Monday, August 15, 2011

One man show in Bury St.Edmunds





As stated in my previous blog, my one man show is up and running. It is at the Edmund Gallery in Bury St. Edmunds and runs till Thursday.

I have a variety of work on display, both portraits and landscapes in all mediums from oils to acrylics , gouache to charcoal, pencil , watercolour and pastel.












Sunday, August 14, 2011

One Man Exhibition in Bury St. Edmunds

This last few weeks has been frantic as the date of my one man exhibition rapidly approached. The usual panic. Have I got enough paintings? Will they be framed on time? How many have I still to finish? How will I hang it? Which paintings will sit comfortably with/ counterbalance others. Practicalities re. the actual hanging system in the gallery. The logistics of transporting over sixty paintings , some of which are very large. But as usual it all works out in the end and the exhibition is now hanging. More to follow.

A Critique to the Bury Art Society

Last week I was asked to deliver a critique to the Bury Art Society. This is not something I usually do. I am much more comfortable demonstrating painting techniques rather than pontificating on other people's work.

But it turned out to be a very pleasant evening. Lots of banter and lots of questions. And of course a wide variety of paintings that members had had the courage to put forward for public dissection.
Hopefully, my comments were constructive and helpful.

Gouache Painting at West Norfolk Arts Centre



I recently made my second visit this year to West Norfolk Arts Centre. This time it was to teach the art of painting in gouache.

The first day was spent explaining the history of the medium and demonstrating techniques and materials. As a bit of fun I "copied" two paintings hanging in the studio. These were by other artists. One was an oil, the other a watercolour. It was simply to show how gouache interpreted the same scene in a very different way. The rest of the day was spent exploring the medium and working from references or photographs.
The following day, I did both a portrait demonstration and a landscape "en plein air". It was then time for the students to work outdoors. Fortunately, the sun was shining!





All in all a very successful weekend. Very few of the students had ever tried this medium and were delighted with its versatility and forgiving nature.

As usual, Ros and Richard Cartwright, Directors of the Centre were the perfect hosts with their close attention to detail and the warm welcome they extended to all.


My next visit to the Centre will be to teach "Portrait Painting made Easy" 28th - 30th October.




Two Awards for Michael.



At the recent Annual Exhibition of the Bury Art Society, my charcoal and chalk drawing of Michael won the "Drawing Prize". This is a new award presented for the first time this year.


The oil portrait I did of him has also recently won the Senellier Award at Patchings National Art Competition in Nottinghamshire.