My wife and I have been enjoying a new series on BBC iPlayer – Banjo and Ro’s Grand Island Hotel – in which interior designer Banjo Beale and his husband Ro turn a derelict building on the Isle of Ulva, off the coast of the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides, into a boutique…
Category: Paintings
Elf In Search of a Shelf
Here’s a seasonal painting, depicting (I think) a toy Christmas elf on the shelf. Made as a demonstration piece for an online painting class a few years ago, it was painted in acrylics on canvas-texture paper, and measures around A5 (14.85 x 10.5 cm). From the looks of the actual elf who modelled for the…
Versailles in the Rain
I feel like I’ve increasingly frequently been receiving drenchings from some pretty impressive autumnal downpours of late. These merciless soakings have put me in mind of this painting, which I made ten years ago, in 2015. The painting, made in oils on canvas board and measuring around 40 x 50 cm, was based on a…
Health benefits of fresh air and egrets
Feeling a bit under the weather lately (oh, poor me), I determined to take some air and partake of a brief constitutional along the Meols/Hoylake promenade on the Wirral coast, along which perambulation I passed this painting, which I made about 4 years ago. It’s one of several paintings made by Wirral artists – mainly…
Van Gogh in a Day
A simple, easy-to-follow guide to (vaguely) re-creating one of Van Gogh’s self portraits. I made this painting about 10 years ago to demonstrate to some workshop students an approximation of Van Gogh’s working method. I made my painting before the workshop, photographing it at each stage, then supplying students with printed, illustrated step-by-step guides for…
Drawing Upon Life 