Home Land

A Lonesome Road

 My solo show "Home Land" at the Abend Gallery, Denver CO finished a couple of weeks ago and have been informed that four have sold so far which is disappointing but the gallery is not surprised in the current uncertain economic times particularly in the USA.

They were: "A Lonesome Road", "Home And Dry", "Last Light" and "The Outsider".

Home And Dry

Last Light

The Outsider

 

 

The Vampire Of San Marco sold

 "The Vampire Of San Marco" has just sold to friend that has a number of moonlight paintings of mine already although this one has a definitely more sinister air to it than the others! I must ask him if he's been to Venice...

This is good news on another level too in that this is the first sale I've made since my near sellout at IX last October, strange how things can be so up and down in this business!

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

Solo Show

 My solo show "Home Land" opens today at the Abend Gallery, Denver CO comprising 15 symbolic landscape paintings in panoramic format all oil on canvas. All can be seen on previous posts over the past year in this blog.

Almenara Art Prize Residency

 I woke up this morning to a fantastic surprise, The Almenara Art Prize messaged me on Instagram to say that my application for their artists residency next year had been accepted. This will be a month (or three weeks) staying at a villa outside the town of Montoro near Cordoba where I can paint the landscape (and maybe Cordoba too as it's been on my bucket list for years) along with another artist yet to be revealed. Since painting on the Sky Landscape Artist Of The Year plein air painting seems to be making a comeback in my work as I also have the upcoming artist residency in Pennsylvania this May too. 

This is all fine with me and fits my decision taken a while ago to try and instigate opportunities through my work for new challenges and also to travel to other countries for a purpose and not just a holiday; if I am going to contribute to the pollution of the planet by flying in jets to other countries at least there is a purpose to it!

I stay at the villa for free so have to pay for my travel and food and also have to leave a painting behind as a thank you and as an addition to their collection. It runs from 16 April to 6 May 2026.

Here is a link:

https://www.thealmenaracollection.com/page/40172/art-residencies 

 

Infected By Art

 

Palace Sunsets

I have just learnt that I have had two paintings selected for inclusion in Infected By Art 13, "Palace Sunsets" and "The Portal" both oil on fine cotton 16" x 12". This is the tenth time in a row that I have had work selected...thank you Jurors!

The Portal

 

Llanberis

 This is the painting that I had four hours to work on in the Sky Landscape Artist Of The Year competition. I was asking a lot of myself to complete a tonal underpainting before going to colour and indeed towards the end I had to rush the bottom half of the painting hence it's somewhat minimal look. It did it's job though and makes the finished painting relatively coherent to be judged at the end. I was quite surprised that I made it to the last three as I find my work doesn't really connect with the Fine Art market in the UK especially as one of the judges couldn't get past me painting it as nighttime.... 

I had a long chat in front of camera with Tai-Shan Schierenberg at the beginning when I explained what and why I was going to do and he was intrigued... but all that got edited out! Kate Bryan actually never spoke to me but my friend Rich Newman who was also there said that she spent a long time looking at the finished painting so maybe she liked it after all. She may have seen the underpainting stage and didn't realise that I was going to add the colour later and thought it was too boring to talk about!

Anyway I was somewhat relieved to not win the heat as the dates for the follow up semi final etc were running way too close to my tour of the National Parks in the South West USA which was booked for late July.

Oil on linen 22" x 16"

Solo Show

 Here is the second batch of five paintings in my "Home Land" series just before I box them up to ship to the Abend Gallery in Denver CO for my solo show in late March.

All oil on canvas 31 1/2" x 12".

There are four left to ship and that will be fifteen paintings for the show.

A Review of 2024

Me at the Grand Canyon

A teaser...

 Now seems a good time to reflect on the year that has nearly finished and I have to say that bearing in mind that every year has good and bad times in them this has been a pretty good year especially after 2023 being a bit of a bummer. Both professionally and personally (the two are actually inseparable) I have to admit it has been a year to remember.

