Secret Art For Water

This is a request to any of my artist friends, whose blogs I follow or who read this one.  Would you consider painting, drawing, collaging, doodling a small artwork 13cm x 18cm in aid of a fantastic charity...read on and see if you can help...

 Secret Art for Water is an exhibition and sale of original postcard-sized artworks in support of the Falmouth Rotary’s WASH project in Uganda. Hosted by Beside The Wave and supported by RTP Surveyors, the exhibition’s challenge is to raise £3,000 in support of this vital work. In achieving this target, the proceeds of the sale will unlock the final tranche of funding for a £124,000 project designed to bring clean water and sanitation to two Ugandan communities. This will result in improvements to health, education and economic development in two Ugandan communities.

A Secret!?

The exhibition at Beside The Wave will include work by acclaimed and amateur artists, up and coming artists (graduates, undergraduates and school children from Cornwall and Uganda), as well as the odd celebrity.

Each postcard-sized work of art will be sold for just £35.00 and, with many of the works valued at ten times this amount, art lovers have the chance to bag a real bargain! Proceeds from the exhibition go in their entirety to the Falmouth Rotary WASH project.  The Rotary club is multiplying any donation by 3.5 so a postcard brought for £35.00 will in effect add £122.50 towards the project.

 

Beside The Wave gallery will display the eclectic collection of postcards in a week-long exhibition. Works of art will also be available to view on line. Works can be purchased on a first-come-first-served basis on the night of the ‘Reveal’, in person and by telephone, and remaining work will be available for purchase via the web thereafter. Collectors will discover the artists’ identities only after purchase on the night and each work of art is signed and dated on the back.

Prospective purchasers must contact Beside The Wave for a Collector Number prior to evening sale that will enable us to gather the information necessary to claim the Gift Aid on any money raised. The evening will be sponsored by RTP Surveyors in association with Beside The Wave. Drinks and canapés will be served to guests between 6.00 and 8.00pm.

If you think you could donate a small painting this is what you need to do... 

Art work must measure 13 x 18cm.

You can paint, draw, collage, anything you fancy, as long as the end result is this size.

Please remember to sign the back of your work.

Plus print your name, the medium you have used and a title.

You can collect card and labels from the gallery if you wish.

Send your work to the gallery,  by MAY 31st...10 Arwenack Street, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 3JA or deliver by hand.  We are open 10am until 5pm six days a week and 11.30am until 4pm on Sundays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commission

February Afternoon in Chelsea
60 x 80 cm
oil on board

 Sometimes paintings paint themselves, sometimes they struggle to be born and gasp for air before stuttering into life, often with commissions the latter is the case because you are trying to please a client, trying to uncover their vision.  With this commission however it was the former, right from the start.  A lovely trip to London, risky because I only had one day and it was in February and I very much wanted the light.  I had worked out that the afternoon would be the beat time for the room.  The day dawned misty and grey, not hopeful but I could work with imagination perhaps.  I didn't need to as just as I sat down to begin working in my sketchbook the sun beamed into the room filling it with a warm and beautiful light.
A month later, finished and framed it was delivered to the clients new home, a lovely reminder of their old family home in London.  They were very happy and so was I.

A Long Time Ago

Nily expecting Sarai

This morning I was looking for something and found an old folder of sketches.  Nearly 30 years ago I was living in Israel, painting all the time, here are two, very old sketches.  I think they are rather good!

Israel, Night and Backgammon.

Great Gallery

Yellow Hall
600mm x 400mm oil on board
£795
SOLD

A few more from the exhibition, its all hung now and the evening viewing went very well, lots of red dots which is brilliant.  It makes such a difference seeing everything displayed beautifully, I think sometimes artists don't realise what a good gallery can do for you.  Anyway, I appreciate it and I know that they earn every penny of their commission!


The Uncertain Sunlight
610mm x 550mm, oil on board
£1050
SOLD

A Tangled Thread
200mm x 150mm, oil on board
£325
SOLD

Doorways
610mm x 400mm, oil on board
£795

Some of the studies for the paintings are mounted and for sale as well:

Study for Doorways II
190mm x 130mm, graphite on paper
£75
 

Study for Doorways
190mm x 130mm,graphite and watercolour on paper
£75

My Solo Show

The Italian
610mm x 800mm, oil on board £1,250

My solo show "Simple Things, Still Life" is ready to go, the Evening Viewing will be on February 15th, the catalogue is out and some of the paintings have already sold.  I am excited and nervous!  Its a lot of work and a lot of heart and soul go into painting. 
It has been a very exhausting but brilliant thing to spend months working towards a whole show.  As a painter who is so used to documenting my work on this blog it has been difficult to keep it all under wraps... because I thrive on your comments!  However now all is framed and by this time next week everything will be in the process of being hung.
There is also a book, which is lovely.  It has many of the paintings from the show along with studies and sketchbook work and some musings by me on each painting.  You can buy it from the gallery web site or win one by going to the gallery face book page and liking and sharing the page, that's got to be worth a try!


