Heroes and Staithes

David Curtis, me, Ken Howard

Whitby Gazette

I had to show you this lovely photo, taken yesterday at Patchings Art Centre. That's me with the two inspirational UK painters Ken Howard and David Curtis. Not only are they amazing painters who have been inspiring me and countless others for decades but they are truly lovely gentlemen too. I've had the extreme good fortune of being able to paint with both of them this year and am so grateful to them both, hence the big smile!

They have a joint exhibition with Lucy Willis who is an artist that has also been inspiring me for more than 20 years! As far as I'm concerned she sets the bar for how watercolours should be. A book that she wrote about 20 years ago called 'Light: how to see it, how to paint it', now sadly out of print, is one of my most treasured art books (and I have hundreds).

The exhibition is on for the whole month at Patchings art centre, so if you live anywhere near the East Midlands you must not miss this. I'm definitely going back for a second viewing.

Also my friends came back from a few days in Whitby today with a copy of the Whitby Gazette newspaper and 'quel surprise!' there I am in it! I think it's a great photo. I didn't notice it being taken at the time but I was really concentrating on not letting my tripod blow over in the wind during that painting! You can see I have my tripod legs spread out for maximum stability and my own feet planted squarely on the ground, plus that look of grim determination about me...