Chinese Bottle

 Chinese Bottle

(Acrylic on board, 8 x 8 in)

[SOLD]

This small still life painted, I think, during the Lockdown, has now sold and on its way to its new home.

"Frying Pan"

 

"Frying Pan"

(markers in 21x26 cm sketchbook)

After such a long time in Covid-19 Lockdown, it was good to answer the call from Colin and get together with the Mondaymonday Sketchers in Saltwell Park today. I settled on some of the mock fortifications of Saltwell Towers and drew one of the turrets that I still think of as "Frying Pans" - what I called them when I was a boy.

In Saltwell Park

In Saltwell Park

(acrylic on mountboard, 25x25 cm)

Shipley Art Gallery’s next Art Challenge, asked us “to paint somewhere close to where you live that you like to visit to relax or exercise.” Fifteen minutes walk away, Saltwell Park is a favourite place and in these Lockdown times is taking on an element of magic in my mind.

In my second year at Newcastle University (1999), I chose as my Special Project, Saltwell Park and partially filled a sketch book with drawings of the Park. None of the paintings I started for that Project came to fruition, so it seemed a good opportunity to take one of those drawings now and finally make something of it. I'd always wanted to make it slightly mysterious and that's the atmosphere I get from this painting.

The Winged Vase

The Winged Vase

(mixed media on board, 9x9 in)

Finished yesterday, this is my contribution to the week's Shipley Art Gallery Challenge. It was painted over an abandoned painting that revealed the pots when turned upside down.

Now offered for sale under the Artist Support Pledge scheme, this unframed painting is priced at £90, (incl. P&P in the UK). To buy, or ask for more details, contact me.

The Botanist

The Botanist

(acrylic on canvas board, 8x8 in)

I often think that when I'm unable to go out as now, due to Coronavirus Lockdown, I turn inwards to my imagination. When I completed the recent Man with Birds, it triggered a renewed interest in figure painting of a certain type. Previous attempts to get the idea up and running always failed, but this latest effort seems to be on the right track. 

Telephone

Telephone

(markers in A5 sketchbook)

In these days of Coronavirus Lockdown I find the days merging into one another, so it's not really surprising that it wasn't until members of Mondaymondaysketchers started posting their sketches online on Monday evening that I realised I'd forgotten it was Monday and hadn't done the Monday Challenge.

The Challenge, set by Colin again, was "This has meant more to me since the lockdown started". A challenge indeed. On Tuesdaytuesday, I asked myself what to draw? Abandoning the idea of drawing a bottle of gin or whisky (someone had beaten me to it!), I finally decided on the telephone in my studio.

If truth be told, I rarely use the landline these days, preferring emails, but I think the telephone serves as a symbol of the need to stay on contact we all feel at the moment.

Stay safe and well, y'all!