Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition 2016

Top two works by Peter Wileman
Mine are underneath

I had a great day in London yesterday at the preview of the Royal Society of Marine Artists annual exhibition. It's always a show that I enjoy and this year is the society's 50th anniversary of royal status so the RSMA have taken all three gallery spaces at the Mall Galleries.

Although there is a wide variety of painting styles and mediums to be seen here all the works are unified by a marine theme. I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to exhibit work with the RSMA for the last four years and I love to come to the preview day and catch up with many painting friends. 

This year the Mall Galleries have chosen my painting of the fishermens shelter in Portscatho to produce as a greetings card which is now available from the Mall Galleries bookshop. It makes a very sweet little square card!

I also couldn't resist buying this oil painting of children crabbing at Walberswick by Raymond Leech. I'm really looking forward to being able to enjoy it every day at home.

If you can get to London before the exhibition closes on the 8th October I would urge you to go and see the show for yourself. There are various artists demonstrating in the galleries throughout the exhibition.

If you can't get to London you can see (and indeed purchase) many of the paintings in the exhibition here.

Fishermens shelter

Redwings at Looe

Front of card

Back of card

Crabbers at work, Walberswick
by Raymond Leech

Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition

Evening light, Polperro harbour

For me when autumn comes around I know it's the time of year for lovely gallery visits to London to begin. 

Firstly it's the Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition which starts with the Friends evening on Monday and then the preview today. The exhibition opens at the Mall Galleries to the public tomorrow (Wednesday 14th October) and continues until the 25th October, on which day it closes at 1.00pm. I hope you can make it. If you love marine paintings you really should try to get there.

I'm extremely grateful to have had two works accepted again in this prestigious and inspirational annual show.

Nothing beats seeing the stunning work in this exhibition with your own eyes but you can get a taster by seeing works in the exhibition online here.

Morning light, Guernsey

Exhibition news RSMA!

Early morning, penny nab £650
Oils 8" x 16"

The long stretch of summer £850
Oils 12" x 16"

I've just had the happy news that two of my paintings have been accepted into this year's Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition. The exhibition will take place at the Mall galleries London from October 15th to 26th. This year the RSMA are celebrating 75 years of exhibiting so it should be a fantastic event if you can make it along. Have a look at their website for more details, and when the show is online with the Mall galleries I will let you know. I hope I will see you there!

Meanwhile if you visit London this summer you can see six of my paintings in the summer exhibition at the Russell gallery in Putney. The exhibition closes on September 12th.

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 - July to September

Going to the beach, Porthcurnick
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The summer of 2013 can be remembered in my mind as being a 'proper summer'! I painted this on the 'hottest day of the year' (according to the radio) not knowing that there were many more 'hottest days of the year' to follow! I think everyone in England at the time felt they should 'enjoy it while it lasts' not knowing that the heatwave would go on and on, to give us our best summer in recent memory.

July saw me heading down to Cornwall with my paints and a car full of easels and frames and lashings of ginger beer (possibly). My first stop was Mousehole and I stayed in the most wonderful studio you could imagine, just a short walk from the harbour and perfect in every way. My dream home!

St Clements Studio
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I fell in love with Mousehole harbour and didn't really want to leave and paint anywhere else, but I did sneak a look at beautiful Sennen Cove too. 

Evening light at Sennen Cove
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Painting at Mousehole harbour

Day before regatta, Mousehole

Party boat

High tide at Mousehole
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My next stop was pretty Portscatho on the Roseland peninsula, during a heatwave! I only had a couple of days here and a lot of inspiration and work to do.

Evening light in the harbour
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Still evening in Portscatho
30" x 30"

Dropping off wet paintings at the Harbour Gallery, Portscatho

Evening shadows, Portscatho
8" x 10"

At the end of July I was in London for a hectic few days at the SAA's event at the Business Design Centre, and I had another article published in The Artist magazine. This one was about painting alla prima in oils.

August was the time for painting and relaxing and yes, more sunshine! I spent the whole month on the island of Bréhat in France with my family and we had the pleasure of Lori Putnam's company so it was super to have a painting companion as I'm usually there painting on my own. 

Painting with Lori

Crowded beach, Bréhat

I've painted on Guerzido beach lots of times but this has to be one of the busiest! In August all the holiday houses on the island are full and day visitors come across in their thousands from the mainland.

Regatta day at Bréhat

Check out that blue sky!

Cottage with blue shutters, Bréhat

Hidden garden by the sea
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August was such a great month for painting on the island, and I gained much inspiration in Paimpol harbour on the mainland too with a series of watercolour and felt tip studies of my beloved red sails. In between the painting sessions there was plenty of time for relaxing, although I even painted at the neighbourhood party!

Deuxieme câle at Port Clos
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Outgoing tide at Port Clos

I was also sketching away, taking part in 'drawing August' on twitter. It was a fun event and lovely to have the time for it. Here are a few of my sketches from the month -

Sketches from August

After a brilliant long summer it was back home and back to school for the children, and back to workshops and writing for me. However I still had an exciting event to look forward to! In September I was invited up to the beautiful town of Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast. Staithes has a famous history as an artists colony here in the UK. The group of painters based here in the 19th century included Laura and Harold Knight. I have a real fondness for Laura Knight for her dedication to plein air painting, her passion and perseverance, and being able to make it in what truly was a man's world. Dame Laura Knight was the first woman to be honoured with a retrospective exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1965.  Here's an interesting snippet for you - Laura was a member of Nottingham Society of Artists as an art student in the 1890's before leaving for Staithes, as was I in the 1990's. 

Me painting in Staithes

I was staying with family and friends in Whitby and painting in Staithes in the daytime with members of the Royal Society of Marine Artists. It was a terrific few days with great company.

House by the beck

Morning light at Staithes
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Shadows in the beck, Staithes

Thanks for bearing with me this far on my trip down memory lane! In tomorrow's post I'll review the last three months of the year which will bring us right up to date, and then I'll start to think about what 2014 may hold... in the meantime I'd like to wish you all a very very happy new year!