Birmingham Art Circle Exhibition

The new Birmingham Art Circle exhibition is called ‘Connexions’ and opens on the 4th November at the RBSA Gallery in Birmingham. It features a diverse range of work from members of the group and runs until the 15th November. I will be showing my ‘Quiet Roads’ oil paintings which depict misty landscapes on a road through Cannock Chase forest. These pieces are part of a new body of work focused around the theme of journeys.

I have been enjoying working in oil paint again and have a few pieces lined up inspired by a recent trip to Ireland. I also have a drawing that needs to be finished as well as a new commission. The new studio really is a wonderful space to work and I’m enjoying having a larger area to make art.

New studio

In August I had a brand new art studio built at the bottom of my garden. It is more than double the space I had before and has allowed me to have a more organised place to work. This new studio will also mean that I can invite people over to view my work. I’m really happy with it!

I plan to be adding a shop to my website soon where I can sell prints and some of my drawings and paintings. I just need to work out how to do it! In the meantime, if you’re interested in buying any of my work, just get in touch.

The ‘Post Industrial Picturesque’ exhibition at Brampton Museum and Art Gallery finishes on the 7th September and so if you haven’t seen it yet, do take a look. I have three pieces of work on display there.

I recently came back from a trip to Ireland and now have a lot of new source material to make some new work. I also have a drawing and painting to complete so lots to do.

Later this year I will be exhibiting with the Birmingham Art Circle again at the RBSA Gallery. More information to follow.

Exhibitions

I am exhibiting my work a lot just lately.

My graphitint drawing ‘Ruin at Strathpeffer’ is currently on display at the RBSA Gallery in Birmingham as part of the currently Drawing Prize exhibition. It runs until the 28th June.

My exhibition, ‘Hiraeth’, is currently running at the Foxlowe Arts Centre in Leek. It is a joint show with printmaker Karen Wicks and features drawings, paintings and printmaking inspired by abandoned or remote buildings. It runs until the 9th August.

I have three pieces of work featured in the ‘A Post Industrial Picturesque’ exhibition at Brampton Museum and Art Gallery. It is a group show and starts on the 28th June.

My acrylic painting ‘Universal’ has been selected for the Three Counties Open Exhibition in The Ballroom at Fenton Hall. The show has been organised by Keele University and starts on the 9th August.

In other news, I have a new drawing and painting in progress and it’s going well!

More exhibitions

I currently have two acrylic paintings in the new Birmingham Art Circle exhibition at the RBSA Gallery in Birmingham; ‘Signing Off’ and ‘Exit’. These two pieces depict the abandoned job centre on Stafford. Since I first painted them, the building has become even more run down due to neglect and vandalism. The show features a wide variety of work from members of the group and is well worth a visit. It runs until the 26th October.

My acrylic painting, ‘Outside In’ is currently on display in the Open Exhibition at Brampton Museum and Art Gallery in Newcastle under Lyme. It features the interior of a derelict ceramics factory in Stoke on Trent. The show runs until the 22nd December.

Current Exhibitions

2024 is a busy year for exhibitions it seems.

My painting, 'Flux’ is currently in the Three Counties Open Exhibition at The Burslem School of Art. The show runs until the 24th August.

My drawings, ‘Springfield Brewery’ and ‘Return’ will feature in the ‘Making Marks’ exhibition at Patchings Art Centre in Nottinghamshire. This is a group show with the Birmingham Art Circle and runs until the 29th September.

I will be showing several drawings and paintings in the ‘Cut to the Chase’ exhibition at the Museum of Cannock Chase. This is a joint exhibition with Lisa Henderson and David Gleeson and it will run until the 12th October.

Do pop down and take a look at the work if you can!

Exhibitions

It’s been a busy year so far with plenty of other things planned over the next few months. My exhibition, ‘Quiet Spaces’ was positively received at The New Vic Theatre and I have more shows coming up soon.