Afternoon Sieste
800mm x 610mm, oil on board £1,250
SOLD

You can see all of the paintings on the gallery web site now and you can even go onto their mailing list which will keep you up to date with e-catalogues and special offers for my work and any of the other artists that they represent.

Silver and Lime Flowers
230mm x 300mm, oil on board £425

The paintings are a collection of interiors, "found" still life and gardens, all inspired by memories and recollections of childhood.  Anyway, I hope that you enjoy looking at them and if you are in or around Falmouth on Friday 15th from 6 in the evening it would be lovely to see you.


Tous le Matins du Monde
800mm x 610mm, oil on board £1250
SOLD

Sketchbooks

Some sketchbook pages, I absolutley love sketchbooks, they are the essence of everything and they provide endless entertainment when the winter evenings are long and dark, there is always something to draw.

It could be doodling little figures, drawing faces or sleeping cats

 

 

Organised Chaos

 This is my studio with about 39 frames in various stages of preparation, undercoats, gesso, sanding, lime-waxing.  Paintings being finished, measured, varnished, drying.

Temporary tables supporting drying things and it has even overflowed into the kitchen. 
It is all in a good cause though.  Well I think it is a good cause, Big Dave might well be of a different opinion, it is all for my solo show at Beside the Wave which opens on February 15th. 
I have been working very hard, I am extremely happy with the work and there is to be a book as well. There will be more information at a later date.

Hope in the Cold

Life is hard.
Sometimes it’s too much to bear.
Sometimes you’re the one left to pick up the pieces. On your own.
Whilst we’ve all been out enjoying the snow – building snowmen and throwing snowballs, Gretel Parker, a dear friend of many, both online and in real life, has suffered a loss most of us don’t even want to think about. Her partner of 21 years – Andy Macauley – her sweetheart, companion and very best friend, passed away unexpectedly, alone in the snow.
Andy died without a will and the months between now and when the lawyers decide what is left to whom, if anything, are going to be a daunting and financially difficult time for Gretel – there is a funeral to arrange, not to mention bills to pay, and everyday life to manage – and without Andy’s wage coming in, Gretel’s financial situation is nothing short of precarious.
Gretel blogs about life in beautiful rural Shropshire and makes the most beautiful things, Eliza loves her signed copy of The Mermaids Castle, but the wage of an artist and blogger is not enough to pay a mortgage.
Andy was the only family she had, she has no living parents and no siblings, the usual ring of support is missing.
And so it comes down to us, her friends, to help her through.
The Gretel Parker Project has been set up by Gretel’s friends to try and find some hope and support for her in the cold, dark place she has found herself in since Andy’s death. If you can spare anything at all to help her, even if it’s just a pound or two, it would mean the world – the last thing she needs after losing the person she loved more than anything else is to be unable to pay the electric bill or buy food.
If you can’t make a donation then please, please, spread the word about the project – be it on Twitter, Facebook or word of mouth. Re-post my blog post or the project page itself, right now we are Gretel’s family and support circle and every tiny thing we do can help.
We are the hope where all hope is lost, the fire in the snowstorm.
Please help, if you can.
(re blogged from CaroleHolland)

Reasons to be Cheerful...

First reason, the painting one... I have been very busy over the last few months, painting for a solo show in February.  Still have a few more paintings to finish then all of the framing to do. 
This is one of the press release paintings.  I cant show any of the others yet.
The show comprises of paintings, mostly oils, a few watercolours and some charcoal drawings, of interiors, gardens and "Found" still life.  Portraits without people.  There will also be a book of the work, some words of explanation and some of the working sketches.
Its very exciting and I am very pleased with the collection so far.

Second reason, the illustration one...I have also been working on a series of books with a great company called Real Reads, classics re written for children, with about 25 illustrations in each.  Titles finished so far are "Silas Marner", "The Thirty Nine Steps" and "Mill on the Floss", I am in the middle of "All Quiet on the Western Front" and still have "The Riddle of The Sands" to do.

There are many more titles by other authors and illustrators and if you have a young person who likes to read then these are great, you can find them on Amazon or their own web site. Real Reads

Third reason is a mixture of painting and illustration and still top secret so I cant say any more!

Have a very happy new year!

