3rd Place!

Beach Gossip, 8x16"

I'm on a roll! I won 3rd place at the Portsmouth Arts Guild Summer in Rhode Island juried exhibit with my painting "Beach Gossip". Awesome! The show runs from July 2-26, with the opening reception on Friday July 3 from 6-8pm.

More Big Apple

I'm on a roll with my NYC paintings. Just love the city, and have developed a particular fondness for the taxis, which of course are everywhere. Finished my latest "NYC Reflections" last week, and have almost completed my next one already. I'll run out of reference photos soon, and will have to go back for more!

NYC Reflections, 14x18"

Updates!

"Night Lights" - 8x10"

There's a few things to update you on. Firstly, I won 2nd Place at the Imagine Yellow exhibition this month at Portsmouth Arts Guild with my painting "Night Lights". That was rather exciting, and quite unexpected!

This month I also made my first trip to New York City, which was fantastic! I love NYC! I love the buzz, the hustle and bustle, the honking taxi cabs and the bright lights. There was so much to look at! Weather wise my first day was pretty wet and miserable, but there was a fabulous silver lining. I took plenty of photos and the best ones were from the rainy day - lots of umbrellas and reflections. I've already created two paintings, and I'm currently working on my third. I'm thoroughly enjoying immersing myself in the city to create these pieces. It's almost as good as actually being there again. I'm definitely going back, and soon!

"Rainy NYC Day" - 12x16"

"NYC Taxi" - 20x24"

After my NZ trip, I also created some NZ themed paintings, which I will soon post to my website. I plan to update my website and make a few changes, so it may be a few more weeks.

Hello again...

It's been a while since my last post, but it's been a very busy time, what with going to New Zealand for three weeks, then trying to get back into some kind of routine. I had a fantastic time visiting family and friends and doing the touristy bit, so it's been hard coming back down to earth again now all the travelling is over. I'm getting there though!

I do have news to catch up on. I won a Merchandise Award at Gallery 297 in Bristol at the Art League of Rhode Island Associate Members show in April with my painting "Late Night Movie", which was fantastic! Click here to visit the ALRI website and check out the May 2009 newsletter. I'm also exhibiting at the Portsmouth Arts Guild again this year, from now till November, as well as a new gallery opening in Newport called Isherwood Gallery, the grand opening of which is on Friday May 29th from 6-8pm. Isherwood Gallery is a great space and has a wonderfully ecclectic mix of art, so I hope to see you there!

Another interior...

"The Sitting Room" - 16x16"

I completed my latest project today, "The Sitting Room", which I've been working on for the past few weeks. I abandoned my usual bright palette for much more muted tones, which seemed fitting for the cold winter's afternoon the photograph for this painting was taken on.

Interiors really appeal to me, in particular light and shadow. With this scene, I especially loved the way the light fell in the room and reflected back into the space, softly illuminating the walls and other objects. To create the illusion of space on a flat surface is an exciting challenge.

ALRI Associate Members Show

"End of Winter Sale" 2009 - 16x24"

It's showtime again. This time I entered a painting into the Art League of Rhode Island exhibit "End of Winter" at Spring Bull Gallery in Newport, which opened tonight. I named my painting "End of Winter Sale". Not very original, I know, but I was trying to be clever.

I've also just completed two other paintings for the Portsmouth Arts Guild Annual Members All-Media Exhibition which starts March 12. I went for a floral theme, inspired by some beautiful pale pink tulips I'd been given in February for my birthday. My style was much more representational with these pieces, only because I wanted to render the beauty of the flowers more accurately.

I have one more month to paint and prepare for the upcoming shows before I'm away on holiday for 3 weeks. I'm going to New Zealand in April to visit family and friends. I only get back home every 2 years or so, so I'm really looking forward to the trip, and hoping for a lot of photo ops so I can paint up a storm when I get back.

"Ballerina" and "Tulips" 2009 - 11x14"

It's nice to be recognized...

I found out today that my painting "Before the Rush", which was accepted into the Newport Art Museum 2009 Annual Juried Exhibition just over a week ago, received an Honorable Mention! I was thrilled to be accepted into the show, but to also get an award was fantastic! I'm just sad I missed out on the award ceremony.

I have to keep up the good work, though, and there are a lot of open exhibitions at this time of year. Right now I'm working on a painting for the Art League of Rhode Island show in March, then once I'm finished with that I have to start on some florals. Not only that, but I'm also renting space at the Portsmouth Arts Guild for 8 months, starting in April, so I need to get cracking on some new pieces!