On 20th November one of my paintings was auctioned in aid of the Sprotbrough church roof fund.
My painting of a cricket match behind the Ivanhoe pub was on display in the post office for a few weeks before the auction alongside another by Sheila Bury (see the article in my Press section). Both paintings sold for over £200 each raising over £450 for the fund.
Another good session of talking, painting and meeting interesting people.
Thursday 19th November 2009 was the 2nd annual Success Doncaster Showcase event held at the Dome Leisure Centre. About 150 new and not-so-new businesses set up stands to promote their services and products. Somewhere near the back corner was a small display of pictures and this guy who was so absorbed in painting that he missed talking to many of the people who came by. OK – it was me and I deserve the low marks for salesmanship.
I am glad that I did look up from time to time because I enjoyed the conversations I had. Sometimes I was giving information about my work or passing on leads and suggestions to other creative types, and at other times I listened and learned (special thanks to the man from Colbears for his advice). Throughout the day I had a steady flow of interest in commissions, sales and tuition and I hope to see some people again at our Open Studio day on the 28th Nov.
In amongst I spent my time painting on the Grand Theatre picture (See the ‘Work in Progress’ item on my blog) and moved it from step 7 to step 9 – still not finished but getting closer. I need to stand back and balance it now before deciding if it needs tidying or another make-over.
The real eye-catcher of the day seemed to be the ‘Rio di San Luca’ painting which received many enquiries. Perhaps I should have taken its partner ‘Rio del Fuseri’ as well.
Watch how my painting of Doncaster’s Grand Theatre is developing.
I started this picture while working in the shop window in the town centre. It’s in acrylics on a 40 inches square canvas.
As usual on these architectural pictures I started with a very carefully measured and drawn out design. Once the structure is in place and basic blocking out done I can start to loosen it up and build some interesting textures and effects. I’ll update it as things progress.
Nathan, Katherine and Terry tackle another large joint painting in the public eye.
Taking the same view but this time with a vertical format, 6 feet high by 3 feet wide, the painting took longer to finish and we had to carry it on over two days. Great fun and we’re happy with the end result. It’s fascinating watching these pictures emerge because they are different to our individual styles but still close enough to be recognisable. I feel there may be more in the future.
Just heard today that I am to be the ‘Big Guest’ on BBC Radio Sheffield soon.
On Tuesday 24th November Rony Robinson will be interviewing me about my life and career as an artist. The programme goes out live between 2 and 3 pm so be warned!
UPDATE
The interview went well and Rony was very good at putting me at my ease and getting me to forget that lots of people were listening. I don’t think I said anything out of line but if you want to check you have until the evening of Monday 30th Nov to catch it on the BBC Radio Sheffield website. My slot was on the last half hour of the 3 hour programme.
Saturday 28th November is our next Open studio day.
This will be our last official Open Studio day before Christmas.
I’ve been working in the shop window in the Waterdale Centre for a few days now and today I was joined by three other artists who accepted my challenge.
Nathan Turnbull and Katherine Milns, who have studios alongside mine above the Brevon Art Gallery, and regular exhibitor Janet Samson also came along. Our challenge was to work together on a single painting (two 3ft square canvases joined together) using the view from the window as inspiration. With four very different styles the outcome was never certain but it all came out well and we are still friends.
The event attracted many members of the passing public to come in for a chat and see what we were up to. Some artist colleagues also came by to cast a critical eye over things and the general verdict was that the experiment was a success – so much so that we’re going to do it again next week (Tuesday 10th November).
