I want to tell you about a turning point in my practice. Whether it was the Covid-19 pandemic or other more personal issues coming into play, I experienced a profound lack of creativity during the first months of 2021. I felt no desire to explore further any of the artistic directions that 'Cutting Down' had showcased. After a month or so this feeling that everything had ground to a halt became intolerable; I decided I needed to do something about it. I would do something which was as far as possible from anything I had done before in the hope that it would produce some sort of reaction that would break the artistic log jam. And so in this strange and somewhat muddled state of mind I decided to do an online beginners course in portraiture. This was something I had never done before and which I had never had any particular interest in either. But to my enormous surprise I discovered not only that I was starting to enjoy painting again but that I was also starting to have some success with what was still for me then the alien territory of portrait painting. To cut a long story short, the artistic ice melted rapidly and during the first half of the year I began to experience a genuine urge to engage for the first time with the visual representation of human presence and personality. I have not posted anything on this website since these changes began to take place because I was not sure what to say or do about it, but I have finally decided to go public with the small number of portraits that I have so far completed . So if you are interested, please take a look at the new Portraits 2021-page of the website.
I am excited to be part of the Observation exhibition in the Severn Gallery at Brentwood, the former home of John Ruskin and I am particularly pleased that the curators of the exhibition chose my oil painting 'Looking Out' as the key image with which to promote the show. You will find 'Looking Out' in the portraits page of this website. Observation is on until 11th June. If you are anywhere near Coniston before then please pay a visit.
I am excited to be part of the Observation exhibition in the Severn Gallery at Brentwood, the former home of John Ruskin and I am particularly pleased that the curators of the exhibition chose my oil painting 'Looking Out' as the key image with which to promote the show. You will find 'Looking Out' in the portraits page of this website. Observation is on until 11th June. If you are anywhere near Coniston before then please pay a visit.
