Category: Painting

When Studio Fridays artists return to the studio for their first session of the new year, they will start by spending some time reflecting on their achievements and frustrations from last year, then setting goals for the coming year. If you are planning to set some goals for next year yourself, here’s an overview of…

We’ve come to the end of yet another lovely term of teaching on Wednesdays, where students of all abilities come to enjoy the studio, and to learn more about painting and drawing. Whereas half of the sessions each term are given to teacher led workshops, challenging students outside of their comfort zones, the other half…

For this year’s Studio Fridays Christmas dinner, each artist prepared an A5 winter themed artwork for Secret Santa. During dinner, each artist picked from the lucky dip, for a fellow artist’s work to keep. It felt really special. Can you match each artwork to the right Studio Fridays artist (and a mentor)?

Like most people, I like a bit of trompe l’oeil and photorealism. Especially if it’s done in an interesting and original way. I like the feeling of looking, and then looking again, when the brain can’t quite work out what is painted or drawn by the artist’s hand, and what is real life or a…

I send out email newsletters each week during term time, sharing some of the creative things I come across day to day in my world of art and art education. You will find each one that has been sent in 2025 below, but if you’d like to receive them each week by email, you can…

In 2021, the stunning eighteenth century Bourse de Commerce stock exchange building reopened in Paris, reimagined into 10,000 square metres of exhibition space to house contemporary works of art from the Pinault Collection. The current exhibition, Minimal, which runs until January 19th, presents abstract works by 52 artists from the 1960s and 70s, arranged both…

I’ve mentioned before how much I love a good ol’ gallery hop! So last Friday I set off with artist friend Robert Verrill to see a small selection of exhibitions from the 100+ contemporary commercial galleries located in the St James and Mayfair area of London. They are all free to visit. If you’d like…

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…