In this blog I discuss and show the importance of wall colour and its influence on paintings on a wall. I use my own abstract landscape paintings to illustrate the effects.

Hello, In this studio chat I am going to share some details about my forthcoming joint exhibition: Landscape Inside Out at Gallery Oldham in a Q and A format. I hope you enjoy it.

This year I am developing a body of landscape work for exhibition at Gallery Oldham in spring 2022 and therefore how I start new paintings is foremost in my mind! I started my explorations last year , mostly on location so I now have to get going with my studio painting!.

During the last year I have been exploring the landscapes that surround me here in Saddleworth. I will be sharing the work in an exhibition at Gallery Oldham in spring 2022. Therefore, I have been using a variety of different drawing, painting and mark making approaches to gather the information on location for subsequent paintings.

'What have we achieved in 2020?' I asked (out loud). To be fair, I wasn't specific, I didn't mention art..... 'Well you've regularly made banana bread, and it's improved compared to the first one (at the beginning of lockdown) when you didn't have the right flour, back in March. But even that one wasn't bad, and you are still making them and they are improving 'came the reply.

This is a new 'painting in the spotlight' regular feature on my Studio Chat which will enable me to share and discuss my finished paintings with you. For this first Spotlight feature I've chosen: 'Reflected Glory'. This is one of the first of my Mills Series of Paintings. I started it last year, and completed it this summer. It is available for sale (now sold).

During the spring and summer I have started to explore the landscapes around Saddleworth. These landscapes including moorland, woodland and the valleys in-between. I am developing a new body of artwork about these landscapes, using a variety of media and on different surfaces.

I enjoy working in a variety of media and surfaces, including sketchbooks. I often combine drawing and painting .  In many respects, drawing is my first love!  So it is probably no surprise that I love to create art on paper!  However, over the last year or so, I have mainly created finished works on wood: cradle panel or ply.   To an extent, I had moved away from work on paper.  But in the spirit of what I call –‘All that you can’t leave behind’ I have recently returned to it.  

I have started a new body of work: Inspired by nature (moorland, farmland and woodland). In these early days, it is mostly sketchbook and paper focused. I have described my overall approaches to starting new artwork, and you can read it here. In it I mentioned reading as part of my process. I want to get a more rounded understanding of the subjects I choose to paint, which goes beyond my own experiences and observations.

For the last couple of weeks I have been procrastinating rather than preparing for new artwork development. There are a number of reasons why I think I’ve been hesitant. Firstly, I am doing something much bigger than I have done before in terms of the amount and variety of work. Secondly it’s a new area of work for me

I recently received a really interesting question from one of my sketchbook drawing workshop participants. He had seen another artist whom he thought had a similar ‘style’ to me. He asked: ‘Do professional artists see others (with similar ‘styles’) as rivals or fellow travellers’.

This week, we have been able to go out and walk with fewer restrictions.  This means that I have been able to get out into the landscape to draw, bringing back to my mind the question of drawing as part of the painting process. Just a couple of hours walking on Marsden Moor enabled me to create some quick simple sketches. I love to draw on location and those of you that follow my work will know that drawing is the basis of a lot of what I do.  

Since lockdown containment vs. expansion have been on my mind. I have been working from a small room at home instead of a large studio in an old mill.  I talked about some of the changes I was making as a result of lockdown in my last blog.   Of course, when our world changes, to be smaller, more contained and restricted, you would expect the things we create to somehow reflect that change….maybe.  This blog talks about what I have found in my work and how I see it progressing.

The world has changed considerably since my last blog post a couple of weeks ago when I shared my new exhibition: About Ashton in the market hall Ashton-Under-Lyne. As we end our first week in lockdown in the U.K. every day seems to present some fresh unfamiliar challenges. Whether around health, family, money, work-the list seems endless. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and consumed by it. But on reflection, taking stock and forging new approaches could be just what we need.

As of today, Tuesday 17th March 2020, my About Ashton exhibition is on show in the Market Hall, Ashton-Under-Lyne!! . After a few months putting this work together, it feels like a mixture of excitement, nerves and relief! On a practical note, it is likely that many fewer people will get to see it in person than we originally thought. This is because of the unprecedented times we are witnessing with Corvid19. But I want people to be able to have a good look at it and hear what it's all about. Even if they can’t get to the market hall!

My selected word/phrase for the year is Breathing Space. Now, for those of you that know me, it will probably make you laugh out loud!! Because, I’m not that good at this ‘taking a breather’ notion. In fact, I’m really hopeless at it. So, why choose Breathing space and what do I think it’s going to mean for me this year-both in my life and my art?

The Joy of Journaling was unknown to me until about 6 months ago. Before then, the only type of art journal I used was a sketchbook full of my latest on location drawings. But these were not for evolving, testing and solving. So what made me start keeping a different type of journal; what changed?