August 2024

27th August 2024

in

2012. My first solo exhibition. This was the culmination of my time in the Rosetta Windows Gallery as a resident artist, making and eventually showing a series of mixed media relief paintings I had produced in my studio space on site. It was a terrific experience and one I always treasure. There was something else going on that year as well…the London Olympics? Something like that. I’m not sure….

24th August 2024

in

Three watercolour sketches from 2007 I did investigating the theme of movement for a City and Guilds Oil painting course I was studying at the time. It ended up forming the basis of a large oil painting composition using basketball players from the subject matter. The painting no longer exists sadly, and I can’t recall right now if I still have an image of it, but to be honest, I have a feeling over the years that I preferred the loose and spontaneous splashes of colour in the rough and ready sketches. They were the keepers.

22nd August 2024

in

I think this goes back to 2009/10. It was a pastel drawing I did of the corner of my studio space at the time. The rolled up canvases, the old chair and my boots on top with tubs of acrylic paint underneath. My studio at Rosetta Art Centre was a room sectioned off from a larger one that housed about 5 other artists. Quite often I was on my own in there and could really enjoy the solitude. It was a particularly experimental time for me, never really focusing on one style of work or subject over another; one minute making large scale relief works, another dripping inks onto wet paper and seeing what happened. From time to time I would really enjoy pinning up large sheets of paper and drawing whatever was in front of me, or setting up a still life (often boots and shoes) and drawing in pastels and charcoals. It was actually quite liberating. This was one of those that I was really happy with. Eventually I remember recreating this same drawing as an acrylic painting on canvas but that one I think has been lost to time, as has the version you can see here.. I don’t recall the painting saying much more than this work though, so I’m glad I still have a record of it at least.

13th August 2024

in

This was taken in 2015 during set up of the second year exhibition at UEL The paintings are from my Secret Souls series. My work was up and ready, I just needed to think up some titles, hence the notebook in my hand. I’ve always loved this photo.

11th August 2024

in

An ink drawing I made in response to an exhibition at the University of East London in 2015. It was initiated by the artist Gustav Mettzger’s call for artists to remind us of the rich complexity of Nature. I ended up with a series of spontaneous ink drawings of trees when then became part of a group show called Remember Nature.

10th August 2024

in

A poster from a residency I did in 2012 with Rosetta Art Centre (as it was known then) in a disused shop in Canning Town. The venue was called The Windows Gallery, and each residency ended with a solo exhibition that could be seen by the public even when the gallery was closed via the large windows (hence the name - see what they did there?). I had a great 5 months there. The studio itself was damp and very cold in the winter - I remember painting in a hoodie and fingerless gloves, but I loved every minute.