I’ve been busy in my garden studio over the past month or two and the reason is, of course, that I’ve got an exhibition coming up! Here are a selection of images of new paintings that I will be showing at the Five Painters exhibition, where I will be sharing the space in Thornham Village Hall, Norfolk, with four of my artist friends. The show runs for two days, Saturday and Sunday 7th and 8th October, open each day from 10am until 5pm. Admission is free, although we will be fundraising for the local Stroke Association group, so please be generous with your donations.

There’s much more to see from all the artists, so do call in if you’re in the area. The hall is on the Main Road at Thornham, North Norfolk, PE36 6LX, just adjacent to the popular Thornham Deli and shop. Look forward to seeing you!

By way of something different, I decided to do a series of urban scenes, with a ‘rainy day’ theme. This isn’t a new idea for me, I did a rainy evening in Lisbon painting a while ago which swiftly sold, but this is the first time I’ve painted scenes of King’s Lynn in this way.

I still feel that I’m finding my way with this subject but nonetheless I was reasonably pleased with my efforts. They also met with approval from the Selectors of the West Norfolk Artists Association exhibition which is currently running in St Nicholas Chapel, King’s Lynn. All three paintings were selected and you can see them along with some 200 other fine artworks until 1.00pm on Tuesday 3rd September 2019. The exhibition is open every day from 10.30am – 4.30pm, except on the last day when it closes early to allow for the take-down during the afternoon.

I’ve been busy with various projects here in the studio, so I haven’t had much time to just make paintings for me. However, a couple of winter tree scenes have fallen off my brush in the past few weeks and you can see them here.

Both watercolours feature a very limited palette of colours. Shadows in the Lane uses Prussian Blue, contrasted with an orange mixed from Burnt Sienna and Lemon Yellow. Blue and Orange are two of my favourite complementary colours.

Sandringham Winter Trees is French Ultramarine Blue based, with touches of Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson and Quinacridone Gold.

These are simple compositions, but they still need careful thinking about colour, tone and brushwork. Feel free to have a go at something similar yourself!

As you may have noticed, there haven’t been many new Blog posts lately. That’s because, apart from a bit of teaching, art has had to take a back seat for the past several months due to my involvement with the new Dersingham Village Centre, or village hall. The Centre is open now and I’m sure there will be art exhibitions there at some point in the future, but there’s still a lot of work to do, as with any new building.

However, the end of the year is always Art Trail time, with the Dersingham Art Trail members opening their studios to welcome visitors. This year’s event was last weekend and in the couple of weeks or so before it I managed to squeeze in some time in the studio to make a few new watercolour paintings to show. You can see them here, a couple of scenes from favourite locations in the North of England and one much closer to home, the Norfolk village of Great Massingham. The three paintings shown here are all for sale, so do get in touch if you’re interested. Or just enjoy looking at them!

Yes, they don’t really go together, being at opposite ends of the country, but yet, in painting, terms, there are similarities. As I’ve written before, one of the themes that constantly recurs in my paintings is that of big skies and wide open spaces. Here you see two recent works that both embody that theme.

Thornham Harbour is just a few miles from my studio and I often paint views of it. Here I decided to focus on the incredible high tides that come into the harbour from time to time, often in the evening. The water in the creek just keeps on rising, flowing silently over the road until the famous Coal Barn is surrounded, like a stony island in shimmering sea.

Further north, the Yorkshire peak of Pen-y-Ghent also stands like an island in a sea or greens and browns. It’s quite a few years now since I walked the Pennine Way, but I still like to revisit those scenes in paint. This view is taken from one of my photos that I took while walking the Way, between Horton-in-Ribbledale and Hawes.

I just thought I’d add a little gallery of paintings that I’ve made over the past few months.  Eventually these will make their way on to my main website, but in the meantime I hope you will enjoy looking at them here.

If you are interested in any particular work, please use the details on my Contact page to get in touch. Some of these paintings have already been sold, but I am always happy to paint something not the same but similar. I also sometimes have A4 sized prints available.

Is there anywhere in Norfolk more painted than Cley Mill? Maybe not, although Burnham Overy Mill must run it a close second. However, apart from a few pen and wash demonstrations, it’s years since I last made a painting of this iconic landmark.

The opportunity to remedy that came last week, when I visited Spalding Art and Crafts Society for a watercolour demonstration evening. I wanted to choose a subject which would show the beauty of a simple watercolour, painted in a very limited palette of colours, and Cley Windmill fitted the bill perfectly. I kept the composition simple but made sure that the mill and buildings made a good statement against the sky. Don’t be afraid to use strong tonal contrasts in a subject like this, from white to almost black.

My palette of colours was simple in the extreme. Just two, one blue and one red. I used French Ultramarine for my blue and Brown Madder for my red, but a similar effect could be obtained by using Cobalt Blue and either Light Red or Burnt Sienna. But I like Brown Madder as it makes nice, slightly purple, darks when mixed with Ultramarine, and it can be varied from pale pink to reddish-brown by using more or less water with it.

The Spalding group were lovely people to paint for and it was a very enjoyable evening. When I got home, well after a few days actually, I looked again at the painting and decided the tower of the mill needed a little more fine tuning as it was looking a bit lop-sided. Often, it’s only when looking at a painting with fresh eyes that I can spot something that just needs a small adjustment. For that reason, I’m never in too much of a hurry to sign and frame a work, but prefer to look at it for a few days. However, there is a danger in this – fiddling! Only do what you feel to be essential, then put the brushes down.

I was pleased with the finished painting and will be showing it in the West Norfolk Artists Association spring exhibition, which is coming up soon. Thornham Village Hall, from Friday until Monday of the Easter holiday. 10am – 5pm on each of the four days. Do try and call in, if you’re in the area!