'Autofictions'

 

Exhibitions come down a lot quicker than they go up….

I recently spent an hour alone taking down a solo exhibition of my paintings at Coventry’s Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. I had called the exhibition ‘Autofictions’ and although the actual exhibition had only been on for two weeks I have been on a much longer journey with planning and preparing it, and had felt a lot more stressed and anxious about it, than any other exhibition I can remember. I felt a little wrung out by it all. 

I have had many solo exhibitions over the years, 25 now, in various galleries and venues. Some galleries I have applied to and been offered exhibitions, mainly in municipal council-run galleries and art centres, rather than commercial, and others in spaces I have sought out or which have been recommended, such as more recently Malvern Library, or artist run spaces, believing strongly in the ‘do it yourself’ ethos of exhibiting your work, rather than waiting for the so-called gate keepers to offer me a show. I’ve built up a strong exhibiting track record like this, but the reach of the exhibitions always seems to be the same: a gathering of much-loved family and friends at the private view followed by a steady, but rather thin, stream of visitors. Despite diligently sending many invites to curators and galleries and local press for each exhibition hoping they might be interested in visiting I have rarely heard back from anyone in these fields. 

This time however, I decided to commission a curator and art historian, Ruth Millington, to help me promote the exhibition and write a press statement that could also be used for a write-up in the Birmingham Mail and Birmingham Post and other newspapers printed and online. I just wanted to explore and invest (Ruth doesn’t come for free) in some different strategies to help expand the exhibition’s reach, give it more ‘legs’, and stretch me by doing something something different. 

Ruth has been forging a well-earned name for herself as the leading writer on art in the region and beyond with her weekly exhibition features in regional and national newspapers and online. She is an award-winning art historian and writer, curator and presenter (I’ve added a link at the end…). She also runs a ‘get gallery ready’ bootcamp course for artists each year, which I hear nothing but good things about from artist friends who have attended it, at Solihull College. So, when Ruth visited the studio, we had a good crit about the work I had up to that point selected for the exhibition and she persuaded me that some of the work wasn’t ‘ready’ i.e. good enough(!) and reflected and discussed what she thought were the best qualities in my paintings. She was very easy to talk to, but also firm, straight and forthright with her opinions. It was very useful and I enjoyed being kicked around a bit. Together we felt that the landscapes, which possessed a more poetic quality, were where my strengths were, rather than the portraits I had selected of delivery drivers and policemen in some of the selection. There was an encouraging ‘not yet’ about these pieces from Ruth, which I agreed with. Many of the paintings that I eventually decided on did, however contain figures but they were smaller representations of figures in relation to the surrounding landscapes, and I can now see that these work better and are more interesting. After the visit Ruth completed a great press statement, which I then used to help shape the revised and final selection of work.

with Ruth Millington at the PV (a great help)

Reading her words on the page about my work was very useful in helping me reflect on my work with a fresh perspective and consider what the strengths are, but I also found myself thinking more about the weaknesses, perhaps because of the ones I had rejected with Ruth.  I find myself walking a fine line between the two much of the time and through the process of preparing this exhibition I have felt very aware of my shortcomings and how so many of the paintings just end up not being good enough. Most painters are never satisfied, that’s what keeps you going on, but this time it has felt more than that. I wonder if it’s an age thing. You get older and hope to be getting better as you demand more from your work, but at times I have felt much more aware of my own creative limitations and that maybe I have hit them. I want to be good, but I just think I’m quite good. 

