Little pictures

I'm working on paintings for the Little Picture Show at the Albany Gallery in March. This is going to be a bit of a challenge. Small paintings take as much work as larger canvases - sometimes even more so it's not surprising that I've avoided them up to now. 15 inches has to be the maximum size of the finished picture so that's the canvas facing me now on the easel. I'm up for the challenge!

Roger Cecil

Roger Cecil, who died this year, was born, lived and worked in Abertillery just a stone's throw from Pontypool where I grew up and went to school. I would have liked to have known that. Would I have knocked on his door and asked to see his paintings? He lived alone and spent his life painting; not a recluse but, from all accounts, a friendly man who would have been welcoming. He leaves behind paintings to captivate and intrigue the viewer - that's all painters can hope for...

Untitled - oil and mixed media on canvas. Roger Cecil.

Rain in London

Cardiff gets it's fair share of rain so I'm used to it but London has never seemed to me to be so drenched and bedraggled as it is now. There are are gaps in the grey skies when the sun weakly breaks through but not enough to dry the ground to let me go in the garden and start attacking the overgrown shrubs and dense undergrowth. Instead I amuse myself by imagining I am descending into the Underground station in Cologne where I can admire this extraordinary mural by Katharina Grosse.

On the Edge

On the Edge.  Oil on canvas.

North London

I am painting in a studio in North London - a temporary arrangement and one which has allowed me to finish a painting for the Albany Gallery's 50th Anniversary Exhibition. A new place, a new view from the window yet the painting, already part finished when I arrived, is of the South Wales coastline. On Saturday it will be on it's way back to Cardiff.

On my way to the studio.

In case anyone is oblivious to the rugby fever in the city, this is there to remind us.
I passed it as I went into the studio yesterday.
More nail biting on Saturday when Wales play England - always the big one!

Running to catch up.

It's not something I want to grumble about, the fault lies with me, but I never seem to be in position where I have a stock of new paintings at hand, out of which I can choose some to send to the gallery when requested. Instead I am always running to catch up; always working on new canvases with deadlines looming. This is how it is now. I am working hard to produce paintings for the Albany Gallery so that they can be part of the 50th Annniversary Christmas show. The paintings take time and can't be hurried. They remain unfinished for what seems like weeks whilst I go through stages of discontent and dislike of the way the work is going. Finally there's the relief when I decide the painting is finished. For a few days I won't look at it, uneasy that I will change my mind and it needs further work. This is a tricky moment and if I go with my instinct to leave well alone, years later I am often glad of that decision.