My 2013 review - October to December

Wet mud and reflections at Brancaster Staithe
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 Sorry for the delay in bringing you the final part of my 2013 review - I hope you haven't been waiting on tenterhooks! I've been so busy preparing my big exhibition which starts tomorrow and I will definitely be taking some photos for you.
I'll start off this period with some paintings from a new favourite painting place, Brancaster Staithe in Norfolk. Both of these pieces got me really excited, and I'm trying a studio painting based on the one below.

Boat sheds at Brancaster Staithe
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October brought with it the excitement that was my first ever time exhibiting with the Royal Society of Marine Artists at the Mall Galleries in London. The painting selected was a large studio painting of a dilapidated building at Eastpoint in Florida, lit brightly by the early rising sun which was already pretty warm by my standards!

At the RSMA
Thanks to Peter Barker for photo!

I am standing there with a big grin because it's always an honour and excitement to have a work exhibited at the Mall Galleries, amongst the best painters in the UK. Also the private views are so much fun.

Low tide at Mousehole

After all that mingling and chatting it must have been time to head off to the coast again... oh yes, my favourite place!

Wet sand in Mousehole harbour
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Managed to get a week in Cornwall at the end of October with the children and Maisie. We had some rainy days but on the whole it was good and I managed to combine painting with other activities such as eating scampi and chips in the pub.

St Clements Isle, sparkling light
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In November I was working on further magazine articles and painting portraits, with some new studio work too. I gave workshops on 'finding and using more colour', 'painting like the impressionists' and 'an introduction to oils'. I travelled north to York and east to Horncastle to meet art groups and give demos.

My article on painting 'vibrant still life' was published in The Artist magazine.

Peonies and hen

In December it was back down to London for the Royal Institute of Oil painters preview, and then again for a portrait painting day, and again for the portrait painting evening. Big month for train fares!

I was enormously honoured to have three paintings accepted and hung in the exhibition this year. 

Sails up in harbour, Paimpol
Oils 24" x 30"
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Me with Galley hill allotments
at ROI show 2013

Fresh fried fish, Essaouira

Then as if the year could get any more exciting at all, my painting of Galley hill allotments in the snow which was painted right back in January and saved all year for the ROI (and luckily they wanted it!) won the Making a Mark award for 'best painting of a place on an art blog in 2013'! Hooray! A double honour, and big thanks to you if you voted ;-)

Galley hill allotments in the snow
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My 2013 year review January to March

Chicken huts in the snow
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It's that time of year again for my end of year review, so I'll be taking a few days to look back over all of my artistic events of this year before starting to focus on what's coming next. If you only joined me part way through the year I hope you'll find something of interest here and if you've been with me all the way through I hope you won't mind taking a recap with me. It's been another busy year of fun and travels and opportunity, and being able to spend time with lots of great people who share this passion of mine.

The year began with generous amounts of snowfall in January which meant I was able to get outside a lot to paint one of my favourite subjects - snow! The painting above is definitely one of my top favourites of the year, and was painted in challenging conditions with quite a blizzard at times! The chickens and ducks disappeared and hid whenever the snowfall was heavy.

Painting at Galley Hill allotments

Belton House formal gardens

North Heath lane in snow
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I even tackled something I never had before, painting moving figures sledging and playing in the snow, and I loved it! I wanted the snow to stay for longer but I didn't get a chance to paint those sledgers again this year. There is a little video on YouTube of me painting there that you might enjoy.

In February I was a guest artist giving workshops at the SAA 'Its All About Art' event in Manchester and took part in a group exhibition in London on the subject of Venice. I ran a workshop on painting cats in acrylics, and gave demos to local art societies.

In this period I had a couple of articles published in The Artist magazine including one about 'finding your own style' which also became the theme for a couple of workshops.

I was proud of these two self portraits that I painted in early spring, and both were pre-selected for the Royal Society of Portrait painters exhibition in February. I need to paint more portraits, it's something I love to do.

Self portrait with warm backlighting

Self portrait with iPhone 

In March came the trip of a lifetime - painting in Essaouira, Morocco, with Ken Howard RA. In my opinion Ken is the top of the tops here in the UK, and it was such a privilege to be able to get to know him. I didn't spend very much painting time with him because I was so excited by the new surroundings and wanted to choose my own subjects, particularly in the harbour area. We had wonderful group get-togethers in the evening though, and Ken was happy to look over our work while we had the pleasure of viewing all of his work. I only hope I have his energy and stamina when I am in my eighties. 

The fort at Essaouira

Cinnabar green light

Tides at Essaouira

Le médina, Essaouira

Walls of the médina, Essaouira

There was another exciting trip to a new place just around the corner in the next quarter of the year...