It’s always nice to have an excuse to get out with the painting gear and actually do some work on location. So often, pressures of time or weather mean that I end up working from photographs not actually in front of the subject. Not that I mind working from photos, there’s a lot to be said for starting with one and then creating an artwork out of it that bears only a passing resemblance to the original photograph. The photo just becomes the kickstarter of your inspiration. However, I digress.

On the 22nd and 23rd October I shall be in Norwich, a fine city, to take part in Paint Out Norwich. An open air painting competition which is part of the autumn Hostry Festival at Norwich Cathedral. Sixty artists applied to take part, and thirty were selected. We shall step up to our easels at 9am on the morning of Wednesday 22nd and there will be four three hour sessions over the two days. Each session will see the artist working at a different location, so I will get round four of the seven that are on offer. The sessions will be 9am to noon and 2pm to 5pm each day. At the end of the competition all work will be judged and there are some nice cash prizes up for grabs. Following on from that there will be an exhibition of the work for the remainder of the Hostry Festival, until the 2nd November I think.

Having recklessly accepted this challenge, I thought that I’d better brush up, so to speak, on my cityscapes. Here is one that I did recently. No, not Norwich, Agra in India. And no, I didn’t paint en plein air, that would risk being mobbed. But if you saw my photo you would find it very different in mood and lighting to the painting. Wish me luck and do come to Norwich to cheer all the artists on. The public, and the media, are encouraged to look over all the artists’ shoulders. No pressure then!

You can find out all about the event, the artists, and the locations at the website paintoutnorwich.org

Well, here I am in the Shakespeare Barn, king’s Lynn Arts Centre. surrounded by eighty-two of my paintings, and there are still just a few left at home! This is the start of my celebratory exhibition, Stephen Martyn at 21, which opened on Friday evening and runs now until Saturday 21st June.

Already we’ve had quite a crowd of visitors. The Private view was a great evening, buzzy, with warm summer sunshine and some excellent jazz music from my friend Mike Smith and his trio. Lots of familiar faces but plenty of new ones too and yes, paintings were sold. The first full day, Saturday was also busy with a constant stream of visitors doing the rounds of the four galleries here. I’ll feature the other exhibitions in a future post, but they are all very varied and all well worth a visit.

Today Sunday, it’s quieter, perhaps because the weather is so good that people are out in their gardens or on the coast, but nonetheless we have had people in and there have been some nice comments.

Over the run of the exhibition I will endeavour to post on this blog most days, and to feature two or three pictures from the exhibition in each post. Do try and get along to see them for yourself! Margaret and I will be here most of the time, from around 10.15am until close at 5pm. The galleries are in the courtyard behind the Guildhall in King St. King’s Lynn, and you’ll spot my banners at the entrance to the complex. There’s lots of information about the Arts Centre on its website kingslynnarts.co.uk including maps and directions.