'Breathe', a recent very large painting 

Most of the paintings I selected were completed in the last 3 years, but I also chose work from further back to 2016. These including some small lorries and a large painting of a transit depot which all sat well with a more recent dramatic painting of a truck stop at night.  These older paintings were received positively and sat well with the newer work. It felt good to own these older ones again and present them to a newer audience. They are strong pieces and more unusual in their subject matter. As artists you tend to always look forward, not back- but despite them being older paintings they have still rarely been seen, and it felt right to try and present them to create a wider and more varied vision about my engagement with the landscape of the Midlands. Seeing these landscapes again, combined with the real interest they seemed to attract from visitors to the exhibition, made me want to dig in deeper and once again explore these post-industrial landscapes as I move forward.  In the end the exhibition also had a nice day and night feel, with some of my recent scenes set in parks and canals hanging alongside the paintings inspired by my night walks.  

artist friend, Janice Rider enjoying the exhibition (great photo!)

Despite my own doubts and anxieties about the exhibition, it was received well by all that visited, and I had a lot of visitors to the Private View. I also sold a couple of paintings.  There was also lots of press coverage online and in the regional press thanks to Ruth’s contacts and press statement. Other opportunities have opened up too, but I’m not able to say any more about these as yet. More than any recent exhibition though, it felt like it was a time to pause and reflect on what I have been doing. I left the gallery with my paintings alone that afternoon, excitedly unsure about what’s next?

https://ruthmillington.co.uk/

https://ruthmillington.co.uk/shaun-morris/

 

Where have you been, where are you going?

 

Hiding, 

oil on canvas, 30 x 40cms, 2025

Since my last blog post the effort spent in trying to resolve the still life painting seemed to kickstart a renewed energy in my painting and in a relatively short time I found myself making a number of new landscape paintings in quick succession, with the still life painting seeming to rapidly disappear from view in the rear-view mirror. It now sits rather mutely on my studio wall, the plant pot with the face staring somewhat annoyed back at me as if it is asking me not to forget it. But painting for me can be like that: I can tend to work quickly from one piece to the next without thinking too much, just doing, just trying to spend some of the energy for painting that I carry internally that can get pent up. This energy tends to then run its course, and one must stop and think and focus again more carefully about what it is I am doing to try and move things on. Which is what has happened with some of these new paintings that I’m quite excited about. 

There are these paintings which are the ones that were made fairly quickly, one after the other…

Nomads, 

oil on canvas, 60 x 70cms, 2025

Skip, 

oil on canvas, 60 x 70cms, 2025

Locking Up, 

oil on canvas, 30 x 30cms, 2025

Late Night Truck Stop, 

oil on canvas, 50 x 60cms, 2025

View from the Supermarket Rooftop Car Park, 

oil on canvas, 50 x 60cms, 2025

Hospital Appointment, 

oil on canvas, 50 x 60cms, 2025

And then these larger ones which were more carefully thought out with more preparatory drawing beforehand before being executed…

Night Moves, 

oil on canvas, 100 x 120cms

Fable, 

oil on canvas, 100 x 150cms, 2025

The Afterlife, 

oil on canvas, 90 x 210cms, 2025

Empire of Dirt, 

oil on canvas, 100 x 210cms, 2025

These last two very wide canvasses were based on some photographs I took on one of my frequent visits to the local tip during the current bin strike in Birmingham which drags interminably on. I rediscovered these unusually wide (100 x210cms) canvasses from a sort out in the studio and thought they had the potential for some wide compositions that I was excited about that I had developed in my sketchbook. The first painting was based on a view I captured of a sea of discarded white fridges in a corner of the tip that I thought looked so striking. It was the sheer volume of them, but also their repeated sameness that cascaded across the frame with just some colour from the evening light cutting across them as shadows. I immediately saw that these elements correlated with some of the lessons I have absorbed from abstract painting- a lack or compositional hierarchy, a repetition of forms and a limited palette. 

The second painting is of a ‘gathering’ of different recycling bins, but this appealed in opposition to the fridges but was equally related to ideas that might be found in more abstract paintings- a rhythmic pattern across the surface created by the varying shapes, sizes and colours of the objects depicted. The planning of these paintings took longer but the actual execution of these paintings took just a couple of hours on each. I find them exciting, and it’s weird that such overlooked, or to some, ugly subject matter can hold such potential. I don’t think the finished paintings look ugly at all. 