 

Christmas Shoe Paintings



Wedding Shoes
100mm x 100mm, oil on board

Red Shoes
100mm x 100mm, oil on board

More Christmas Paintings

Oysters and Crystal
145mm x 145mm, oil on board
SOLD



Oysters
65mm x 120mm, oil on board

Two Commissions and some Lush Framing

 Two commissions, both paintings measure 40cm x 60cm without the frames and as for the frames...

I am very proud of them, framed in house, by yours truly and for the first time...

 I have made my own gesso.  It is a recipe that includes honey among other things.  It is exciting to make in that it makes me feel part of an ancient tradition of artist/craftsmen and that is something that I have discovered means a lot to me.  The craft of art!

 Anyway this gesso goes on like a dream, the frames have about 8 smooth coats and then a luxurious waxing with beautiful smelling framers wax.  The inside line is gilded with 24 carat gold leaf and, I think, adds a little shaft of warm light to the paintings.

These two are destined for a beautiful home in Bath where they will sit either side of the fireplace and fit in perfectly with the Georgian splendour of Bath.

Christmas Already!

Green Brocade Shoes
6cm x 11.5 cm
oil on board

The first of my paintings that are in the Christmas show at the gallery, I will post up more in the next few days. And I am sorry that I have been so neglectful of this blog, explanations will follow when I can make public what exciting thing it is that I am up to! (intrigue!)

London Affordable Art Fair

The Scent of Lilies
120cm x 150cm
oil on canvas



 I am off to London, in about an hour, to exhibit with Beside The Wave at the Affordable Art Fair, taking the work of 7 of our artists, the above painting is one of mine, its big!

It should be a good show, it is always hard work but very enjoyable meeting lots of new people and hopefully matching them up with beautiful works of art.  If you are going please come and see us, we are on stand H5.
Got to go, got a plane to catch!

Gweek Boat Building

Gweek Boat Building
615mm x 510mm, oil on board
£750

This painting is displayed at the National Maritime Museum, Falmouth, where it will sit alongside the other work by six artists from Beside the Wave gallery, that is six including me!  Andrew Tozer, Robert Jones, Miles Heseltine, Alasdair Lindsay and Amanda Hoskin. Good company.
Back to the painting, it is the other view from the painting "Three Little Skiffs"  Looking into the light this time, again another glorious workshop muddle.

Wet Floors, Newlyn Fish Market

Wet Floors, Newlyn Fish Market
400mm x 600mm, oil on canvas board

This is on display at the National Maritime Museum, Cornwall.  Perhaps it should have been called empty fish market.  Anyway it was beautiful, the light coming in through the plastic strips over the doors and all reflecting off the wet floor.  Part of the Cornwall and the Sea exhibition.

Three Little Skiffs

Three Little Skiffs
900mm x 750mm, oil on board

Another workshop painting, imagine lovely smells of new wood, tar, creosote, oil.  The light given by the tarpaulin roof is soft and golden.

Cornwall and the Sea

Diesel Tanks
310mm x 410mm, oil on board

Exhibition, Beside The Wave in conjunction with the National Maritime Museum, Cornwall, six artists paint their Cornwall.  My contribution is all about boat building and fishing.  Here is the first offering, a lovely muddled workshop down at Gweek, where they build traditional wooden boats.

Summer Gardens

Potting Shed
210mm x 165mm, oil on board
£320

As anyone who ever reads this blog knows, I have a thing about painting gardens, and sheds.  This is my friends shed, she is a gifted gardener and she has the best kind of shed.  Piles of really useful things, bits of chicken wire, stacks of pots, a feast for painting.  This is in the summer show at Beside The Wave with lots of other wonderful summery paintings.  Four of our artists had big articles in Artist & Illustrator magazine this month, well worth a read and better still, the gallery is well worth a visit.


Mud Pies
425mm x 590mm, oil on board
£700

This is another garden, or allotment, painting which is in the collection. Also, what do you think of the scale figure.  I find trying to visualise the size of things from numbers quite difficult and I was trying to think of an easy way to show how big a painting is, especially on the Internet.  So I made myself a little scale figure, average height person, with the picture beside, all to scale, plus a line for how big the frame is.  Useful or not, opinions gratefully received!

Little Surf Hoppers

Little Surf Hoppers
185mm x 185mm, oil on board, £300

Everything will be up on the walls of the gallery today and on the web site.  The exhibition lasts until August 15th.  I don't know yet what it will all look like as I work from home four days of the week.  But I am going in on Sunday, by boat, and so will enjoy the "first hit" of seeing it all displayed beautifully, which is always a pleasure.