A perfect partnership at Art Materials Live in Birmingham!

The 2014 event proved just as popular as the last except for me there was one major difference...I was working this time, first for ‘The Artist’ magazine teaching expressive painting techniques (sponsored by Daler-Rowney using ‘System 3’ and ‘Heavy Body’ acrylics) on 6 November and then, for the rest of the event until 9 November I was also delighted to be working with the French team representing Canson on their stand. 

The workshops for ‘The Artist’ magazine proved to be a real success with all the students involved creating some exceptional paintings with lots of layering techniques for their colourful and creative paintings of ‘lily ponds and reflections.’ 

With students of mixed levels of ability creating such great results every time there was a real buzz in each workshop. Behind the scenes Caroline Griffiths (events coordinator) and Sally Bulgin (the editor of ‘The Artist’ magazine), helped support the workshops in a very big way with their superb organisational skills and help with so much more ensuring everything ran just so smoothly. A great team and I was glad to be part of it. The best thing though for me was to have inspired all the students who took part to see things a little differently, loosen up their style and for others, to shake the rust of their boxed art skills and help them become creative again!

http://www.painters-online.co.uk/

http://www.daler-rowney.com/

Two in one for Alwoodley Art Group!

It’s been quite a while since I visited Alwoodley Art Group in Leeds. Working flat out as a designer in the centre of Leeds previously with plenty of overtime always kept me missing a chance to demonstrate for everyone there. 

Well, not any more! Creative freedom is the ticket these days so it was with absolute delight that when invited by Shirley Coles (Alwoodley art group programme secretary) to come and demonstrate a dramatic seascape cliff top view I was positively grinning like a Cheshire Cat!

Two in one on the night – my favourite subject (a seascape scene from the East Coat of Yorkshire at Bempton) and reviving old acquaintances again to share creative skills with local artists in Leeds once more. Fantastic!

Within 2 hours my usual energetic style, teaching as I demonstrated had produced this, a very expressive seascape of an area I have come to know very well and visit often. Having a subject close to your heart you are passionate about is key to the successes in a painting. Such passion shows in your work as this one does here for me.

As with everything I tend to do these doubling up on my art activities, the finished demonstration pastel painting created on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch paper will form another great painting within an exhibited collection of new work for a joint show at The North York Moors National Park Centre in their beautiful exhibition space with the ‘Inspired By Gallery.

Our show called ‘All Creations Great and Small’ features at least 20 of my own works alongside fellow artists Helen Patterson and Jo Garlick with sculptures by stef Ottevanger. We have all taken wildlife, nature and the of the North York Moors to our hearts and are creating our artistic interpretations of this unique landscape in a major body of work. 

So, look out for this one, it will have pride of place within this superb exhibition. 

The Moors National Park Centre

Lodge Lane

Danby

Whitby YO21 2NB

moorscentre@northyorkmoors.org.uk

Tel: 01439 772737

http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/visiting/see-and-do/the-moors-national-park-centre

www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/inspiredby

For more information about Alwoodley Art Group visit http://www.alwoodleyartgroup-leeds.com/

Perfect pastels by Driffield Art Club 

I think my car knows its own way to the East Coast of Yorkshire! 

I’m there often painting and drawing and finding inspiration wherever I look along the cliffs and coves along this beautiful stretch of coastline. A slight deviation on one of my visits this time.

On Saturday 1 November I was delighted to teach a full class of keen and eager  Driffield Art club students pastel techniques for seascapes. Fantastic, especially since the coast is so close!

It was great to see familiar faces and meet new ones too. Brian Mellonby took the reigns and organised things so a big thank you there to Brian for doing so.

A big thanks to everyone who took part as well. Your paintings were exceptional and from a tutors point of view inspiring others is what it’s all about so you discover new creative perspectives with your art.  

It was great to teach lots of different pastels techniques as well to show how expressive pastels are, especially on the Canson Mi-Tientes 'touch' paper which was the chosen support for most which I brought along with me for members to work on during the workshop. 

It gave me a real extra buzz to see everyone’s superb paintings in a mini exhibition right at the end of the workshop for my final assessment. 

