.

So I’ve tried to think what made me want to continue with this format. Often it’s only in retrospect that these things seem to come to you. Even before the painting above, I had seemed to veer towards ‘a line’ and have written about it in previous blogs. I live in East Anglia where the land is, more often than not, flat with a visible clear horizon.  The majority of my landscapes emphasised this including some of the first paintings that I showed at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI).

Something being laid out in front of you, straight on, seemed to force you to inspect it – almost like a specimen with everything laid bare.  Another influence could have been my time as Project Artist during the building of the St Edmundsbury Cathedral Millennium Tower, where I studied all the various, often unseen components that had been essential in helping the building to stand up – like little square slate cubes hidden like dowels between the penultimate and ultimate stone. It appealed to my love of the obvious and often overlooked. So here are a few of the long still life paintings done since 2014.