Here’s me in front of my display on the evening of the private view (during which I completely failed to take any photos!)

On the Sunday, I spent a lovely day painting and chatting to visitors. I did, however, make a schoolboy error by choosing a subject that I wasn’t exactly sure how to paint!

The view is looking along Devil’s Dyke in East Sussex and out across the Sussex Weald.

I had some lovely and often very funny conversations with visitors while I painted this and, despite a few moments of intense doubt, I was quite pleased with how this turned out!

It was a busy and enjoyable weekend but in some ways, I’m also glad that it’s all over! I still have some unpacking and sorting out to do but I think that’s my final exhibition commitment of the year all done and dusted!

It could be all tied in with the end of the summer holidays and the return to school but I’m really looking forward to getting back to painting just for the fun and pleasure of it!

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I’ve been trying to prepare myself for this for a few weeks in between various work and vacation commitments, but it’s still no surprise that with only one more day to go, I’m still woefully behind schedule!

Despite the mounting pressure and anxiety, it was still nice to see one of my paintings featured in the local magazine The Lewesian:

I’ll be there in person at the Private View between 6-8pm, and then again on Sunday 8th from 10am to 5pm when, space permitting, I hope to be splashing some paint around.

I’ll have about nine framed works on display. Some of them are new and have not been exhibited before, and none of them have been shown before in Lewes – along with a browser full of other mounted and frame ready paintings.

I hope that some readers may be able to drop by at some point and say hello as it’s always nice to meet people at these events.

Below is the official leaflet and map for the exhibition:

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I’ll be exhibiting again with the Sussex Watercolour Society at the Linklater Pavilion in Lewes, East Sussex from Friday 6th to Sunday 8th September.

Since my last exhibition, when I happened to sell quite a lot of work, I’ve only done small sketchbook work.

This is fine in some ways, but I felt almost apprehensive about painting anything any larger than an A5 sketch!

So with this as the background, I embarked on my first ‘larger’ in over two months:

This is a quarter imperial sheet and despite my nerves and apprehension, I was quite pleased with how this turned out!

All I need to do now is paint lots more of them and get them mounted and framed. And do all the other preparations and associated admin. And fit in another family holiday. And keep the day job going!

I think I’m in for an interesting few weeks!

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Sadly, when I would usually have been writing my Wednesday blog post, I was instead trawling around Brighton beach in the dark while using the torch from my phone in a desperate and utterly futile attempt to find my glasses that I think I lost while out walking the dog tonight!

The good news of this week however is that I delivered the painting that I’d had selected for this year’s Atelier beside the Sea Open Exhibition.

The exhibition has its Private View tomorrow evening and is the Open to the public from Friday through to the 8th September.

Here’s the painting that was selected for this year’s exhibition:

Atelier beside the Sea is only a 100 metres or so from the Fishing Museum so on my way to deliver this painting, I popped by to see my working in situ:

I always enjoy this exhibition because there’s such a variety of work on display and I’m sure this year will be another great affair!

Apparently there will be around 280 works on show from 180 artists.

I hope that should anyone be in the vicinity they’ll be able to stop by and have a look!

I’m off to bed now as I need to make an early start tomorrow to return to the beach so I can resume my search in daylight!

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It’s been a great year for me, having work on show at show in two different venues and spending a lot of time painting and meeting people, which has been a particular treat.

I was painting again during the afternoon of the final day on Sunday. It was another fine and busy day and I had a distinct ‘end of term’ feeling which made me a little giddy! Here’s my effort from the afternoon – a view of Brighton seafront, just outside the wonderful Fishing Museum:

Spending my days painting while visitors pass through has been a real treat for me. It’s something I find both enjoyable and also good practice for plein air painting when you’re often being approached by people keen to have a look and possibly a chat too. Here are the four paintings that I managed to complete:

It’s also been particularly gratifying to sell so many paintings to new buyers! Here are just a few of the paintings that are already off to new homes:

Unfortunately I’ve barely had time to catch breath between packing all my painting things away and packing all of our camping stuff up for a little family holiday. By the time anyone reads this I’ll be off grid, under the stars and hopefully sat next to a fully laden barbecue!

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Here’s one of the paintings that will be flying the nest when the exhibition comes to a close!

This set me up quite nicely for a wonderful day of painting! As I was there for the day, I’d already had it in mind to do two paintings, one in the morning and one in the afternoon?

Here was my first effort of the day, a revisiting of a view that I last painted some years ago:

The afternoon saw me tackle this vineyard view, based on a photograph that I’d seen on instagram by the great watercolour artist Ari de Goes, who also kindly gave his permission for me to share this painting.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend of painting and chatting, and chatting and painting – crowned with a wonderful selection of sales!

This coming weekend is the final one and, to make sure I’m there to see it out in style – I’ll be painting again from 2 – 5pm. As ever, it would be lovely to meet any readers of this blog should you find yourselves in the vicinity with some time on your hands!

