In March 2024 I wrote a blog post about my father Ken Reed and his battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. He was being cared for my my mum but gradually she was unable to look after him. For the last three months he was in a local care home, receiving professional help. Eleven days before […]
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy As spring approaches, I’m feeling apprehensive about the year ahead. My father Ken Reed’s health has been deteriorating through a cruel but rare neurological condition called Progressive supranuclear palsy. We first noticed its effects almost 10 years ago when my father’s speech became slightly slow and more deliberate. He used to love singing […]
Susan and I have just returned from a wonderful trip to Turin to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. As we were wandering about I noticed a poster for an exhibition of paintings by Monet and Picasso at Palazzo Barolo Turin. I decided to pay a visit and was not disappointed. Although there was only one […]
Northern Counties Club The Derelict featured in a watercolour demonstration and talk about Junction 42 at the Northern Counties Club. The event was titled “Art in Prisons”. I shared many of my experiences working with ex-offenders. I also spoke about those who are serving custodial sentences in prison. One of the paintings that I started […]
In 2019 I posted a John Singer Sargent watercolour titled “White Ships” on social media. I spoke about the freshness and spontaneity of Sargent’s brush stokes and how Sargent would “draw” with his brush. It’s a technique that I’ve tried to cultivate in my own painting to bring movement and life to my paintings. Almost […]
Life Drawing One of the frustrating aspects of Lockdown has been the lack of Life Drawing classes. For several years I was able to attend weekly life drawing classes where I could develop my Figure Drawing. Usually I would tackle the subject in oils if it was the same pose throughout the evening. It was […]
Artist Support Pledge I’ve recently acquired my third original painting through the Artist Support Pledge. I spent a while waiting for the right painting to turn up before seeing the work of an Italian artist who goes under the name of Rosso Art. Rosso had posted an original painting on her Instagram account rossoartist which was […]
Artist Support Pledge At the beginning of May I was alerted to the Artist Support Pledge through artist and friend Adebanji Alade. After seeing his posts on Facebook and Instagram about the scheme I decided to do the same. I began to upload some of my smaller watercolours onto social media platforms and make them […]
Rowland Hilder Some of you may have attended my watercolour classes at my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland. You may remember in one of my demonstrations I showed you how to paint skies and trees. As an example I did some paintings in the style of Rowland Hilder who is one of my early watercolour […]
21. My style really began to develop when I was an art student. It improved through my desire to become a better watercolourist. More than ever, I am always seeking to improve my skills and to become the artist I’m meant to be. 22. I find that I’ve learned to know when to stop. […]