From the studio

Last month I spent a few days in Bilbao where I visited the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts. Along with their permanent collections, including the huge Richard Serra piece at the Guggenheim, there were temporary exhibitions of work by Barbara Kruger and Helen Frankenthaler at the Guggenheim and Max Ernst at the…

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): 21st…

Day 1: Perry Green studios and gardens in HertfordshireWalk amongst large sculptures by Moore displayed in his gardens and surrounding fields. There are also a number of studios to pop into, including the stunning Maquette studio (above) filled with hundreds of sculptural studies and found natural objects. You can also purchase an additional ticket to…

I was asked about using sketchbooks the other day. Although I don’t keep sketchbooks myself, there are some fascinating films of artists talking about theirs on the RA’s Youtube channel. My friend, artist Mick Kirkbride, has filmed one for them too. It’s a really good watch. By chance I also received an email from Jacksons the other…

Monday was my last Zoom teaching session of the term. I’ve uploaded one piece from each of the five participants below. They are interested in one of two new members joining them next term, so if you think you would be a good fit, please get in touch and I’ll send you more information. I…

The painting and collage was made jointly by Heather and Robert Stewart this term, during the small, joyful Zoom sessions I run on Monday mornings. The colourful swirls of acrylic paint were made by Heather, and the equally colourful collaged buildings by Robert. The work is 1.5 meters wide and captures the joy of their…

Painting ClassesWednesdays: 10.15-12.30 & 1-3.15 We’ve come to the end of another term of wonderful Wednesday painting classes. I feel they are really something special; every student, whether new to painting or experienced, is committed to improving their painting and drawing, as well as contributing to an exciting and energised studio environment. I managed to…

Despite oil paints being my preferred medium, I dedicating the whole of 2024 to painting with watercolours, and the five years previous to mostly using acrylics. The reason I stopped using oils in 2018 was due to the slight chest pains I was getting from the fumes that came with using thinners. But now I’m…

In 2020 I made the short video, ‘In the Media’, to introduce the weekly challenge to students working at home during lockdown. The main part of the video consisted of eleven artworks, each made in response to an image found in the media. I can’t find the original file to cut out the now obsolete…

Personally, being an artist who, for whatever reason, feels compelled to find more and more detail in a subject at the risk of overworking, I keep two phrases in my mind: I asked Chat GPT for more, and it found me the following fourteen artist quotes. It suggests that they can be categorised into four…