New Business In a few weeks time, I will be celebrating my 40th Anniversary in business as an artist. In 1984 I went self employed as an artist/illustrator using the Enterprise Allowance Scheme. It was an initiative that came out during Margaret Thatcher’s Government. To qualify you had to be unemployed and have a business […]
I’ve recently been commissioned to paint a client’s holiday home in Mallorca, a very attractive Mediterranean island. To be able to paint the property with greater insight, we felt it would be best to stay for several days to enable me to do some sketchbook watercolours, not just of the property, but also the small […]
On Friday 19th May I’ll be having my first solo exhibition outside of our Gallery in Ponteland since before COVID. The venue is Ponteland Memorial Hall. Ponteland Memorial and Ex-Serviceman’s Hall first opened in 1922 as a memorial for the fallen soldiers of WW1. Today the hall operates as a registered charitable Incorporated Organisation and […]
My Easter Exhibition is on Saturday 8th April at our Studio & Gallery in Ponteland. There will be some new local scenes on display including Grey Street and scenes of the Tyne Bridge. We will be open from 9:30am until 5pm. Prison Art Over the last 12 months I’ve been busy teaching prisoners to draw […]
In an earlier blog post I wrote about a new painting of the Sandhill, Newcastle which features the Tyne Bridge. I spoke about another painting I’d started of Newcastle Bridges on a Summer Evening. It’s a scene I’ve painted before, however on this occasion it’s a much larger watercolour painting. It’s one of my favourite […]
Newcastle For much of my career as an artist I’ve had the good fortune of being able to work in the city of Newcastle. This has enabled me to see the city through the seasons and in all kinds of weather conditions. One of my favourite views is looking down from the base of grey’s […]
World War One The 15th of February was the 25th Anniversary of the Angel of the North. I recall going to the site a few days after it went up to make studies. Being February, there had been a lot of rain so there were puddles and mud. My initial impression was that of a […]
White Sand and Turquoise Sea Our trip to Ullapool earlier in June was such a blessing. Before the trip, we had prayed for good weather so that we could visit and paint some of the incredible beaches with white sands and turquoise sea. As you can see from the photograph of Clachtoll Beach, our prayers […]
Childhood Holidays at Holy Island In the previous post I wrote about a painting project for a client. He has a holiday home on the Northumbrian coast. I’ve painted 4 new watercolours for his property which have been reproduced as limited edition prints. It’s been fun making several trips to parts of the coast which […]
Painting from Life I was recently asked to contribute to a blog post highlighting the Benefits of Painting. Snippets were taken from this piece below which I wrote for them. Painting has many benefits for those who have decided to take it up, even those who are older. Many folk are creative but perhaps […]