Duke of York square

Saturday market, Duke of York square
Oils 22" x 24" SOLD

It was a fun and exhausting (and at times a little crazy!) weekend at the Pintar Rapido event in London. 501 artists were registered to take part in the painting event, although I think around 400 turned up on the day. Many may have been put off by the weather reports.. we were expecting constant rain and thunderstorms on Saturday! In the event we didn't have a single drop of rain and it was a gorgeous day. Many of my friends did what  I did and carried a large umbrella around all day, which wasn't needed after all.

So on the Saturday you registered in the morning and had your blank canvas stamped, and then you were able to paint outside anywhere you wanted within the borough of Kensington and Chelsea. I wanted to capture the life and action of the city on a hot summer weekend, and so I headed to the market in Duke of York square.

There certainly was plenty of life there! I chose a challenging subject and worked on a really large scale at 22" x 24". It was a lot to tackle in a day, with constant interruptions when I explained to spectators what Pintar Rapido was and why they were seeing artists with easels everywhere they went!

I was really drawn to the light coming through the orange sheeting at the back of the Sushi stall, and the light glancing along the tops of the market stall canopies.

The figures had to be placed very quickly, and painted mostly from memory. I'm really pleased that I managed to get a Chelsea pensioner in, walking towards me with his blue peaked cap.

It was such a special moment in the day when I met a couple who had come down from Lincoln especially to see the Sunday exhibition because they follow my blog and had read about the event. If you are reading this I'm so sorry I didn't get to see you on Sunday, but I really am touched that you came. 

I ended up packing away my kit in a rush at 7.00 pm, and had to get back to the Old Town Hall to get my painting framed and handed in before 8.00pm. It was a crazy scene when I got there, artists everywhere rushing to get their paintings framed, with tools, frames, glass etc covering every surface and most of the floor. It was hard to find a clear patch of floor to get mine framed and at the end of all that I was completely shattered and made my way gradually back to the hotel.

This is my painting hanging in the exhibition the next day, and I'm pleased that it sold. It was lovely to see all the different paintings and all the artists assembled together. Unfortunately it was exceedingly hot inside the exhibition and there were no refreshments, so I had to keep going out for a drink and fresh air. 

Apart from that it was a great event, well organised and a chance to catch up with lots of painting friends and I hope I can do it again one day.

Pintar Rapido in London

Painting in London on Saturday

I've been in London since Friday to take part in Pintar Rapido, what a great event it was. I'm still recovering so I thought I'd send you this photo for now which was taken on Saturday by the incredibly talented artist Tom Hughes, thanks Tom.
Tomorrow I'll tell you more about the weekend I promise... bye for now!

Patchings festival day two!

Plein air painting at Patchings

As you can see we were blessed with glorious weather again for day two of the festival! Thanks to my wonderful helper Sue taking care of everything in the marquee I was able to demo plein air painting down in the pretty courtyard at Patchings art centre.
It is so lovely to be here meeting everyone! I will be on my stand all day today, and tomorrow I will paint plein air again. If you're able to get over to Nottinghamshire please come, you won't regret it!
There's so much going on here :-)

www.patchingsartcentre.co.uk 

Going to Florida!

I am so excited because in eight days time I will be travelling to Florida, as one of the 23 invited artists to take part in Florida's Forgotten Coast plein air paint out - my first ever plein air event in the USA!

I've got quite a lot on my plate at the moment trying to organise everything in preparation for my time away. Today I've been thinking about frames, art materials and panels that I will need to prepare for the trip!

Recently I was interviewed by Wes Locher for the Star newspaper and you can read the article by clicking here.

Also you can read here all the information about the event so that you can see where I'm going to be painting and who with, and as usual I will do my best to bring you daily reports while I'm away!

Hook head - horizon

Hook head
Oils on canvas 12" x 16"

I've been on the computer for about 24 hours (not quite but feels like it!) designing a 'self-publish' book of my latest paintings. I'm hugely excited about it and I think it's going to look great. It's 100 pages long and I've included all my favourite paintings from 2012 so far, plus it's absolutely littered with inspirational quotes about painting and life! I can't share details of it with you yet until I've received an actual physical copy to hold in my hands and see that it's as fantastic as I hope it will be!

I'm also working on two current portrait commissions so I can't show you pictures of those until completed.
I can show you this however! I painted Hook Head back in summer in Ireland with my new friend Lori Putnam painting nearby.
I was really happy with it as it was my best painting of the week but one thing niggled me - the wonky horizon line! Today I finally got around to fixing it, I don't know how hard I thought it was going to be exactly but it took me all of five minutes to sort it!

Before - with wobbly horizon! I'm using masking tape to make a straight edge

I'm off to London again tomorrow, handing in two paintings that have been pre-selected for the New English Art Club (do not hold your breath - I'm not!), and hopefully will be meeting with someone special...

Enniscorthy

Enniscorthy - unfinished

Here's another painting from Ireland last week, the pretty town of Enniscorthy. I spent about two and a half hours on this on Thursday late afternoon/ early evening, and then went back at the same time on Saturday for another two hours. Yet it's still not finished! Perhaps I will finish it one day, I did manage to take some photos at the time. Or I could always take it back there next year...
I'm back home now for two crazy days of packing and getting the four paintings for the Royal Society of Marine Artists framed and ready to send. Then we'll have a long day travelling to Bréhat so please don't expect to hear from me for a little while! I might need a rest by the time we get there! :-)

Hook head, big surprise!

Hook Head, oil on canvas 12" x 16"

Incoming tide at Hook Head, oils on canvas 12" x 16"

I must admit, I had my doubts. This morning was the worst rain yet. I could hear it beating down outside as soon as I woke up, you know, the kind of rain that slaps the pavement!
We were heading out to the tip of a peninsula, to a lighthouse of all places, the most exposed painting location of the week.
We had a plan, me and Lori my new friend. Turn up, get canvasses stamped, turn heel and drive inland. Somewhere with shelter.
But what was this? As we drove towards Hook Head, spots and patches of blue started to appear in the clouds.
We arrived in glorious sunshine! We painted in sunshine all day, and it was my best painting day of the week, without doubt!
Now I'm off to the Festival BBQ! It's pouring with rain again now, but that doesn't matter at all!