Thinking Outside the Recycling Box

I have recently started recycling materials – mainly cardboard packaging – as alternative surfaces to canvas or paper. This move probably has its origins in the production of Keep an Eye on the Amaryllis #5, which was painted in acrylics on cardboard, and a self portrait painted on the back of some mount board. However,…

Keep an Eye on the Amaryllis #5

Probably my final go this year at capturing the lifespan of an amaryllis plant, this is the fifth in a series of sketches, made 12 days after the previous attempt (Keep an Eye on the Amaryllis #4), on 28th January this year. By now the poor amaryllis was well past its best – its flowers…

An Art Demonstration: Painting Dennis

A friend of mine, Dennis Spicer, recently asked me to look after one of his art classes for a couple of weeks whilst he took a break. At the end of my first class sitting in for Dennis, I was asked to demonstrate my working technique to the students the following session. As most of…

My Tomato Struggle

I thought it about time that I painted something from life again today – it seems like months since I’ve had the time. However, I struggled most of this morning with this little tomato. Though I am a little out of practice it caused more problems than I’d expect. The original idea was to produce…

Blue Lilies in a Blue Room

On a recent visit to a supermarket I was taken with some blue lilies, which I thought might make an interesting subject for a new still life painting. How natural they are we’re not too sure of – they certainly struggled to open. However, I did enjoy putting this painting together. Unaware of the slow…