December Stream Sunset. The river Esk, from a little bridge somewhere on a back road… Houlsyke is behind you, FryUp Dale to the right… I couldn’t resist those colours…

Just in case you wondered where you can see my paintings for real, here are my exhibition dates for 2019:
8+9 June. Memorial Hall, Pickering
29+30 June. Spa Pavilion, Whitby
7+8 September. Northside, Staithes Art Festival.

There are also ongoing exhibitions at Coast Gallery (Cloughton), the Geallery (Grosmont), the Runcible Spoon (Hinderwell), Ailsa Nicholson’s Gallery (Sleights), and Wold Pottery (Loftus). And a Summer exhibition at Blandscliff Gallery (Scarborough).

Of inspiration and how it is sometimes triggered…

Watercolour pencils are very useful for quick sketches as well as for longer work. There are some I really like because they are fully soluble and lightfast. I usually buy them singly or in small pack, but this winter I got the full range.

I drew the full scale, as it is useful to know how they behave when partly dissolved.

This inspired me to redo the sky on a small watercolour of Staithes I painted last year.

At the time I was working on Westerdale. There was this first one, experimenting on aluminium with acrylic markers and inks, and a more traditional large one in oils.

So these led me to an acrylic study:

Then one in oils:

And then a larger oil painting:

Then I moved away from the banding, but retained some elements, such as the colours and black framing, for my next one, Clitherbeck:

So sometimes a tin of pencils can lead to a large oil painting. There are always many projects and scenes clamouring for my attention, and I’m now working on something completely different, although in the same vertical format…

Now finished, Westerdale will be exhibited in Coast Gallery, Cloughton, from 1st February 2019. (now sold)

I love this time of year, the cold winds keep me indoors. In my one warm room, I snuggle up by the woodburning stove, planning exhibitions for the new year as we leave the deepest days of winter, catching up with reading, experimenting, exploring new media… remembering summer and finishing paintings, including this one started in August… Westerdale. Not quite finished, but just a few finishing touches to do, I think.

Westerdale. oils on block canvas. 40x120cm.

It’s this time of year… Just wanted to say THANK YOU! I couldn’t do it without you.

This weekend is Whitby Winterfest! At Whitby Pavilion on the West Cliff, Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd December, from 10am to 6pm.
PS. 3 December. Thank you to all those who came to see me at Winterfest!

Here is one from last year, reposted because someone expressed an interest…

Hummersea is very close to my home on the North Yorkshire coast. At the foot of Boulby cliffs (amonst the highest cliffs in England), Hummersea is a pebble beach and its walls retain signs of its industrial past. Time and weather have carved its stones, and our propensity for anthropomorphism leads us to perceive faces, appropriately enough, in the rock face.

Faces on the cliffs
Memories of lovers lost
Looking out to sea.

Next Weekend, 1st & 2nd December, is Winterfest at Whitby Pavilion. I’ll be there as part of the Whitby Art & Craft Collective, showing my new A4 Prints (21×29.7cm). Designs include my latest painting: Northside, Staithes.

Northside, Staithes.