Reverse Perspective

   I've just been to the 'Hockney's Eye' exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and it was interesting to view his work alongside a selection of the Collection's Old Masters.

I knew something of David Hockney's ideas about how artists had been using various drawing aides for years, as my children about bought me his book on the subject.

During the exhibition I became more interested in his examples of painting using 'Reverse Perspective' and I may well experiment with it for my next painting.

I also liked Hockney's relaxed attitude to perspective which chimed with my own. By all means make use of it but don't let it enslave you.

Cheap As Chips

 I had over 90 visitors to my last Open Studio weekend.

 One person was asking me about my painting '3001' and I  explained how I came to choose the objects that would go in my Morris Minor -  a time capsule to be rediscovered in a 1,000 years time.

The inspiration had come from a recently unearthed Roman shrine found under the car park at Shire Hall. One of the items was 600 oyster shells, which were an inexpensive  favourite with the Romans.

'As cheap as chips' came the retort from my visitor. Nearly right I said, as I had chosen 6 Kettle crisps as a modern equivalent to go in the painting.

You might be able to spot them  in the latest picture on my Instagram post.

Just Right

 'AGAINST THE LIGHT  - Two brothers are viewed very differently by each of their parents.'

This is a caption to go with one of my paintings which a visitor commented on during my Open Studio weekends, recently. (you can see the image on my latest Facebook and Instagram posts)

He said I had offered just enough information for him and his partner to try and work out what each painting was about.

Obviously my tours (restart in September)  are very different, in that I give visitors more details about the seven paintings I have chosen to talk about. With Open Studios, the public visit my garden gallery and ask me questions about any of the pictures that particularly interested in.

One more weekend to go - hope its a bit cooler!

Speak To Me

 Sixty seven visitors came to my Open Studio this weekend so I was kept quite busy. 

One woman fell in love with my painting Hinaki  (you can see it on my latest Instagram and Facebook posts) and wanted to buy it.

She said that the painting  really 'spoke to her' as she had lived in New Zealand for along time and wished she was back there. (Hinaki means eel trap in Maori culture)

I explained that I never sold the final picture but had a range of preliminary canvases to buy, on the same theme.

Alas, I didn't make a sale.

Off Grid

 You can see from the photo on my latest Facebook and Instagram posts that I am still working on the painting 'Dreamtime'. At the moment I am experimenting  with different sized metal grids to stencil mechanical dots onto the canvas.

I am trying to show that the puppet theatre is gradually disintegrating and printing the dots off register is hopefully going to achieve this.

I can only stipple a few dots at a time though, as the paint has to dry before I can do more.