As you can see below this is just occasional news from my studio and definitely not a blog. I would much rather be painting than sitting here at a keyboard, so the updates to this page will never occur on a daily basis! My own working studio is open most weekends or when I’m around during the week, but if you are making a special journey to see me please phone first to make sure I’m in and not down the dale painting!

Check the latest  Summer 2010 life drawing classes timetable or you can print the timetable/letter here
 

Summer 2010
The 2010 theme for the Middleton by Youlgrave well dressing is 'Birds of Middleton'. I've started work on the design. Students are welcome to come and do some petalling in the days before the well dressing which is on Sat 29 - Thu 3 Jun 2010

This year I've commissioned a custom campervan conversion to accommodate a mini art studio and accommodation for my two dogs Molly and her daughter Tilly. So when the camper is completed, I intend to visit sections of the British coast and undertake some serious paintings of our wonderful islands. Also planned is a boat trip along the length of the River Thames to keep me busy later in the year!

Ladies - If you are needing a memorable  event for a hen party then take a look at this page
 

Group Exhibition at Gallery Topp
Some of my contemporary landscape works were displayed in a group exhibition called 'Survey' at Gallery Topp at Rowsley, Derbyshire.
 

14 July 2009 Molly had pups
My daughters and 3 grandchildren visited and played endlessly with 5 black cocker spaniel puppies. What a houseful! I was exhausted when they left. Predictably, I have kept one pup and named her Tillie Kettle. A painter of the same sounding name, Tilly Kettle (1735 - 1786) was a well known portrait painter in his lifetime and the first English painter to work in India. He was born in London, the son of a coach painter. I fondly imagine he was a relation of mine and hope to come across him in my ongoing genealogical research of my own family, who lived in the same area in the same period. Watch this space!
 

Learning the recorder
I've always enjoyed traditional folk music and this year I felt I should do something new-  outside my comfort zone, as they say. A friend gave me a recorder and a tin whistle so I set about learning to read music and play the instruments. After several months of weekly lessons I have made some progress but it is really hard going for me. I'm quite sure my visual perception is more developed than any auditory abilities! Molly my cocker spaniel still hides under the table as soon as I put the school sheet music on the mantelpiece to have ten minutes practice before my next art student arrives!  My daughter Rachel demonstrated on her recent visit that she can play much better than I can, even though she hasn't played since school about fifteen years ago.
 

Open Art Derbyshire
I opened my studio and gallery for this annual summer event and met many friends and talked to all visitors about my methods of working.
 

Youlgrave well dressing week exhibition
I took over the entire Methodist chapel for an exhibition of over a hundred paintings and prints during the well dressing week. 
 

Middleton Well Dressing
The theme this year was 'Sounds of Middleton' for which I designed the central panel. Some of my students came to help and had a go at petalling. A real labour of love, thousands of petals go into to making the well dressing.  Making artworks that involve the repetition of small marks and gestures over a long period of time can be a very satisfying experience. Each tiny petal is insignificant, but every one contributes to the final composition. The process of building a picture from thousands of tiny strokes and movements of the hand gives opportunity to watch how such a picture or composition emerges over days of work. Impressionist painters often used small brush strokes to interpret their scenes on canvas. These small steps are in contrast to the sudden emergence of drawings that are created in life class where we may work quickly with large decisive mark making.
 

Abstraction
In March 2009 I returned to abstract painting attending a course tutored by Brian Ryder in Norfolk. I completed a couple of large pictures but predictably I was not pleased with them.  They were based on the theme of 'Holiday' I pursued the idea of a map incorporating some collage words. I take these small steps in abstract painting each year.  Perhaps I will get there eventually. Satisfaction in abstract painting is elusive for me but I won't give up. Realism is a comfortable hat to wear and sells well here in the Derbyshire Peak District.
 

Oils revisited
I've raked out my old oil paints again and managed to get the caps off the tubes with the help of hot water.  Something fresh to work with and a different medium for new works. 
A day with John McCoombs NDD, ROI, RBA, FRSA, MAFA inspired me to make this move. It isn't often that I get the chance to take a whole day to myself and work on something new in the company and tutorship of a Royal Institute of Oil Painters guru.  The weather was rough so we all painted inside the gallery at Saddleworth using John's landscape photographs. At least the lighting remained the same all day! No cows to lick the paint from the board. Inspiring is a word overused by artists but that is how I felt on leaving for home that day. I've replenished my stock of oils, bought a pochade box and intend to keep it in my car for landscape sketches whenever the opportunity arises.

Ruddock's Art Store
Lincoln provided the location for a Roy Ridsdale RCA life drawing master class recently. I painted several torso paintings during the day and enjoyed being on the other side of the easel for a change.
 

My own tutored life drawing classes in Bakewell, Wirksworth and Ashover  are ongoing. Check the schedule for the 2009 Autumn term

Sometime I'll photograph or scan some student work and get a page or two published on this website so that you may see the standard of work achieved. We enjoy a great variety of age, gender and physique with my regular models .

All day tutored sessions allow more complex works. We now have private parking in the field next to the telephone box for everybody attending the all day sessions. Book your place now for the next session! 01629 636763

We also have a man and woman team pose together for us at the Bakewell class and sometimes at the all day at Youlgrave.  This is always well received and inspires some great drawings and paintings from students.  

Abstract again - After a Chatsworth sculpture visit , a group of my associates met in Youlgrave for an afternoon workshop on the principles and theory of abstract painting.  Our tutor was Tim Rose, a British artist who in a former life was an abstract painter. He is now a highly regarded  watercolourist whose pictures depict mainly architectural subjects. However, on this occasion he and we pursued his fondly held idea that anyone could produce an acceptable abstract painting in an afternoon using basic principles of dominant and sub-dominant shapes, colours and tones.  Eveybody went home with a completed abstract painting that day. Most of these treasured works were completed in acrylic on card in about an hour. Acrylic paints dry quickly on card so we had plenty of time to make corrections and inspired enhancements to our masterpieces!

Remember to email me if you wish to be on my mail list for occasional reminders and updates.

I organise painting weekends and days where holidaymakers and painters are accommodated in bed and breakfast locally, with personal tuition in my own studio at Middleton by Youlgrave, Derbyshire . They agree a few hours tuition with me, spread out over their time on holiday, and paint in or near the village.  Couples or small groups can share the tuition time. Additional tuition can also be arranged. Everything is very flexible. More information on the painting on holiday page.