Preparations are well underway for my first exhibition of 2021. A Year of Wondering will take place at the Mechanics Institute at Eyam, 29th – 31st May. For full details of this covid related show see the Events page.

As we begin the new year the future is still unclear as to when we can resume a normal  exhibition programme.  However, plans are being made and my first speculative show will relate directly to covid 19. ‘A Year of Wondering’ will be a Peak District Artisans exhibition of 24 artists and their response to the virus.  It will be held in the Mechanics Institute in the ‘plague village’ of Eyam on 29-31 May.

I am pleased to announce that I have had my large watercolour ‘Clearing showers, Rydal Water’ accepted for exhibition at the prestigious Harley Gallery Open, Welbeck.  The gallery has reopened with some restrictions, see www.harleygallery.co.uk (staying safe during your visit) for details.  The exhibition runs from 1st August until 1st November 2020.

New work has been added to the portfolio page which includes my latest paintings in the depiction of the Coast to Coast Walk that I completed in September 2019, and also the first landscapes painted en plein air around Hoe Grange during the covid lockdown.

I am due to have an article published in the June issue of The Artist magazine which should be available from April 17th. It covers the comparative advantages of working in the studio and ‘en plein air’. I also describe my working practice and painting technique in the stage by stage development of the watercolour, ‘Broughton Bank and the Cleveland Hills’ pictured below.

The first results of my winter studio work have now been added to the portfolio section.  Three new paintings can be found in the watercolour landscapes section, one on the oils page.  I hope you like them.

With the 2019 exhibitions concluded, I have been able to shut myself in the studio and concentrate on new paintings. My main inspiration has been as a result of completing the Coast to Coast Walk from St. Bees to Robin Hoods Bay in September. Taking fourteen days to complete the 192 miles the walk passed through three National Parks; Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North Yorkshire Moors providing plenty of spectacular scenery. I am at present working on a large watercolour of Borrowdale (see photo), a view seen in late afternoon after a day of torrential rain, the cloud briefly lifting to expose the Borrowdale Fells seen from above the village of Seatoller.

My next and final exhibition of the year is on Saturday/Sunday 9-10 November 2019 at the Whitworth Centre, Station Road, Darley Dale, Derbyshire DE4 2EQ.  Entry is free and the fair is open 10.00 – 16.00 on both days.  I will be showing alongside other members of Peak District Artisans, so it’s a great opportunity to shop for those special Christmas gifts and cards.

Once again Wirksworth is getting ready to become a very large art gallery!  As usual I will be exhibiting at Church View, The Croft, Greenhill, where visitors will receive a warm welcome.  The show will be open from 10.00 to 17.00 on both days.

I was delighted to learn that my painting, The Pennine Way near Hayfield (see image below), had won a County Council Award at the 2019 Derbyshire Open.  There is still time to see the exhibition which includes an excellent range of work – it continues at the Buxton Museum and Art Gallery until Friday 13 September.