Mumbles pier and Swansea Bay. For sale

Time has flown, and this month has been a very full one.
I was joined by 14 people for my painting holiday in the Wye Valley with Alpha Painting Holidays (www.alphapaintingholidays.co.uk), which went really well, owing to great company, great organisation by Alpha, and grea… good weather.  And great food!  Here are a few photos from the week.
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One of my demo paintings. St Briavel’s church.

Next year I’m tutoring a holiday with Alpha based in Wells, and around local villages of Somerset.  This is booking now, and if you can be tempted to join me I’d be delighted to share the pleasures of plein air watercolour with you.  Wells itself has some beautiful, historic architecture and picturesque scenes, and makes a lovely base for a painting break.

Also next year – April – I’ll be tutoring a plein air painting break at Flatford Mill (Constable country), but booking for that opens September so more news on that to come soon.

Cunning plan – new painting holiday, inspiring coastal landscape locations.

But in addition to these holidays I have a cunning plan developing, and I would like you to let me know if you think you’d be interested in it.  This is:
I will lead a plein air (4 day/5 night) painting holiday based around the wonderful Gower peninsula, Wales. The area features many beautiful coastal locations close together.  
My idea is that each participant will organise their own accommodation and transport.  
The group size will be limited to 8.  
We will meet each morning at a designated plein air location, though if weather is really bad there’ll be a backup indoor venue.
Meals will be at each individual’s organisation but we will arrange to meet each evening at a designated pub or restaurant for a social meal.  
I will only therefore be charging a fee for my tuition for the week, of £200.
The Gower peninsula really is stunning, so please have a look online if you’re not familiar with it to see the great potential this area has, then please let me know if you think you’d like to join me, or for further information ASAP so I know if/when there’s enough take up to make it viable.  I do have a couple of takers already.  This would be either for late summer 2018 or perhaps 2019 now.

Plein air painting sale

I’m making available (only via this blog) the following plein air paintings for just £80 including delivery (that’s to UK addresses – please contact me for overseas charges).  These are paintings I’ve not shown before in most cases, and are not in my website galleries.
Please email me if I can tempt you, or if you’d like further details of the subject/location, etc.  All are on half-imperial paper as normal, being approx. 31 x 51cm image size.
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Constantine Bay, Cornwall, plein air. £80 including postage (to UK).

Glastonbury Tor, plein air. £80 including postage (to UK).

Kelston Round Hill from Saltford Lock, plein air. £80 including postage (to UK).

Clun Castle, Wales, plein air. £80 including postage (to UK).

Marshy beach, Appledore, plein air. £80 including postage (to UK).

Wells Cathedral from the Bishop’s Palace, plein air. £80 including postage (to UK).

Bosham at low tide, plein air. £80 including postage (to UK).

Blakeney, plein air. £80 including postage (to UK).

Cley from the sea defences, plein air. £80 including postage (to UK).

Introducing a new friend

Don’t worry, I’m not planning on launching a new product.  This one is just for me, but just thought I’d share it with you.  My other half kindly bestowed it with its name, taking the mickey out of me.  This (apparently) pony-haired character is currently featuring in some of my paintings, including the following one.  It’s useful for really large brush marks.  As per my Black Sheep I’ve taken to an oriental brush with a pair of scissors, which I think can be ‘character-building’.

Trees by the Shepherd’s hut. For sale

An inspiration:

I’m pleased and proud to at last have on my wall an original watercolour by one of my favourite contemporary painters, Suresh Raval, of Rajkot, India.   Anyone who doesn’t know the very distinctive work of this massively talented artist should check it out, which anyone who’s on Facebook can do here:

https://www.facebook.com/suresh.raval.7

An Indian village scene by Suresh Raval. (We put up some new wallpaper to go with the painting …)

Watercolour by master artist of India, Suresh Raval.

Finally, I managed to get a painting into the Patchings/The Artist/Leisure Painter Open exhibition (currently still on) for a third year running.  This is an achievement I’m proud of, as there is an enormous amount of serious competition out there currently, and the exhibition is very impressive as a whole (there’s a link to the exhibition on the home page here: www.https://www.patchingsartcentre.co.uk)  

Next time, I’m planning on setting a competition of my own (with prize, of course!) so please look out for that.
Wishing you a good month in the meantime.

Wenlock Priory, Shropshire. For sale. A recent studio painting.