Hunters in the Snow...

oil on canvas, 50 x 60cms, 2025

It’s been a busy and productive January in the studio. I started the year wondering where I might go with my work but ended up painting a flurry of landscape paintings in a couple of weeks that I really enjoyed doing. I have less and less of a plan for my work in recent years and just try and follow what happens in the studio. The work is based on observations of the world around me and that means I tend to lie in wait for something to come along, a thread to pick up and pull, remaining alert and open to chance, or when it comes to the landscape, I go out hunting with my camera and sketchbook. 

oil on canvas, 50 x 60cms, 2025

At the beginning of the month, we had a blanket of snow fall across the country which pulled me out from the warmth of the house and out into the local common, canal and woodlands that I often frequent on my dog walks to enjoy taking several photographs. I have done several winter snowscapes now, which began in the winter lockdown of 2021, and I like the way the landscape becomes cleansed and simplified, and the colour reduced, and how quiet everything becomes. I like observing the skeleton of the landscape revealed in winter, particularly the bones of the dark trees, partially and temporarily hidden under the snow. I photographed some interesting fallen trees which reminded me of some of Graham Sutherland’s depictions of trees and plant forms in the Welsh landscape, but for now I have painted these paintings based on the paths I follow on my walk…

oil on canvas, 50 x 60cms, 2025

Into 2025....Friends Reunited...

'Ice Cream Wars' delivered to the RBSA Gallery...

I start 2025 with one of my paintings, ‘Ice Cream Wars’ being selected for the RBSA Friends exhibition at the RBSA Gallery in Birmingham in January. The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) is an artist-led charity which supports artists and promotes engagement with the visual arts through a range of exhibitions, events and workshops. The RBSA runs an exhibition venue, the RBSA Gallery, in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter, a short walk from the city centre. The Art Society has a long, prestigious history, having been established 200 years ago and I understand it’s one of the oldest art societies in the country. 

'Ice Cream Wars', oil on canvas, 120 x 150cms, 2022

I was encouraged to become a member of the RBSA Friends by an RBSA member I know, and as a member you have access to being able to apply for free to exhibitions at the (very nice) gallery, and also other events, talks, private views and workshops. I was a bit hesitant if I’m honest as the RBSA can have a reputation for being very traditional and a bit stuffy, but I have had work selected for 2 exhibitions there in the last two years and have really enjoyed the experience. The other work on show has been at times incredibly good, and the private views are very warm and friendly and full of enthusiasts, compared to the countless too cool for school events in other parts of the city, and the gallery is a great space to show work. I must admit that I’m also becoming aware of my age a bit in terms of how I am perceived as an artist by others, not with how I make work: the age and experience seems a bonus, but that opportunities to exhibit are thin on the ground for my age and demographic (white, middle-aged, and more!, male artist painting landscapes), that the Friends group could be a new opportunity to have access to good quality exhibitions but also fresh eyes and perspectives on my paintings, and a chance to extend my network of rather slim range of artist contacts. So, let’s see how it goes….

It's great to have 'Ice Cream Wars' selected though. It's a big piece and I always thought this was a strong painting but I've only had chance to exhibit it once, so exhibiting it in the Friends exhibition, with a much bigger audience will be exciting to see how it is received....exciting slash terrifying that is...