I’ve enjoyed getting back into the landscape paintings again. There is so much to work with, which can be a blessing but also a curse when it comes to deciding what to work on. There’s too much choice and choices need to be made. But despite this, I’m hoping to work on some further paintings of figures and indoor spaces in the next few weeks..

Strange Victory, Strange Defeat...

'Artists are seekers. Some search for insights into cultural habits and circumstances; often they end up finding something else — a deeper sense of their own social role. Other artists concentrate on faithfully drawing and painting the objects around them. They’re liable to eventually arrive at a more elemental and solitary realization: what it means to exist in light and space….’

- John Goodrich reviewing ‘Peace Tree’, a retrospective of the works of Jason Harvey (1991-1982). 

In the studio…

I’m leaning too much into Matisse and Diebenkorn for quick solutions….the Red Studio, the Pink Studio…the Ocean Park paintings…trying to explore colour by lifting someone’s else’s explorations into colour. We all do it sometimes but that’s a lame excuse…Larry River’s paintings would have been a better approach to the surrounding space. I tried that in my sketchbook. There you go again…someone else’s shoes. 

Strange Victory…

What about just making a new painting based on a section of the bigger one? Like Suzanne Philips? I like her paintings. I like the simplification and the limited palette. And what about Jonas Wood’s graphic paintings of pot plants and those amazing interiors of his own home? I love those. Maybe I can do something like that? 

Strange Defeat…

…everything looks so mannered. Trying too hard. I can use all this grey on my palette though on the big painting. Jonas Wood uses a lot of neutral grey…

I need to paint the pot with the smiley face again today. It looks a bit like me when I was about eight years old…I don’t fancy it. Why don’t I just bring the pot out of its place at home and take it my studio to paint directly from it…I enjoy this way of painting still lives more, and I’m better at if. That’s the best idea I’ve had so far. It feels like a weight has been lifted…

Strange Victory…

That’s better. Here’s another canvas. I’m going to just paint the pot on its own and paint directly from life…Keep it simple. I feel more like David Hockney. He wears his influences on his sleeve but somehow comes out making paintings that can only be David Hockney’s…

I like the pot, but the depiction of the table looks a bit pants…I was looking at Susan Lichtman’s paintings. You can’t really tell. Her ones are good…!

Strange Defeat…

I have got rid of the background and the table line…. it’s ok, but it’s not finished.  I like the pot at least. I’ll come back to it…I get the other painting back on the easel and this time I bring all the pots and other objects to the studio and paint the rest of it directly from observation. This is much better and much more fun (painting should be enjoyable, at least for some of the time…). I have kicked out Matisse, Diebenkorn, Wood, Philips, Lichtman and everyone else out the door (except perhaps David Hockney, who hangs around for a fag..). It looks more like a painting of mine at least, but it is still not the best. I think it’s finished for now. It is some sort of record of this experience. I will live with it and see but I’m going to throw dirty turps over the big first painting, wipe it off and rub it down and think of something else….

Strange Victory, Strange Defeat…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVppNcUI1tM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4phNlof05lA

https://paintingperceptions.com/elizabeth-geiger/

https://www.booksteinprojects.com/artists/susannah-phillips

https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5344

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO57L-InSdo

Just For A Moment....

'Driver's Story', currently on show in 'Habitat', a mixed group exhibition at Cupola Contemporary Art, Sheffield

I’ve had several busy weeks where the year now seems to be gathering some sort of momentum. 

Last week I delivered 2 paintings, ‘Driver’s Story’ and ‘A Home in England’ to Sheffield’s Cupola Contemporary Art Gallery for a mixed group exhibition, ‘Habitat’. I also was pleased to hear that I had had a painting, ‘Thinking of a Colour’, selected for the Coventry Open 2025 at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. This will be my third exhibition this year already. I’ve also hosted a couple of studio visits recently, where I have invited different artists and artistic contacts round to my studio to discuss my work. That has been enjoyable, and I am really grateful to Sam Weeks artist and John Sewell and Dean Melbourne from Cosimo Art Gallery for giving up their time for me. Listening to their views and insights on my work has felt like a real privilege and it is a very generous act. 

