From the studio

October 2025 I’ve put together a spreadsheet that lists some of the benefits that major London galleries and museums offer to people who buy their membership. It also shows the price of their annual membership in relation to the price of a single ticket. If you find yourself regularly paying for exhibitions at the same…

I was reminded of Finnish film director Aki Kaurismaki last week. I enjoyed Fallen Leaves a few years ago, but hadn’t followed it up. So last week I signed up for a free, seven day Curzon pass, and watched four more of his films: Le Havre, The Match Factory Girl, Lights in the Dusk and…

When I was putting together my photobook, ’Gently Out Of Time’, I noticed that I’d taken quite a few football related photographs over the last two decades. I included four photographs in the final selection, and this summer I decided to paint them in oils too; one as a large canvas and three smaller works…

I’d like to shine a spotlight on the fantastic work that my Studio Fridays artists have been producing recently. I asked each of them to email me an image of something they are currently working on, or have just finished, and below is what they sent to me. I think they’re great! If you would…

Having just seen the brilliant Kerry James Marshall exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, I decided to put together a collection of paintings by artists who compose figures in a similar way, and often come to mind when I’m painting or teaching in the studio. I’ll add some links to things I’ve found interesting…

In my newsletter last week (sign up here) I included a link to my updated list of up and coming Open Competitions for artists. One of the competition deadlines coming up soon is for the John Ruskin Prize, which is in it’s 8th year. The top prize is £3000 and all of the selected works…

I send out email newsletters most weeks to share some of the creative things I come across day to day in my world of art and art education. There are links to recent newsletters below, but if you’d like to receive them each week by email, you can sign up here. Recent newsletters (2025): 17th…