Above are three paintings that I have recently painted for the Gorstella gallery exhibition – you can click on them to see a larger version. The exhibition is opening on Thursday 13 November and running until Sunday 23 November. The gallery is near Chester (see details below) and is celebrating 35 years with this mixed exhibition.

Looking out into a vast outdoor world or into an intimate indoor world has always fascinted artists (I’m thinking of Vermeer or Hammershoi).  The Japanese inscription above reads ‘best on earth’ – I wonder what the place used to be?

I used to paint a lot of old walls, windows and doors.  I enjoyed painting the aging surface textures and thinking about the mysteries they evoked. Below are a few from the archives…. The yellow door in Wroclaw, Poland, was on a derelict site that still had German Blackletter script on the walls. The green ribbon in Marrakech was the remains of the ribbons that are often tied all around their houses during celebrations.

The last of the four architectural paintings that I have sent to the Gorstella gallery is called ‘Palladian visitor’.  I’ll leave that mystery for you to see on their website here . They are also taking several of my still life paintings including the one below that is on the back of their brochure. If you fancy celebrating with them and seeing the other work that they are showing, they are raising a glass of fizz  6.30 – 9 pm on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 November and again on the weekends of 15/16 and 22/23 November, 11am – 5pm. I am looking forward to visiting on the final weekend.

Little nests  watercolour 22.5 x 71cm

I have always painted nests but now I’m lucky enough to have been invited by Douglas Russell, Senior Curator of the nest and egg collections at the Natural History Museum in Tring, to collaborate on a project. We both have an interest in nests that include anthropogenic material (human rubbish) and we come from both a visual and an academic angle. These nests can be found throughout the museum’s collection of over 4000 nests, some dating back over 150 years and some very current. Each of the nests that I have studied are highly individual. They are marvels of ingenuity and opportunism. Collected from all over the world, they are often part of fascinating stories that give insight into their place in time or they can simply be mysteries. How can a wren make a nest of heavy string? Is that a bandage from the Boer war?

Sea birds’ use of plastics in nests is well documented as a sad example of today’s pollution.  I am concentrating on the more plentiful terrestrial nests which are not so much in the public eye. I am looking at nests both inside the museum and in today’s environment – I was recently given one that appears to include the fluorescent fluff from a tennis ball!

Nests cannot fail to be evocative. Many people have written about the wonder and emotions felt when discovering their first nest. Helen Macdonald wrote that as a child  “nests were like bruises: things I couldn’t help but touch… seasonal secrets to be used and abandoned”. And in Gaston Bachelard’s ‘Poetics of space’ he writes “A nest – and this we can understand right away – is a precious thing, and yet it sets us to daydreaming of security”.  I too feel a sense of awe in front of a nest. Like looking at an icon, its humbling and other worldly – something that takes you beyond, to deeper things. I felt an all-consuming wonder when a rook’s nest fell from a lofty tree and showed me that it was more than just a random heap of sticks.

Rook’s nest, watercolour 54 x 73cm

Having spent time in the bowels of the NHM collection, I am now at the point of collecting my thoughts and ideas. I hope that my paintings, when exhibited, will be an evocative reflection on the wonders of birds as architects and opportunists and that they will be accompanied by interpretive text reflecting on their specific history and environment.

Upcoming Exhibtions

I will be exhibiting new work as a guest artist at Artworks near Bury St Edmunds this year, see details below. I was one of the founder members in 2000 and left when I became a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI). It’s great to be back.

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.