View from my studio in Wales.

My small garden draws my gaze throughout the day. It's unexceptional; no flamboyant swathes of bright colours only subtle greens, some of them almost grey. I'm drawn to the random shapes of the plants, nothing has been planned, it's all accidental. It's a gentle image but never dull. I keep looking.

At the end of the garden there is just a touch of the exotic. The poppies!

New paintings

Weekend Away oil on canvas 60x80cms



I have three paintings for the Summer Exhibition. In the next couple of weeks I'll get them framed and delivered to the gallery. That leaves me a month to pick up fresh supplies of paints from London and sort out my affairs here before setting off for France
I am already thinking of my studio there and the ideas I have for new paintings.

Tangled up in Blue.

I'm working with the radio on constantly, following the Clegg/Cameron negotiations. It's unsettling! The painting I'm working on will be finished in a few days. It won't reflect the political turmoil but it will remind me of these few days everytime I look at it in the future. So far it's untitled - now there's a thought! "Tangled up in Blue" courtesy of Bob Dylan might be just the thing!

One day I'll have a magnificant studio.

I am in serious need of a new studio. Today has been frustrating because there's so little room to move around in. I dream of space........lots of it!

Sunshine at last!

It's South of France weather and the colours on the canvas reflect this.
I'm working on two paintings for the Summer Exhibition.
One is leaning against the wall in the studio. I can see it wherever I stand in the room. It needs more work but I need more time to study it.
I have started working on a smaller canvas and already my palette has changed in response to the sunshine outside. The shift to bright, vibrant colours is liberating and the marks with the palette knife become freer and confident. I'm thinking of the studio in France where I will be in a few months time but right now it's good to be in Wales with the sun shining.

Driving west

From time to time I take paintings from Cardiff to St Davids Studio Gallery in Pembrokeshire. The drive takes in this stretch of road. It's almost always deserted and a great place to stop for a moment to just gaze at the sea.

St Davids Studio Gallery, Nun Street, St Davids has been showing my work since 2004. The gallery carries a selection of my work which changes throughout the year.

Thoughts of Montcuq

Hill Village. Oil on canvas 36x26cms

When I answer the phone this evening I hear a french voice and I'm immediately back in the village. I listen hard as he tells me the news. I want to know everything. The days are getting warmer he says and I now feel it won't be long before I am back. I tell him the paintings are on show in Cardiff and he can see them on the gallery website. He knows these paintings almost as well as me. He called in most days and took a look as I was working on them. The call ends but the images of Montcuq and long, hot sunny days linger.