| I’m at home, looking at my newly blank diary for the next three months; abandoned shows, cancelled contracts, delayed commissions. It is worrying but I am trying to view it as an opportunity for me to get into the studio and really get to work on creating some new paintings. The two new paintings I am launching here are the culmination of many months work, I hope you enjoy them, and that they provide some light relief from the watching the news… I plan to do an accompanying piece to the The Night Prowler, McCaw parrots I think. I will of course have the children off school, but here’s hoping we all settle down to a creative routine! (Wishful thinking?!) The Night Prowler came from a concept sketch I produced for a couture design studio who wanted to produce a jungle print on silk. In the end the project didn’t come off but I wanted to develop the sketch and after some time studying tropical foliage at Kew, and securing some reference images for jaguars I finally came up with two planned compositions. I’ve loved creating the more atmospheric background, and this is definitely an area I want to explore further. The Sable of Fables I heard rumours of the Giant Sable antelope while I was last in Africa, but really so few have ever seem them. The tiny population inhabit a small territory deep in Angola, and this sub species was thought to be wiped out in the Angolan Wars. They are enormous, magnificent antelope, the bulls horns can curve nearly two metres over their backs. There is now a dedicated team working for their conservation, and a percentage of profit from the sale of this original, or prints will go towards supporting their efforts. |
| So, dear readers, artists and galleries, if you’ve got this far down the page – please look after yourselves, and your families, and I am sending you all the love and strength I can. It’s going to be a testing few months for us all, I just hope that from the enforced quiet time I can at least create something worthwhile. If any of you are artists, and would like help, advice or for feedback on projects, please don’t hesitate to get in touch here. There are some incredibly inspiring projects, ideas and community art sessions springing up on social media. I will definitely be taking part in a few of them. |
| In other news…I’ve started doing a few portraits recently , and am really enjoying it after a fifteen year break! Read more here » |
| My other plan for the next few weeks is to get my long neglected YouTube channel up and running again. This link will take you to a time lapse of me painting a still life for the first time in about decade. A lot more practice needed, but I think I should have some spare time now! There are a few videos up there already and I will load lots more from the archives over the next few weeks. |