I have often thought ‘Driver’s Story’ is a particularly good painting, if I say so myself(!), but I never feel it has received much interest whenever I have shared it on the usual social channels or for the first time in an exhibition last year, so I’m really pleased to have it selected for the exhibition at Cupola. I think it looks great in some from the exhibition which the gallery sent me. It’s exciting to see it out in the world beyond my studio.

'Plushies', oil on canvas, 85 x 100cms...a new painting that attempts to create a sense of the overwhelming anxiety I often feel as a parent of two......

My studio work, however, seems to be developing more slowly. I am working unusually slowly now and feeling my way painting by painting, not sure what I am going to do from one piece to the next. My interests have widened out from the landscapes, and I am pursuing different strands of work at the same time. These include portraits, landscapes and still lives. One of my pet dogs, Maple, has also found her way into the work too as I slowly develop a series of paintings that turns their attention more to my home life as I reflect on my relationships with the things closer and more personal to me through the paintings

"Maple on the Settee', oil on canvas, 60 x 60cms

I completed a portrait of my son, in a week when he was feeling particularly vulnerable that concerned us all at home. I felt compelled to capture an image of him on my camera phone as I looked in on him as I went to bed, after feeling very moved by the sight of him under the covers watching his TV in bed looking very small and young again (he is now 16). This painting seems to resonate with a lot with those who have seen it, particularly those who are parents.  Dean Melbourne, artist and arts advisor was very moved by it on his studio visit. I also took it to an ‘artwork appraisal’ at the RBSA where it was also received well, and I felt the more nuanced formal decisions I carefully think about were seen by the artists appraising the work that day. Both these experiences have been some sort of validation of this painting, so I think I might try and look for exhibition opportunities to put this piece forward to. 

'Under The Covers', oil on canvas, 60 x 80cms

I find myself on a real journey lately where I feel rather unsure as to where I’m going. Sometimes I feel like I should just determine a more defined and narrower theme for a series of works and go for that, cutting out all these other interests that fight for my attention, you can only do so much after all, and maybe soon I will, but at the moment I’m just trying to go with the flow…

'Highly Commended' at the Coventry Open 2025

After writing this statement above yesterday ( I tend to write the blog posts over a few days),  I reflected that perhaps the paintings about my immediate surroundings at home are the project I’m looking for and I just need to commit to that for a few months. I also attended the private view of the Coventry Open and my painting ‘Thinking of a Colour’ was selected as Highly Commended. I was quite shocked but also taken aback by feeling quite emotional. I persist so hard with my painting and it felt that after what has been a really difficult period in my life my painting felt ‘seen’…I’m not very good at ever celebrating my own work but sometimes, just for a minute, I need to remind myself I maybe should…

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...

 

2024 and all that...

A recent portrait photograph of yours truly taken by artist Gregory Day

It was this time last year that I heard I had prostate cancer. Cancer is a word that you never want to hear when you are told to sit down in the doctor’s surgery. It would be a few more long weeks before my biopsy results and I would hear how bad it was and what sort of treatment I would be needing. It was a constant noise in my head that I found hard to turn off, and it’s been like that all year to a greater or lesser extent. Luckily, the cancer was just about caught in the early stages and my treatment ended up being surgery in May to remove my prostate done by a robot no less! I never saw the robot, but I had silly thoughts about being wheeled into surgery to see either The Terminator, Metal Mickey or the robots from the Smash potato adverts of my youth.