Seascapes really work wonders for Driffield Art Club. Superb results as you can see! 

I look forward to seeing you all again in 2015. 

Oh and by the way, thanks again for the local fish and chips...delightful!

For further information about Driffield Art club and to see examples of their high standard of work visit
http://driffieldartclub.co.uk/

A superb website which reflects the high standard of work in this excellent art club.

A coastal collection for Gallery Forty-Nine in ‘Walmington-on-Sea’!

I love our Yorkshire coast – it has everything I desire and need as an artist who paints seascapes. The rich diversity of locations, quaint fishing villages and historic old towns along our East Coast offers exceptional and very unique so much so that a recent film crew have been to the old town of Bridlington and other areas of Yorkshire to film the new film ‘Dad’s Army’ transforming the old town of Bridlington during the process to become ‘Walmington-on-Sea’ in the 1940’s. 

I arrived delivering a new coastal collection to Gallery Forty-Nine as the film crew were packing up their props during the process of the gallery getting ‘back to business’ during the change over. It was really great to see just how much work the film crew had put in to transform the old town, I hardly recognised the place! 

It was a real delight to meet the really friendly film crews as they briefly stopped to admire my work as I proudly delivered it to Gallery Forty-Nine, the prestigious east Coast Gallery right in the heart of the old town. In fact the gallery is used in the film as well. Being right next door to the ‘Walmington-on-Sea’ bank (made famous in the film for being Captain George Mainwaring’s place of work as the bank manager in Dad’s Army) Gallery Forty-Nine features quite a bit I’d imagine.

Exhibiting in the gallery are several of David Hockney’s signed original prints. How fantastic to be exhibiting in the same gallery as David Hockney! Apparently he visits the gallery quite a bit (I missed him this time), but Liz is famous in her own right anyway for accepting the very best artists in Yorkshire so, thumbs in braces, I was really delighted as Liz Hillman looked at my work and said ‘Yes, these will do! I’m sure we’re going to have success with these!’

Gallery 49

Market Place, Bridlington, North Humberside YO16 4QJ

Tel: 01262 679472

www.galleryforty-nine.com

Opening Hours: Thursday - Saturday, 11:30am - 4:00pm 

or call to view by appointment

Windows to watch!

Back in my native Leeds and heading a little further North I’m delighted to have put together new collections of painting for exhibition for my leading ‘local’ galleries ‘Headrow Gallery’ Alwoodley, Leeds, and Chantry House Gallery in Ripley – all for their Christmas exhibitions!

Already there has been success and they have not been on show for long! In particular Maxwell Roberts (Headrow gallery) announced sale of my work through his ‘window to watch’ scheme, an ever changing and enticing widow display of very different and diverse artists so nothing ever remains the same for long, keeping all his customers what’s coming next. Following suit, my own are not there for long so, grab one whilst you can!

Slightly further afield and a little earlier in the season I was proud to deliver some of my very best seascape and landscape paintings to the wonderful North Yorkshire gallery ‘Chantry House Gallery' for the festive season exhibition. 

Enjoy your gallery visits, you will not be disappointed whichever you choose to visit. Who knows, you may go to all three! Now, what a good idea that is!

Headrow Gallery

588 Harrogate Rd, Leeds LS17 8DP

Tel: 0113 269 4244 

www.headrowgallery.co.uk

Chantry House Gallery

Main Street, Ripley, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG3 3AY

Tel: 01423 771011

www.chantryhousegallery.co.uk

Pennine paintings and my creative peers

I’ve been travelling far and wide delivering other new paintings to a fantastic renowned gallery at Uppermill called ‘Millyard Gallery’ in Saddleworth. Just one gallery restocked with recent paintings.

The gallery is wonderfully spacious, colourful and has some superb work at great prices with prestigious works of art on display by famous artists from London such as Barbara Rae and Sir Peter Blake (two of my favourite artists) and it is a real honour to be showing my work in the same gallery with them. 

It is a family run business and it shows. There is real dedication by Husband and wife team John and Joan Frost and daughter Rebecca to source the very best of art for their growing customer base which stretches as far as American and Australia as well as their local clientele and Greater Manchester clients. 

