My flat from the garden on a summer afternoon

My partner Jon and I have just sold our flat in Bath and are in the process of purchasing a new home in the same city. Although I'm obviously terribly excited about the move, I'm also feeling a bit nostalgic about leaving my very much loved little flat. We have been here for over 4 years and have had some wonderful time. Last week-end, it suddenly dawned on me that having painted several house commissions for people, I never painted my own home, so I thought this is now or never as we will be moving out in the next few weeks. So here it is:

My flat from the garden on a summer afternoon  12"x10"  oil on board

Jon took this picture of me as I was painting:

I set up in the shade at the end of the garden so I wouldn't have to worry about the sun shining on my board:

There is a 'funny' story with this painting: As jon took some pictures of me, I decided - in an act of pure shameful vanity - to remove my glasses. I'm shortsighted and can't see much without them, but for some reason I suddenly found the shapes and colours of the building very interesting in a kind of blurry way, so I decided to keep painting without my glasses! It was early stage in the painting so this blur was perfect to help for the 'colour blocking' stage. When it was time to put some details I resigned myself to put them back on... and screamed of horror at the view of what I just painted! No, just kidding, it worked out quite well actually! After all, Monet was almost blind at the end of his career and his work didn't suffer at all. Instead it gained a beautiful abstract quality to it. Food for thoughts then!

Below is the painting in progress. I had to work quickly as the light was moving fast, constantly changing the tones of the angles of the building:

And here is a detail of the painting. I'm so glad I got the chance to paint this as I will keep it as a souvenir for the rest of my life (that's me being sentimental again!). I'm looking forward to paint my new home now!

ps: I'm available for commissions if you would like me to do a painting of your own home or garden. Just drop me a line or give me a call. And I promise I'll leave my glasses on while painting!

Sun between the clouds, Queen Square, Bath

Now the show is over, I've had the chance to get back at the easel and it feels great! This one below is a painting of Queen Square in Bath. I work just around the corner from there and always admire the beautiful buildings when I walk pass, and it looks specially beautiful when it is sunny. Here is the result:

Sun between the clouds, Queen Square, Bath   10"x12"  oil on board

Detail

Here is below one of the original photographs reference taken on the spot. As usual, I decided to keep it loose and not get lost into details.

I've been focusing lately on paintings of Bath as I'm preparing to enter this year's Bath Prize. (click here for more info). The show will run in September and I will give more details closer to the date.

Meanwhile, there is a "Pre-Bath Prize" show running now with a selection of work from the previous winners and highly commended artists and I'm delighted to announce I have several paintings on display. There are also some lovely paintings from fellow talented painters Tim King and David Pilgrim. The venue is situated in the Centre of Bath (34 Stall Street, BA1 1QG - click here for the map) and the show will run for a couple of weeks so feel free to have a look if you are in Bath.

Three Wessex Sketchers show

Here are a few pictures of the show "Three Wessex Sketchers" that was held at the Barton farm in Bradford on Avon last week-end with landscape paintings from Bob Child, Andrew Taylor and myself. We had such a great time and an overwhelming number of visitors (over 750 in 3 days!). It was very successful, may red dots and great feedbacks - I can't wait to do it again very soon!

Bob greeting the visitors

A few pictures of the set up before we opened the room to the public:

work by myself on the right part of the wall and by Andrew Taylor in the middle 

work by myself

That lovely red dot feeling!

work by myself

work by Andrew Taylor

work by Andrew Taylor

work by Andrew Taylor

work by Bob Child

work by Bob Child

work by myself and Bob Child

A shot of the visitors during the day: 

Pictures of the preview night on Friday:

The "three Wessex Sketchers"! From left to right: Bob Child, myself and Andrew Taylor

Fellow painter Tim King made the journey from Oxford to attend the show
and even bought my painting of the Old Harry Rocks (he was painting next to me while
I was painting this one in Dorset a few months ago)

Thanks to everybody who could make it. If you missed the show and want to have a closer look at my paintings and prints don't hesitate to contact me and I'll send you a list of the paintings still available.