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.