Paris 2

In my studio in London in the lovely spring sunshine and going through my Paris work for my Studio show in May and Chelsea Art Society in June.  I really enjoy the contrast of Paris with London; it's so completely diffferent. There also seem to be easier places to paint from.

Louvre, Afternoon light

By the Sennelier shop, Quai Voltaire

Place de la Concorde, Sunset

Louvre, Sunset

Seine, Early morning Light

I love Paris in the Springtime

I've just got back from a painting trip with the Chelsea Art Society to Paris - what a place!

It was very hard not to hum various tunes about the beauty of the city as I walked the boulevards searching for subject matter.  It's the most wonderful place to paint; not only is it lovely to look at, there are many areas to set up an easel without getting in the way. The spring light dissolved and transformed the place. I was extraordinarily lucky to paint with a very inspiring group - Luke Martineau, Alice Hall and Annie Wright.

This is just a taste of what I've been up to - further Parisian work will be up in the next few weeks

Flags, Arc de Triomphe, early morning

Ile St Louis - Evening Light 

Sunset, Pont de la Concorde

Tuileries, Spring Light

Vendome and Tuileries, dusk

Winter Work in London

The clear, strong winter light in London has been fascinating to paint.  The buildings of South Kensington are almost impossible to paint without sunglasses and I've come to realise that the dazzling white of the buildings is like painting snow .  I've continued to be transfixed by the play of light and shadows up and down buildings during the day.  The week before last I went to Soho - the Chinese New Year celebrations were in full swing

Chinese Lanterns and Light, Macclesfield Street, Soho

One of the projects I'm setting up is the street where I live. I do commissions of streets which have personal associations.  A massive plus point about working outside is meeting interesting and positive people who enhance the place. I had some really interesting conversations after working on these pieces.

Sumner Place, Mid Morning, South Kensington

But I'm always amazed by the everyday miracle of early morning light.  The ordinary is made extraordinary (although it is pretty nippy!)

Elm Park Gardens, Early Morning Light

I've also been taking advantage of the roadworks on Serpentine bridge, The large mirrorlike surface of the Serpentine is a gem. .

Serpentine, before Sunrise

Exhibitions:

The Pastel Society opens today and continues until the 5th February (www.thepastelsociety.org.uk) at the Mall Galleries, off Trafalgar Square. The Small Paintings Group at Piers Feetham Gallery, Fulham Road finishes on thursday 25th February.

Great start to 2016! Work in at the Pastel Society, Mall Galleries and Small Paintings Group Exhibition at Piers Feetham Gallery

What I love about New Year is a chance to reflect on plans for the next 12 months, new Ideas, methods, places to work, painting trips and shows. A great start is getting 2 pastels into the Pastel Society annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in February http://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/now-pastel-society

Clapham Common - Late Afternoon Light

Albert Bridge at Night

I've also got 4 works in the Small Paintings Group show at Piers Feetham in the Fulham Road, 28 January to 25 February http://www.thesmallpaintingsgroup.co.uk/ for more details. A painting trip to Paris is also being organised ; 2016 is looking promising!

December work

It's very mild in London at the moment; it makes a great change to work on the Christmas lights without your fingers freezing off. Another advantage of this time of year is that you can get a (relative) lie in as sunrise is about 8am - on the minus side, light is very precious as it gets dark so quickly.

On wednesday the light was superb; one of those winter days where everything looks good in London.  I headed up to St James' and then to Parliament square, then on to Piccadilly.

I had to work very quickly to get the light down;on St James' street the brightness of the traffic lights and lights on the cars rapidly made way to the early morning reflections on the windows of the buildings.

In Whitehall, working into the bright midday sun, it was wonderfully tonal.  The only colour was red from the telephone box and endless stream of buses

 

I finished up in Piccadilly at sunset where the traffic lights and car lights became more pronounced as the light faded and the glorious Christmas lights in Bond street came to life again

 

Autumn work and my studio show 12-15 November, Wimbledon Art Studios

It's been a great autumn for painting; the colours in the parks and streets of London have been inspiring.  I have particularly enjoyed the intense late afternoon colours; the strong golden light reflected in the leaves. I have spent a great deal of time by Queen's gate in Kensington Gardens where the light on the base of the Albert memorial constantly changes

 

There have also been some fascinating events to pastel, the lime trees by Stamford bridge made an interesting contrast with the blues of the Chelsea crowd

  The crowds gathering for a state visit made an interesting spectacle and I inadvertedly made £8.32 by accidently leaving my pastel box lid on my stool!

I have often found that, after walking miles and miles looking for an interesting composition, some of the best are not always the most obvious

The light hitting the side of the buildings on the Fulham road was mesmerising, as was the late afternoon light on Clapham common

Next thursday sees the opening of Wimbledon Art Studios winter show.  This week has been busy sorting out framing and autumn cleaning of my stuffed studio; its well worth visiting with the work of over 150 artists over four days (12-15 november) - I'm in blue 402

Autumn Exhibitions coming up

It's been a very busy year, painting trips in Venice and the South of France and London.  The weather has been superlative - that is, until this week!
New work to be put up shortly and shows coming up are:

Art for Youth, Mall Galleries, this week 5-8 october http://www.artforyouth.com/Home.html

Small Paintings Group, Russell Gallery, Putney, just by Putney Bridge, Lower Richmond Road http://www.thesmallpaintingsgroup.co.uk/exhibitions 15-21 october

I will be showing my work from the South of France, the intense light and strong colours were intoxicating.

Also, the brilliant and distinguished portrait painter, Andrew Festing, has painted my portrait as part of his Faces of London exhibition at Messums, Cork Street this week. It's a cracker, showing me working away with my pastels. All details on the Messums website.