Fuengirola

Whilst waiting for the warmth of the sun to burn bright in England a little reminder of Southern Spanish heat. Fuengirola looking out to the sea.

The B-side of Bath: SBK–HSS

The British spring has not been too kind in terms of the weather. On one of our few sunny days so far I pitched up at an alleyway between the River Avon and the Upper Bristol Road, Bath. Though this really does not look like an Italian 'backstreet' memory's imagination can take you to strange places. So, as I sketched I found myself thinking Italian.

Portugal

It's seven months plus since I was in Portugal. During my stay I sketched and photographed  – I confess that I'm no photographer. The first fruits from that trip, in terms of studio painting, have begun to emerge. Certainly the location and light have had an impact but beyond that, or co-joined with it, the experience of time away with space to relax and reflect has created a particular resonance in some paintings. 

From the Archive: A map for the making 2

These small sketches (entitled: Two Islands) date from circa 1981/82. They have remained close to me since and if a map is for the making these two little 'friends' are contours on the creative landscape. They help memorialise the creative journey. I know they are part of a bigger picture and capture something that, so far, I've not had the insight to develop. It may remain so but they tantalise with the shimmer of possibility. Their importance lie beyond their scale and their significance beyond their realisation.

A map for the making

History, including our own personal creative history has a habit of ordering our lives in a neat linear manner. I find life is not so tidy. Little creative trails are opened up and may be pursued at once or at a later stage. This painting is one of several based on sketches made in the Botanic Gardens, Bath (where have you heard that before) which hint at other possibilities. Indeed, this painting falls into a category of work that comes to life as it moves away from the original sketch. It is about memory and re-orders thoughts, feelings and form. Perhaps it marks a trail for the future–A new map for the making.

RWA Drawing Lab 23-4-13

A day spent as a 'sitting artist' in the RWA's Drawing Lab proved to be a highly enjoyable and instructive one. The Drawing Lab has been created for the duration of Drawn 2013 as an interactive artist-led studio space designed to encourage audience participation and interaction. I certainly found that visitors were quick to engage in conversation about the exhibition (comments being very positive) and, with gentle encouragement, some were brave enough to stop and draw. I also met fellow exhibiting artists Jane Lee and Barrington Tabb which allowed further space for dialogue about the show and some exchanges on art in general.

When one thing is another

This painting loosely entitled–Allotment in a Mediterranean mood–is that kind of painting that begins in a certain locality but becomes a wholly different place in execution. In this case deliberately and not disingenuously so. Simply put, the majority of the elements were all there i.e. a local allotment in Bath but through colour choice and an act of the imagination I re-located the scene to somewhere in the Mediterranean.