The gallery shows lots of different type of artists and includes high quality and very individually created craft pieces, sculpture and photography so once again, it is absolute pleasure to be showing my Pennine work along side professional Pennine landscape photographer Richard Littlewood and his beautiful Pennine photography with whom I’m often hoping over tussock grasses on location high in the Pennines.

Richard was a very good friend of Peter Brook, the famous Pennine painter who lived in Brighouse Kirklees which brings me onto my next gallery, Harrison Lord Gallery based in Brighouse, Kirklees were I have recently delivered four new pastels and one large drawing created on a very cold day high in the Pennines – oh how we suffer for our art!

Steven Lord (owner of the gallery) again selects the very best artists to show in his gallery so I’m delighted to have been accepted. Interestingly amongst the artists Steven and his team have accepted and sources are several artists who at one time or another (and some still are) who are producing beautiful professional paintings these days and selling them too for good prices which really makes me feel proud. I must be doing something right!

Whist I was delivering my new Pennine work it was an absolute joy to see an original Peter Brook painting brought in for sale (since Steven is a regular dealer of Peter Brooks’ paintings by the way and knew him very well). The painting was rich in earthy tones which deep dark colours depicting the typical weather stained colours of the Pennine stone barns and walls. In the distance within the painting the smooth painting effects and glowing light (typical trademarks of Peter Brooks’ work) positively radiated. 

Much is made famous about the ‘special light in Cornwall’ and how it has influenced many an artist but our own special ‘Pennine Light’ most certainly equals it and we love it! I’m delighted all our customers do as well.

It’s the Pennines and the moors for me – every time! 

For further information

Our exhibition

‘All Creations Great and Small’ at The Moors National Park Centre, Lodge Lane, Danby

Whitby YO21 2NB

moorscentre@northyorkmoors.org.uk

Tel: 01439 772737

www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/inspiredby

Twitter @northyorkmoors

Facebook northyorkmoorsnationalpark

Google+ +northyorkmoors

Milyard Gallery

The Square, Uppermill, Saddleworth, OL3 6BD 

Tel: 01457 870 410

www.millyard-gallery.co.uk

Harrison Lord

5 Bradford Rd, Brighouse, West Yorkshire. HD6 1RW

Tel: 01484 722462

www.harrisonlord.co.uk

Richard Littlewood

email@richard-littlewood.com 

www.richard-littlewood.com

Higham Hall artist in residence week successes October ‘14

We do like to keep things interesting at Higham Hall so an ever changing program of daily activities organised with George Cooke (principal) recently offered lots of different students and evening audiences a full gambit of art activities to be involved with in full day workshops and then watch in the evening kept me on my toes (quite literally) on a weeks residential art break as ‘artist in residence’ mid October.

It was a fantastic week of an ever changing painting subjects using lots of different media and it was really rewarding from a tutors point of view to see so many different students trying new things and really getting to grips with the creative techniques I was teaching. There were students from all sorts of backgrounds, levels of interest and ability all coming together under a single banner each day with a real open mind and willingness to learn. Everyone had fun too which was fantastic and with enthusiastic audience interaction each evening whilst watching me demonstrate, really rounded each day off perfectly for everyone.

With a mini exhibition at Higham Hall of my work displaying different subjects and media, this also added to the excitement of the artist in residence week and with a fully booked hall there were lots of guests who were able to see the show at different times to suit them based around their own activities and events within the hall and in the great outdoors also.

A thoroughly rewarding experience had by all and with sales of paintings and audiences who attended the exhibition throughout the week, the evening demonstrations and the popular theme workshops during the day it was a really rewarding experience had by all.

Would I do it again? You bet!

I’ll be teaching again at Higham Hall very soon in February ‘15 Expressive Drawing Techniques using lots of different media and I’m really looking forward to helping students develop their skills once more.

With places limited to 12 students only early booking is highly recommended to avoid disappointment.

For further details visit

http://rdcreative.co.uk/art_holidays/expressive_drawing_art_break_higham_hall

and visit www.highamhall.com

Higham Hall, Bassenthwaite Lake, Cockermouth, Cumbria CA13 9SH.