Over To Babylon

The Babylon Gallery is opening on 1st August (thank goodness!) with an open show of artists work. I submitted two of my preliminary studies for my painting 'Who Stole The Toothpaste?' and they were accepted. I don't sell the final pieces and it is away getting framed, anyway.

My preliminary canvases are relatively cheap and I've sold quite a few over the years - one of my fans has a whole room of them!

You can see the final painting on my website - in the NEWS AND REVIEWS section but you 'll need to visit the Babylon to see the studies which are for sale.

Same Difference

I've started work on my new canvas 'Eggheads', after experimenting on smaller, preliminary studies for several months.
After laying on a grey background, I've started painting the clown's faces to show myself,  two brothers and our children and grandchildren.
Using three distinct types of clown -  Whiteface,  Character and  Auguste to represent us,  I've painted each generation the same, to denote the different families.
At the moment,  the faces are all in monochrome but will paint over the top in transparent colour later, so that every member of the family looks slightly different.
Sounds complicated? Trying to get all the faces in each strand of the family to look the same was difficult. Wait until I start the next stage
p.s. You'll be able to see the painting's progress when my improved website comes on stream later in the summer.

A Great Fan

Hurrah! Our wonderful, local art shop has reopened at last. I bought a cloth bound sketchbook ( in preparation for my next painting), and some double nought brushes.
I also purchased a large fan shaped brush to use on my latest picture - 'Eggheads' (more on its progress next week). After experimenting, I intend to lightly 'feather' over the grey background with white oil paint to make the surface more alive. That's the plan, anyway.

Virtually Open

Last weekend would have been the beginning of Cambridge Open Studios of which I was planning to take part .
 I was going to open the downstairs part of the house, including my new garden gallery.
Instead, we had a lovely weekend with children and grandchildren and the gallery was used as a playroom for building Lego and Duplo creations.
Since the new gallery was finished in March there has only been one occasion to show off paintings (during a pre lockdown party) but it has proved very flexible in other ways.
I have used it as a drawing studio for  experimenting with mirrors for my latest work 'Eggheads', an  extra food store and a place for protecting plants against the frost.
As for viewing  pictures, my Virtual Tour will have to suffice for the moment.

The Tank Engine Man

The Reverend W. Audry was known as the 'Tank Engine Man' through his books about railways for children. I've been re -reading his biography  and have been reminded about a painting I did several years ago using Thomas and some of the other characters from the series.
In 1993 I did a painting entitled 'Young Lives' about the ten Coney cousins of our children's generation. In preparation, I instructed them to collect all the ephemera of their lives in a large envelope which was then used to represent them.
The picture comprises of ten DNA structures  used rather like railway lines, with Thomas and his friends moving the material up and down the line.
Audry's characters each have one personality trait, so I have used several for each cousin to try and symbolise their multi faceted personalities.
You can see the painting (its  long and thin) in the photography section of my Facebook page and it's amongst the images showing my retrospective  at the Babylon Gallery.
My three year old grandson is coming this weekend and he has been promised a  play with my collection of Thomas and the other models.