My acrylic painting, ‘Outside In’ is currently on display as part of the Summer Exhibition at the RBSA Art Gallery in Birmingham. It features a variety of work by artists from across the UK.

I have three drawings in ’A Fine Line' - the Art of Drawing’, a group show with members of the Society of Graphic Fine Art. The exhibition starts on the 29th June at The Courtney Gallery in Ashbourne. I will be running a drawing workshop there on the 7th July so why not give it a go?

I will be exhibiting a few pieces of work in ‘Cut to the Chase’, an exhibition celebrating the beauty and atmosphere of Cannock Chase Forest. The show starts on the 24th August at The Museum of Cannock Chase and includes work by David Gleeson and Lisa Henderson. I will be running a drawing workshop in connection with the show.

I’m currently working on a commission and also a new urban landscape.

Quiet Spaces

I currently have a solo exhibition at The New Vic Theatre in Newcastle under Lyme. It features a selection of my work, 21 pieces in total, with a mix of urban and natural landscapes. I used to think that these two strands were quite different but really, both are about the power of nature and our relationship with the environment. The abandoned buildings are places that show traces of human activity and in our absence, nature starts to take over. In my natural landscapes you can see evidence of human interaction with the space. None of the pictures however, feature people and this gives the work a quiet and contemplative mood.

The exhibition runs until the 15th June and is free to view. Do pop down and take a look.

Birmingham Art Circle Exhibition

I currently have three pieces of work on display at the the Birmingham Art Circle exhibition at the RBSA Gallery in Birmingham. It’s a diverse show and members work across several different mediums. The show runs until the 11th November and it is definitely worth a visit. My pieces are the ‘Sandonia 3’ pencil drawing and two oil paintings, ‘The Path Home’ and ‘Serenity’.

I recently went back to Snowdonia again and took further research photos of the landscape there. The mountains and the slate caverns are very dramatic and inspiring. It’s a great area and I could imagine living in the area at some point in the future.

Abandoned Spaces

Thank you to to everyone that attended the private view for my ‘Abandoned Spaces’ exhibition at ACAVA Spode Works Studios, Stoke on Trent. It was great to see all the pictures on the walls as a collection and see how the different pieces worked together. I am hoping that through the drawings and paintings, people will be able to appreciate and understand what I find so inspiring in places such as these. From a conventional point of view, derelict buildings are not beautiful but when you stop and look more closely, these places do have something to say. The rich variety of textures and the way nature takes over the space is fascinating and inspiring. There is also a sense of stillness which can be very calming.

I will be at the exhibition space on Friday 3rd March working on a new drawing. Do pop down and say hello and I will show you around the work.

Exhibition Award, New Work and Forthcoming Shows

I am pleased to announce that I have been awarded the ACAVA Studios Artist Development Prize at the Three Counties Open Exhibition for my painting ‘GEC’. I will be having a meeting soon to find out more about this creative opportunity. The exhibition is held at The Burslem School of Art and has been organised by Keele University. You can view the exhibition online on the Barewall Gallery website.

I have just completed a new graphitint drawing featuring a derelict ceramics factory in Middleport. This is the same building that features in my painting ‘Inside Out’. It was good to tackle the subject with a different medium as it brings out different qualities due to the nature of the water soluble pencils. The new drawing is called ‘Return’ and can be found in the ‘Abandoned Spaces’ section of my website. This drawing, along with ‘The Mirror Tree’ piece, will feature in the forthcoming Birmingham Art Circle Exhibition at the RBSA Gallery in Birmingham.

I have plenty of other ideas on the go including a new acrylic painting which is almost halfway through now. Life is never boring!

New art, competitions and ideas

As usual, I am busy with a variety of creative projects. I have a new acrylic painting on the go featuring the interior of a derelict ceramics factory that I discovered in Middleport. This is the same building featured in my painting ‘Inside Out’. I’m still experimenting with the graphitint pencils and have a new drawing planned with those. I have more ideas around the abandoned war base theme which look promising too.

