The Chalke Valley History Festival 2017

Sri Lanka this September

Join me this September from 11^th to the 17^th for a week of painting in the inspirational settling of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a wonderfully colourful, warm and friendly country and a great place to get away for a week of sunshine, sea, great hospitality, delicious food and perhaps most importantly a wonderful, place for painting. I went a couple of years ago for two weeks and can’t wait to get back to this exceptional country and explore more.

We shall have the chance to stay at one of two houses at Koggala Lake.

Sea Heart House, a destination in its self as can be seen in the photos here. There are 4 air-conditioned double bedrooms set in an acre of beautiful garden with elevated views over Koggala Lake.

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There will be a chance to paint various subjects and I will fully support you will be with personalised tuition

The days will include some short talks on various aspects and techniques of painting followed by painting sessions supported with advice and tips for improvement. There will be a limit of 10 people on the trip giving opportunity for one to one tuition.

There are many activities for non-painting partners whatever their range of interests, be they cultural, sporting or the natural world

For further information and costs, please contact:  seahearthouse@gmail.com

 

Drawing at Concerts

I have moved to willpaint.co.uk
Hope to see you on the other side

Sloth

As I find it a shame when blogs I have followed fizzle out so I'm going to try again with a post of my Christmas card showing our whippets Tara and Millie shopping in Oxford Street on a new "Boris Bus" driven by our African Grey Parrot Anna. This picture made the Christmas edition of Dog Art Today. http://dreamdogsart.typepad.com/art/

My elation at being there has an irony attached to it. When I was about 15 or 16 and still at school I had decided to become an Artist, a somewhat rash and questionable decision for my age. but there you go. I quite admired my Art teacher so when he derided Artists who painted dogs as one of the lowest forms of Sunday painter we all agreed like mad.

Here I am some years later, I am an Artist but what would my then self say if he heard that I had included dogs in my last 4 or 5 pictures?

There will always be artists painting pictures of every genre who are lacking in style or substance Dog Artists included but equally there are many wonderful Artists who paint marvellous dog paintings, My wife Sophy's family have a number of truly good Dog paintings including some by Landseer. Her interest persuaded me to look again. 
I think you could make an argument for Lucian Freuds Paintings of Whippets and other dogs to be some of his absolute best work.

 Girl With A White Dog - Lucian Freud - To be seen at The Tate Britain

One of my best friends was the Artist Craigie Aitchison. He painted his Bedlington Terriers repeatedly. We have his painting of Sugarbush going to heaven hanging in our house right now.

Sugarbush Going to Heaven - Craigie Aitchison

My friend Sally Muir has been doing a picture of a dog every day for a while now.
http://www.sallymuir.co.uk/?page_id=150
It's worth a look for sure.

I hope I have, over time become more open minded about paintings, certainly I view paintings of dogs very differently today. In fact Dog Art is now one of my favourite genres.

Happy Christmas!

RIP Ned Ryan

I was looking out some photos of my paintings and came across the photo of a sketch I did of Ned Ryan in Barbados. It was a hot day and after lunch I painted him for an hour or so while we sat in the shade. I would liked to have spent longer on it but in some ways there is a freshness you get working alla prima which is better than improving the likeness. He was happy with it anyway.

It was great to have a chance to talk to him for a bit, he was such a nice man. I never heard him say a bad thing about anybody, the strongest he ever went was; not one of my favourites. I would like to be more like him in that respect.

His memorial was on the 28th April and I was sad that I couldn't go that day. I sent one up for him instead.

It seems that blogs are like news year resolutions when it comes to keeping them updated. I thought I ought to mention this exhibition that I have some work in. Perhaps it will encourage me to post more regularly in future.

I haven't done many still lifes in the last couple of years so Have enjoyed doing one or two for this. Each Artist was represented in the invitations thay were sent out by a postcard of their work. Mine was this cigar and ashtray painting done in egg tempera on gesso.

This bring me to another point. I have always believed that the plural of Still Life was Still Lifes. Lives being the plural of a persons life and Still Life being another word with it's own rules. Any thoughts?

The show is in a gallery I last showed at 20 years ago called the Summerleaze Gallery at East Knoyle. It is owned by Tim and Trish Scott Bolton who also run Art classes there as well as in India. They have been joined by John Stoller, an American Art dealer from Minnesota now living in the area.

I went along to the Saturday night opening to see how it looked and enjoyed myself catching up with the Scott Boltons, their guests as well as some of the fellow Artists. There can be a nasty atmosphere when Artists meet at a group show. Jealousies over who brought who, who then went on to buy work from another etc.

I'm glad to say I didn't witness any ugly scenes on this occasion though.

The show runs until the 6th December