A commissioned 60th birthday gift. This one now lives in Edinburgh…when I asked the lady how on earth she heard about me from Scotland she said - I saw a Facebook post you made 3 years ago! The power of social media hey!

Brother (from another mother!) of Nixon…Otis’s owner spent her Christmas money getting this one done for herself which I was really touched by.

Such a monumental pose, and his name was the perfect excuse for an injection of colour!

A 60 minute still life pose, painted live and some quick pastel sketches.

Wise words: ‘Take pleasure in the little things’. I think about this often.

Big juicy looping brushstrokes that are all streaky with different colours…I love working this way…and the secret?…lots of paint, scruffy brushes and the balls to put down a big expressive mark confidently and then leave it - no fiddling!

This is a slide I use when i’m teaching show the importance of ‘brush selection’ when painting. Experimenting with your brushes gives you unexpected and sometimes unusual results!

I started this one with washes of transparent colours, building up to the thicker opaque paint at the end. I love the colour palette - the warm reds and oranges against the cool dusky purples - yummy!

A 45 minute hour still life pose, painted live. 12” x 8” oil on board. There are not to many models that can hold a ‘headstand’ pose for 5 minutes straight! See post for more details…

I wanted to try something a bit different with this one - so I took 2 images and overlayed one on top of the other- making the foreground pumpkins more saturated with thicker paint. I love all the stalks - like severed umbilical cords!

An update for you! Here is an image of the Giant Artichoke framed and looking amazing up on the kitchen wall of its owners!

He had wonderfully wiry fur and long ears that I could get my teeth into! I set him against a dramatic blue grey background emphasise his profile and the lovely glow of lighter hair that formed a kind of halo around him!

I couldn’t resist the colours of these figs! Spot the ‘lost’ edges…

“The Ultimate Artichoke” - so called for a few reasons…see full post for more details!

Looking for an interesting arrangement of shapes and shadow shapes. I love the way the shadow shapes speak to each other here.

I’m using an unusual brush for me - a long handled hog haired filbert no 6, great for scrubbing in, blending edges and applying the paint thickly in places with just enough control for the detailed bits.

Attending the Private View at ‘Theatrebarn’ Brentforton of the Broadway open arts festival, standing with my piece ‘Room with a view’.

Loving this palette and the challenge of painting tree bark!! Alao a great exercise in colour mixing, application and softening the edges to create distant branches, fluffy feathers, and the illusion of depth and movement.

25 minute life model poses in pastels…

Still trying to keep the background in soft focus. Enjoying experimenting with transparency and opacity.