There’s a few competitions I will be entering soon. I discovered today that my oil painting, ‘GEC’, has been selected for the Three Counties Open Exhibition 2022 (organised by Arts Keele). The show runs from the 29th July to the 30th August at the Burslem School of Art in Stoke-on-trent. This painting features an abandoned factory in Stafford which has since been demolished. It was a building I was used to seeing throughout my childhood and so it is strange to see it gone.

SGFA Open 2022

I’m pleased to announce that I have had two drawings selected for the forthcoming Society of Graphic Fine Art Open Exhibition 2022; ‘The Igloo’ and ‘Whiskey 13’. Both pieces depict buildings from RAF Upper Heyford, a disused airbase in Oxfordshire. The show will be held at the Mall Galleries in London from the 17th to the 21st May.

Exhibitions and Workshops

It has been a busy year so far with lots of things on the go. I currently have a few pieces of work included in the new Birmingham Art Circle exhibition which is being held at The Granary Gallery, Weston Park. It’s quite a diverse show and includes drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, textiles and mixed media pieces. The exhibition runs throughout March.

I have a few workshops scheduled and more planned, so do keep checking my workshops page if you’re interested.

I’m currently working on a new oil landscape painting which is going well so far. The aim with this one is to create a sense of stillness and calm - to feel as if you are completely in the moment. It is important for me to not just describe the scene but to also capture the mood that I felt when I was there.

Broadway Arts Festival 2021

I am pleased to announce my oil painting, ‘After the Rain’, has been selected for the Broadway Arts Festival 2021. This piece depicts an area on Cannock Chase that I discovered on a walk just before the last lockdown. The forest was quiet and the mist made the landscape look very atmospheric. For me, surrounding myself with nature has been a great way of staying calm and focused during a period of unrest.

My work featured in the Broadway Arts Festival last year but this time it will appear in the real world rather than online. I’m looking forward to exhibiting again and meeting the other artists. The show runs from the 4th to the 13th June.

'Guard House' selected for the Annual SGFA Exhibition

I am pleased to announce that my ink drawing, ‘Guard House’, has been selected for the Society of Graphic Fine Art Annual Exhibition. The show will run 5th - 10th July 2021 at the Mall Galleries in London. It is good to be part of a show that focuses on drawing as it is a big part of what I do as an artist.

‘Guard House’ is part of a series of work focusing on war remains and features RAF Tilstock, an abandoned airbase near Whitchurch.

Three Counties Open Exhibition 2020

I’m pleased to announce that my painting, ‘Union’ has been selected for the Three Counties Open Exhibition 2020. This year, due to the pandemic, the show will be held online running from 31st July to the 31st August. This piece won the RBSA Open Exhibition earlier this year and remains one of my personal favourite pieces of work so far.

I am currently building up a set of work based around the same theme, some of which features in the ‘Fragments II’ online exhibition.

New work and exhibitions

At the moment I am working on a numbers of new pieces in preparation for the ‘Fragments’ exhibition in September. The painting i’m working on is looking very promising and could be one of my best pieces of work to date. I also have a large drawing on the go featuring a burnt out factory.

My workshops page has been updated with new events and I plan to do more later in the year.

My students are currently involved in an exhibition at the Ancient High House. It features work from students across my classes and is of a very good standard I think. It runs until the 15th June.

Summer Exhibition and new paintings

The Summer Exhibition at Reuben Colley Fine Art starts on the 11th July and includes three of my paintings, "By the Tracks", "Arrival" and my most recent piece "Exit".  The exhibition also features work by several artists represented by the gallery.

My latest painting "Exit" features the car park of an abandoned job centre.  I am currently working on a follow up piece that shows the same building from another angle.  This once busy place is now left unattended and is beginning to shows signs of neglect.  Broken windows, graffiti and litter now catch the eye as you walk about.

I have entered two drawings and one painting into the Three Counties Open Art exhibition at the Burslem School of Art.  It would be nice to have something included.