One week to go

Easter Exhibition looms

The pressure is starting to mount, I have a solo exhibition at the Grosmont Gallery starting on Easter Weekend. I think I'll have enough work ready although some might still be wet when they go up. I'm quite pleased with this latest one of the Mirk Esk, a little tributary of the Esk near Grosmont. It's lovely in the summer to put on a pair of flip flops and to walk up the river, that's if you don't mind a bit of slimey algae between the toes.


It's only natural as the big day gets nearer that I get locked into a picture that refuses to come right. I've spent three days on this simple picture over looking the Esk Valley so far. I'm thinking along the lines of subtle glazing to tone down the far side of the valley, I've been a little agressive with the blue.

Slatic Bay comes good

At low tide dawns at Saltic Bay can be spectacular. Unfortunately it requires three things: 1) Low tide, 2) the right weather and 3) me getting out of a lovely warm bed. It's great once you get there because very few people go and you get a wonderful dawn all to yourself. The reason it's so special is that there is a large area of flat rock below the cliffs, which becomes exposed at low tide. If there's no wind it becomes a mirror reflecting a hopefully gorgeous sky.

Autumn sunset on the moors.

I came back to this one and repainted the foreground. I couldn't identify exactly why.

This one is above a road called Oakley Walls that runs from Lealholm to Danby over the moors

Melancolia

I've been throwing colour at canvases recently and this, I guess, is a reaction to that. The moors can be incredibly bleak at times but also they have a raw beauty. Normally I have to walk away from a painting for a couple of days to let it bed in, this one however I could look at all day. Time for some wine and sad music I think.


Leaving Doctors wood


I thought I'd try some more traditionally shaped canvases. I've been painting long thin pictures now for so long I'm finding these proportions really hard to come to terms with. What do you think?

Autumn Beech trees

I climbed the stairs to my studio this morning with that dreaded sinking feeling only to be met by this this little beauty. Some times it feels as though I'm two people, maybe it's to do with sides of the brain and all that. It's probably best not to analyse what goes on in my sad little head, lets just say Berty did me proud yesterday. I've entered this in the Saatchi Gallery competition, if you would like to vote for it here is the link http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/showdown/index.php?showpic=2869

A frosty Hole of Horcum


I'm not a big fan of buildings, but every now and then I give it a go. This is Egton in the snow.