New Paintings for a New Year

A new lot of paintings coming up, influenced by a visit to Wilhelm Sasnal's exhibition at Sadie Coles, and my love of Goya. I have made up a lot of small canvasses, 30x40cms with calico covering the canvas. Here are the first three:

 (Goyesca3) 2015 30x40cms oil on calico

another Goyesca, 30x40cms oil on calico

New Year 2015

January night, The moon on Tuesday was fantastic, enormous and bright as I was driving at 6.30pm. Half an hour later the magic was gone.   The pollarded willows look remarkably like growing axons of neurons...axons carry messages to the next neuron and also nutrients etc to the axon tips..... so they are busy transporting important messages etc.  so the willow has a trunk which is active and pushing upwards to the night sky. A visit to Wilhelm Sasnal's exhibition at Sadie Coles made me see how important using the quality of the surface is, oil on calico on board, thin paint and simpler areas.

January Night 2015, oil on calico on board, 100x120cms

January 2015

I finished a December painting, a swan on the Westhay nature reserve seen late one afternoon, white against the dark of the water. 

November Swan 2014, oil on calico on board, 100x120cms

I have also just finished my September Gunnera, which has metamorphosed along the way, taking far longer to paint than other painting, probably because of the complexity of the female flower, and the inside of the leaf, like lace, in the sunlight. I wanted the whole thing to be very sexually suggestive, and I think I have now achieved that. I am told that Georgia O'Keefe didnt actually think about such things?!

September Gunnera 2014, oil on canvas 163x200cms

Reaction to the Turner exhibition

This is my reaction to the fabulous  'Painting Set Free' exhibition of late Turner at Tate Britain, another 'All Roads Lead to Godney' 2014, oil on canvas 163x131cms.  Subject matter of now, traffic lights and rain on the road between Coxley and Wells

Winter's here...November 2014

All the excitement of WAC is over for the year. A very successful show, I think. I have been finishing my partner to the August Artichoke...September Gunnera. Painting the 'female' flower took weeks, as it an extremely complex structure

September Gunnera, oil on canvas 163x200cms

Also working on past paintings, and hope I have made improvements. I think the time is coming for another journey

August Artichoke

And now its Somerset Art Weeks, we have had lots of visitors in Godney, and also at the Red Brick Building in Glastonbury where this painting is on show.

I have been painting this, thinking hard of my good friend who I loved dearly, who died today.  Hilly. A celebration of her wonderful life and personality, with great sadness for her family, Michael and all her siblings, and her many, many friends.

August Artichoke, oil on canvas 200x160cms

July 2014 the weather continues wonderful

On most days, that is of course, but I did have to travel back to Godney along the M5 again on one wet evening

All Roads Lead to Godney 2014 oil on linen 163x131cms