Chuffed to bits that we have our final artists for the proposed show at Neoartists in Bolton, for the summer of 2018. They are Emma Renold and Richard Cross. Both very exciting practitioners. I will keep you all posted as to the progress of our proposal on this blog. We really do have some great people, a mix of painters , sculptors and poets, 14 in all, divided equally between male and female creatives. Keep your fingers crossed that the committee gives us the thumbs up!  The form is just being completed as I write this by my co-curator Jasmine Renold.

Recently had my oil painting made in response to a beautiful and very hot garden in Brittany framed. I am absolutely thrilled at how it has come out. I chose a chunky and rebated ‘shabby chic’ frame which was more expensive than usual, but Graeme at Richmond Framing in Clitheroe has made a fantastic job of it. There were some bubbles at the corners that he even managed to eliminate. It’s for a show with my good friend Mo De Rome in October at The Plough in Cambridgeshire. Really looking forward to it. I’m including the original sketch made ‘plein air’ which I used for the painting along with my memory of the garden.

It’s back to the studio and the drawing board. Here is the latest in my series of studies from around our house. Of course the studio is central, a retreat and a place to travel from at the same time. I didn’t think I’d be able to paint or draw as have been feeling frozen as a result of the aftermath of Brexit. I am staying with my feelings and putting one foot in front of the other as it were. I’ve run out of my special paper now, must get some more but all sense of urgency seems to have left me, sad. The last thing I drew was my windowledge with brushes. I kind of didn’t deliberately choose to do this it just happened. Click images to enlarge.