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Having done something stupid whilst attempting to load files a couple of years ago, I was victim to a semi-catastrophic loss of data from my computer. The result was that I have been without photographs of many recent paintings, and I have consequently been trying to get myself reunited with a number of pictures in order to remedy the situation. One way to achieve this is to invite oneself for dinner- and it…

Just back from a skiing holiday, and I want to tackle some more skiing pictures. I did some quite fun oil studies 5 years ago.  These skiers are taken from my sketchbook from Switzerland back then. This year I was less conscientious about working whilst on holiday. Although I enjoy skiing, the monochromatic world of snow trees and rocks can get strangely claustrophobic, despite the vastness of the landscape, so it is always a…

Made a timely visit to the Manet last week. I am starting 4 portrait commissions over the next month, including a family group,  two children, and what will probably be a half-length seated portrait. There were few of Manet’s great works on display (Olympia, the original Dejeuner sur l’herbe, the Fifer Boy etc) but there is such immediacy to his portraits, many of which are of friends and family, that it’s almost more…

I have just done this little study for friends of mine. A children’s portrait or any portrait commission doesn’t have to be a formal thing. The dog looks as though she is fascinated by the knights and horses, but in fact we had to tempt her to peer over the table with treats- not included in the painting.

I have started a few still life paintings of flowers, partly because I am going to donate one to the Sixty-five Roses Ball for Cystic Fibrosis in June (www.sixtyfiverosesball.org.uk)- roses, see what I did there?-, but mainly because we are all bored of waiting for the spring to arrive, and it is too cold even to contemplate going outside for landscape painting just yet. I am also revisiting a larger…