Sultan Qaboos Susan and I were saddened to hear of the passing away of Sultan Qaboos bin Said on Friday the 10th January. He had led Oman with great wisdom for almost 50 years. When he took over from his father, it was a nation of virtually no infrastructure, schooling or hospitals. Now it is […]
My Christmas Exhibition Preview weekend started 29th November. The exhibition continues until 24th December and is a collection of recent original watercolour paintings. Subjects include the Northumbrian coastline depicting famous landmarks like Dunstanburgh Castle. Paintings inspired by a trip to Amsterdam can also be seen. In particular this new limited edition print of Windmills seen […]
Morocco I’ve recently been chosen as one of six artists to enter a painting competition. The subject is a scene of Marrakesh in Morocco. The competition has been organised by Cox & Kings. They are the oldest travel company in the world, established in 1758. Each artist has been given six photographs of Morocco. They […]
When I was painting on location in Kuwait back in 2009, I did several sketchbook watercolours around the Dhow Harbour. These studies became the catalyst for a number of original watercolour paintings of dhows, some of which I’ve had reproduced as limited edition prints. This particular painting depicts a solitary dhow bathed in sunlight, slowly […]
I’ve been watching with some interest “A History of Art in Three Colours” on BBC 4 on Saturday evenings. The first episode, narrated by Dr James Fox, looked at the way gold has been used in art over the centuries. Last Saturday it was the turn of the colour Blue. The programme began on the […]
Sur In November 2010 I was working in the Gulf on a number of painting projects. One of which took me to Sur, a town on the coast of Oman. Sur is famous for dhow building and has its own maritime museum. I had been before and I’ve produced a number of paintings of dhows. […]
Dhow The wreck of a 9th century dhow was discovered by local fishermen off the island of Belitung. In 1998 a German company was given permission to excavate the wreck. They discovered 60,000 pieces of rare Chinese porcelain. This became the birth of the Jewel of Muscat. From the remains, a reconstruction of the sailing […]
Paintings of Kuwait In 2009 I spent a couple of weeks painting on location in Kuwait. Several different subjects attracted my attention and demanded to be painted. One was the entranceway to the Mubarakiyya Souk in Kuwait City. I found a suitable place to sit outside the entranceway in the warmth of the January sunlight. Peering […]
I recently received an order from a client in the USA for 15 copies of this limited edition print titled “Dhows, Calm Waters”. The painting was inspired by some sketchbook studies I made in watercolour of dhows in Kuwait when I was there in January 2009. Since I first visited the Gulf back in 2007, […]
Paintings of Kuwait In 2009 I had an exhibition of my paintings in Kuwait. I spent time driving around the city, looking for interesting buildings to paint. A souk painting in my sketchbook was one of my first studies. Then some Arabian dhows in the dhow harbour. However, as soon as I saw this sign, […]