Tuesday 25th August 2020Madeira Move
This article in the Tyne Valley Express tells of our move to Madeira and my latest painting, 'Homage to Riddlehamhope'. We hope to arrive in Madeira in time for the island's flower festival in September. We will be working on a new gallery there this autumn, and I have a separate studio to paint from, looking over the sea. For anyone wishing to visit the gallery, there is a small hotel just five minutes' walk away.
Tuesday 25th August 2020Homage to Riddlehamhope Sequence
These photographs show the progression of my painting of the former hunting lodge at Riddlehamhope. I've been drawn to paint this atmospheric building several times. It has recently been demolished completely.
Tuesday 21st July 2020Prudhoe Gallery in Kingfisher Northumberland Guide
You may spot the gallery in the latest Kingfisher hardback guide to Northumberland, which is full of information on galleries, restaurants, country houses and more to visit in our area.
Tuesday 21st July 2020Moor House Farm Feature
Thank you to the Tyne Valley Express magazine for this feature about my pair of Moor House Farm paintings. I enjoy painting abandoned buidlings which are fragile and fading, so that I can capture their fleeting beauty.
Wednesday 17th June 2020Gallery Open by Appointment
The gallery is now open by individual appointment if you would like to browse the prints and paintings. Just email me via the website's contact area to make an appointment.
Teaching is on hold, sadly, until we have further guidelines of what’s safe and practical. The situation will change in due course.
Take care and very best wishes from myself and Alison.
Friday 12th June 2020The Byre Poem and New Book Coming, ‘An Ungoverned Sky’
This is Noel Connor’s poem ‘The Byre,’ which accompanies my painting ‘Window, Crossdykes Farm’ in ‘In the Pause of Passing’. Mike Tickell was kind enough to read the poem and Nat at Canny Productions filmed it.
Noel and I are currently working on a second book ‘An Ungoverned Sky’ - more news of that soon. Noel has been very busy writing in lockdown, and I’ve had far more time to paint than usual. I hope you enjoy the reading.
Tuesday 19th May 2020Empty Chair, Madeira
This painting of an empty chair in an abandoned dwelling in Madeira is paired, in a sense, with my earlier empty chair painting of a chair in an old house at Peakside, near Frosterly.
In each case, the chair looks as if a person just stood up and walked away from it, creating a mystery as to why the house was abandoned. I never change anything in the houses I paint and leave it to the person looking at the painting to fill in the gaps if they wish to, and to imagine the people who lived there.
Wednesday 06th May 2020Homage to Riddlehamhope
I have just started sketching out this homage to Riddlehamhope - a building I have painted several times.
Wednesday 29th April 2020Moorhouse Farm
'Moorhouse Farm' is now completed and prints are available from my website or the gallery. This old farmhouse is near Allendale, Northumberland, and I am also working on a window painting from the same building. I am continuing to paint from my Prudhoe gallery, although the gallery is closed right now, of course. Take care.
Thursday 09th April 2020Moorhouse Farm - Work in Progress
I am currently working on two paintings of the same building, Moorhouse Farm, near Allendale, Northumberland. The painting of the farm itself is closer to completion than the window painting. The window is to the right of the farmhouse.The detail of the farmhouse itself is taking some time - the scrubby grass at the front of the scene, and the tiny stream.
The whole place is so fragile that I suspect it won't stand another year. The tipping point isn't far away.
