Something for the CV

Old Town Hall, Gateshead (oil on canvas, 12 x 14 ins.)

I was contacted recently by the Public Catalogue Foundation. Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust commissioned two of my paintings: Newcastle Quayside I and Newcastle Quayside 2 (sorry, no photos available at present). and the PCF wanted to know if I'd give them copyright permission to reproduce these two paintings in the Northumberland and Tees Valley volume of the Catalogue.

Naturally, I agreed. The PCF is a very worthwhile charitable organisation, cataloguing works held by public bodies so that the general public - you and I - can know where they are and perhaps gain access to them (which we have a right to do).

In the course of the correspondence, however, I pointed out that early in 2008 I'd also sold a painting (Old Town Hall) to Gateshead MBC and assumed it was now hanging somewhere in the Council Offices. Perhaps they'd like to catalogue that one too?

To my surprise, I found out from the PCF today that the painting is now owned by the city of Komatsu, Japan, having been formally presented to the Mayor of Komatsu by the Borough! I'm really quite gobsmacked.

Old Town Hall

Old Town Hall (oil on canvas, 12 x 14 ins) SOLD

This is how it looked when I handed it in yesterday. I'd come to the conclusion that there were too many colours fighting one another, so I dispensed with the purple sky and opted instead for one made from ultramarine with a little cadmium orange in it (both colours used in the rest of the painting).

I also managed to get a little work done on one of the Vaporetto pictures. These will represent my main occupation in the next few weeks, if I'm to have sufficient work ready for the show opening in April.



Caught in the Spotlight (work in progress)