I ended up walking some of the tow path in 'Hockey Heath' last week...it was truly beautiful. i'm not generally a landscape painter but I really wanted to capture this moment.

It has also inspired me to create a NEW ‘Landscapes’ One-Day Workshop. Keep your eye on the ‘Workshops’ tab for dates later in the year.

The tonal sketch: This is where you do your thinking! The key to this painting is the way the light flows into the cut plum and the way the darks cascade down like a waterfall from top left to bottom right. A simple 3 tone sketch forces you to make those decisions up front - are the cut plums going to be a light or a midtone? or in this case one of each.

This workshop was held in at the ‘Sarah Horne Academy’ in Leamington Spa. It doesn’t get any better than painting flowers in a flower shop!

I like the unusual format of the square within a square, the light and dark pastel shades. I can see myself returning to this format again…an acrylic underpainting with oils as a second layer to enhance the Dahlia and create the ‘Willow Tit’.

This is actually my sixth go at this flower…each attempt taught me something that I carried through to the next one.  It’s amazing to both see and feel your work evolving.

Demo for a new workshop which is designed to help students ‘loosen up’ whilst learning the basic principles of Colour Mixing, Composition and Brushwork.  Aimed at those who would like to try oil paints for the first time and those that would like to find ways to loosen up their style and paint more freely.

Trying to work a bit more intuitively… integrating drawing into painting, finding the birds 3/4 of the way through the painting.

It takes guts to work in this intuitive way… to be prepared to loose bits of the painting then find them again…

Integrating drawing into my painting, finding the birds amongst the flowers 3/4 of the way through the painting.

This piece began dense in the Center, then as I painted outwards it felt as though it was exploding and fragmenting I decided to take a risk and run with that feeling, making the marks looser and leaving more gaps towards the edges.

I was trying to balance both light and shade, warms and cools, and areas detail with areas of calm.  I could have chosen so many different versions- but in the end you have to commit to just one idea then run with it.  A ‘Balancing Act’ in other words!

This painting was inspired by a beautiful bouquet made by a student in one of @sarahhornebotanicals flower arranging workshops. Initially what caught my eye were all the stalks. I think its got a lovely vintage vibe to it.

‘If at first you don’t succeed….chop out the best bit!’

A fantastic weekend celebrating the arts held in Jephson and Mill Gardens, Leamington this summer. Thankyou to everyone who came to visit or bought a painting. It was a lovely event to be part of.

Stunning ‘Machine Embroidered’ pieces made by the students today in class @oxford_summer_school. Each student chooses their own colour scheme and uses the different stitches on their machines to sew it all together.

Amazing results from the students @oxford_summer_school who were painting sunflowers picked yesterday at the fields of ‘Lodge Farm Sunflowers’ (Next to Compton Verney art gallery). Each student produced a unique interpretation of their floral still life.

A great exercise in colour mixing, application and softening the edges to create distant branches, fluffy feathers, and the illusion of depth and movement.

The Key is knowing when to stop!

An unusual colour palette that reminds me of those sweets I used to love as a child…’Rhubarb & Custard!' So much so, that Richard Boyes left some in my desk on Valentines day!

My aim here was to paint each iris petal in one big brush stroke. By dipping my brush into a few different shades I can create interesting ‘streaks’ running through the petal that give them texture and interest.