A sketchbook drawing I made in hospital

My mind has often felt very separate from my body this year. I find myself recalling experiences such as the walk into the operating theatre at the hospital where the change of atmosphere from the quiet of the corridor outside was palpable, and then, in the ante room, receiving the several needles of anaesthetic in my abdomen. I also think about the pain of moving uncomfortably around in the weeks following surgery, inevitably knowing I was doing too much as usual, to the continued months of recovery which is still ongoing. It’s been a bit of a year. 

Anyway, cheery stuff. Thank goodness for friends and family and their support, and as ever, the culture that I have experienced this year, either working on my own artwork in my studio, or the great books, music, and film and TV I have enjoyed this year which in turns has uplifted me, moved me, focussed me and distracted me. 

Writer Elif Shafak, author of 'The Island of Missing Trees'

A great friend, Amanda, who has been a massive support throughout this year in all sorts of ways and reignited a love of fiction in the weeks after my surgery where in the quiet of my garden I found myself totally absorbed in books that she had passed on. The first being ‘A Little Luck’ by Claudia Pinerio, an Argentinian writer, which was such a compelling page turner, and then the magnificent ‘The Island of Missing Trees’ by the Turkish-British writer Elif Shafak. These are writers new to me, and not books I would normally pick up, and that all seemed to the good. They really helped me move towards a different, unexpected and more diverse path with my reading choices that I am grateful for. I also absolutely loved ‘Sweet Sorrow’ and ‘You Are Here’ by David Nicholls and ‘The Horse’ by Willy Vlautin. I love both David Nicholl’s and Willy Vlautin’s books. They are so full of compassion and heart. 

Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee

My absolute standout album this year must be Waxahatchee’s ‘Tigers Blood’, which is so good. I love Katie Crutchfield’s emotional, meandering songs, which are delivered with such brilliant phrasing in her remarkable voice. I’m still listening to the album now, despite it’s release much earlier in the year, and it was wonderful to have the opportunity to select and share the track ‘Right Back To It’ when I appeared on Black Country FM’s Monkey Jamboree radio show in the summer. I also really went on a nice trip with Kurt Vile’s ‘Watch My Moves’, although this is an album from 2022, through the summer too. 

'The Bear'

I seem to watch less and less movies and TV, but I have really enjoyed all three series of ‘The Bear’ on Disney+. There is something really compelling to me in its feel, texture and energy and it’s moving depiction of the complexities of the characters lives as they try to hold together their dysfunctional family life. It’s all very funny and compassionate too. And in the last few weeks I’ve been completely absorbed in ‘Wolf Hall’. I have been so in awe of Mark Rylance’s superlative performance as Thomas Cromwell. He has an uncanny ability to draw you into his character’s lives that is like watching a magic trick unfold before your eyes, but all the performances were fantastic in this superbly written and produced series. It’s the best series I have seen in years, and the final episode was devastating. 

Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell in the superb 'Wolf Hall'

I head into 2025 less certain of where I am going than I have been in years. I have had some big changes in my life this year, not least also scaling back my teaching to 3 days since September, something I have wanted to do for years, and this year I finally took the plunge. It is a bit scary though financially, but it presents a new challenge that I think I need. And my painting? Well, I’ll still be doing it of course, but I feel at a bit of a crossroads (but I frequently do), yet painting does feel like an exciting and fresh adventure every time I step into the studio that keeps me very much alive and engaged. As the late Frank Auerbach said, ‘it’s just the most marvellous activity….’I head into 2025 less certain of where I am going than I have been in years. I have had some big changes in my life this year, not least also scaling back my teaching to 3 days since September, something I have wanted to do for years, and this year I finally took the plunge. It is a bit scary though financially, but it presents a new challenge that I think I need.

A recent landscape painting....

And my painting? Well, I’ll still be doing it of course, but I feel at a bit of a crossroads (but I frequently do), yet painting does feel like an exciting and fresh adventure every time I step into the studio that keeps me very much alive and engaged. As the late Frank Auerbach said, ‘it’s just the most marvellous activity...