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The events started last Thursday evening with two private views at opposite ends of town! First up was the opening of This is the Seventh Wave at The Regency Town House. Here I am next to my painting Brighton Beach at Sunrise:

I especially loved the thought and consideration that went into the hanging and presentation of this exhibition. It was great, for instance, to see this little intimate painting paired alongside Dee Ferris’s sublime, large scale painting, Love is the seventh wave.

It was wonderful to experience how one painting pushes you away while the other draws you closer.

It was a wonderful bonus for me that this little painting sold over the opening weekend!

The exhibition continues this weekend, from Friday 10 – Sunday 12 May, from 11am – 5pm and, should anyone be interested, this painting is still available:

A quick trip in the car across town followed to get to Jane Palmer and Friends Artists Open House. It was a delightfully busy and buzzy evening, crowned for me by the sale of this painting, Waterlogged:

Following the private view, I was back again on Saturday, when we were blessed with the most glorious weather – which meant I could spend the day painting in the garden and chatting to visitors as they passed through.

I had hoped to paint at least two paintings, and maybe even three, but I was having such a lovely time chatting to people that I only ended up with one painting, of the catamarans of Brighton Sailing Club on the beach in the morning light.

And here’s the finished painting, which turned out much better than I anticipated it might have!

Brighton Sailing Club catamaran’s on Brighton beach

All in all, it was a wonderful start to the Artists Open Houses season and I really hope that it continues over the coming weeks!

Weather permitting, I’ll next painting at Jane Palmer and Friends on Saturday 18th May, from 11am – 5pm.

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The venue for the exhibition is the wonderful Regency Townhouse in beautiful Brunswick Square, Hove – a venue worth visiting in it’s own right, even before you throw in the exhibition!

I must admit to feeling a little out of my depth on this one! As I say, it’s a curated exhibition and some of the artists involved are officially, ‘proper’ artists!

Here’s some of the exhibition text:

‘This Is The Seventh Wave is a hopeful show about transformation and belonging, which brings together a group of international but locally-based artists for whom the sea, and specifically the sea of Brighton and Hove, has come to constitute a strong source for creation and dialogue.

Referring to the idea that in a set of waves, the seventh one will always be the strongest, it offers up the ocean as a site for (human and more-than-human) collaboration and connection, not only a place of reflection and becoming, but a call to action on issues such as climate futures/pasts, migration and sustainability.

The sea, and the experience of being-in-the-sea/being close-to-the-sea is presented, in a diverse range of forms, as a liminal and inclusive space/experience, a practice which encompasses multifarious narratives and textures.’

You can find out all about the exhibition and the other artists featured here This is the Seventh Wave.

Here are the two paintings of Brighton beach at sunrise that have been selected for this exhibition:

It will be interesting to see how my work holds up against some of the other works because, in size alone, they’ll be dwarfed by many of the other works featured in the exhibition!

I’ll share images from the exhibition with you next week! What with this exhibition, my other Artists Open House, Jane Palmer and Friends, (where I’ll be doing two full days of painting on the 4th and 11th) it’s going to be a very busy month of May!

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The venue is number 11 on the Fiveways Artists Trail, the first and most longstanding of all the many Artists Open Houses trails that now criss-cross to and from every corner of Brighton.

The exhibiting artists include myself and (with links to instagram accounts):

Nigel Hunter – sculpture

Stef Hunter – ceramics

Jane Palmer – paintings and drawings

Tan Kingston – oil paintings

Gabrielle Lord – mixed media

The house will be open every weekend in May from 11am – 5pm:

4th and 5th

11th and 12th

18th and 19th

25th and 26th

I’ll be there, and painting in person all day on Saturday 4th and 11th, and will also be there in person from 2pm – 5pm on Sunday 26th May.

Here’s a quick snapshot of some of the paintings that I’ll have at the exhibition:

I do hope that if anyone’s visiting the Fiveways trail they’re able to stop by and have a look, and fingers crossed I might event have the chance to say hello to you in person!

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It was particularly timely because I’m a little fraught at the moment – nothing to do with my family or painting or anything (the really important stuff), but all to do with life beyond painting and family! So to be reminded to reflect on my happiness came at a good time – and it chimed nicely with the very enjoyable Private View of the SPRING at Gallery 35 North that I attended last Thursday evening.

Here’s a little collection of snaps from the Private View at Gallery 35 North.

I’ve only focussed on my works here but I was really pleased to find myself in such good company! The others artistes are all great and, to have four works from each artist makes it (in my humble opinion) a lovely sized exhibition – like a little espresso shot of culture

The exhibition continues every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 11am – 5.30pm until the end of Saturday 27th April.

Recalling the Private View, and my love for watercolour painting was a very salient and timely reminder about what makes me happy! I hope that everyone had/has the opportunity to reflect for a moment on what makes you happy!?

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