The first major highlight to be mentioned is the fantastic tour round the National Parks of the South West USA with three places ticked off my bucket list: Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Las Vegas. Although it was quite full on physically it was an unforgettable experience of day after day of landscape marvels and it seems like I was lucky to be on the tour as the company doesn't seem to run it any more. Ironically I have not really been able to use much of the reference photos I took for the "Home Land" series yet as a lot of the landscapes are very well known and iconic in themselves and don't quite fit the agenda of the series... looks like I will do another series later based on this trip.

The second highlight of the year I am only going to hint at presently as I need some more information but essentially I was filmed painting in North Wales for a national TV series that is to be broadcast in late January 2025. This will just be a teaser until I post more about it next month.....

The third major highlight was another trip to the USA in October to attend the IX art fair in Reading PA. Normally I go to IX and barely cover my costs with only a few sales made (it is however good to be there to make contacts with new collectors) with shipping and flights being the main expenses. This year was different- I sold seven paintings on the first night of the show with four going to one buyer alone. I then sold two more during the run of the show as well as selling two paintings that weren't even in the show while I was there. This meant for the first time ever that I didn't have to ship back any paintings to the UK. I left one unsold one in the safekeeping of the friends who I stayed with in Maryland, Morgan and Jean Bantly, as it may eventually sell to a buyer in the USA (my main market) and it will be easier and cheaper to ship from there. These sales incidentally made up for a relatively poor year otherwise...

So that was the year that was.... do I dare hope that 2025 will be as good?

My show at the beginning of IX

 

My show at the end...

Every Day Original

 Just a reminder that my painting "Fuyu No Taiyo" is posted tomorrow 23 December on Every Day Original at 10.30 EST. Oil on fine cotton 12" x 16".

IX

 Pleased to see that I have been accepted for the Main Show at IX next year in Reading PA. Looking forward to meeting up with friends old and new... and making some sales! Can't expect it to go as well as this year though...

Art Renewal Center

 In the end three out of my five paintings that were Semi Finalists in the Art Renewal Center's 17th International Salon competition made it as Finalists and will be published in the forthcoming book.

"Binary Sunset" made it into Imaginative Realism

"The Night Owl" and "Home Sweet Home" made in into the Landscape category.

Binary Sunset

T

The Night Owl

Home Sweet Home

IX 2024

Before

 I exhibited my work at IX at the Goggleworks in Reading PA last week after staying with friends in Maryland. They were going there as collectors to see if there was anything they liked to buy (there wasn't) and drove me up to the show. As we arrived a collector was sitting at the entrance who asked me if an older painting called "Faeral" was still available which it was so I made my first sale before even going in the building! A good start!

As I was setting up (aided by my friends Morgan and Jean) a couple of collectors that had bought off me previously approached me and asked if they could buy my latest painting "Tatooine Sunsets" which I had just put up on the screen... I said yes of course - another sold before the event had started, this was going well! The event itself started at 6.00pm and within the hour I had sold "The Vampire of San Polo" to a collector from New York and within I think half an hour another collector came along and bought four more! Oh I forgot to mention that "The Portal" sold to another collector couple in between so at the end of the evening I had sold seven paintings in the show plus "Faeral" at the entrance... the best I had ever done at IX....

The next day I sold "Red Lantern Street" and then nothing on the next day until finally on Saturday I sold "The Fire Temple of Ahura Mazda" to the collectors who had bought "The Portal" previously and who couldn't bear to leave the show without it.

During the run of the show on Wednesday I also sold "Yama Jinja" on Beyond The Everyday so all in all I sold eleven paintings during the time I was there including nine from the show itself - a record I would imagine I will never beat. 

Morgan suggested that I leave the remaining larger painting "Castle Of Lost Souls" at their house where they could ship for me from in case a buyer in the USA emerges. I then resolved to bring the last two smaller paintings back with me on the plane as hand luggage (I had brought two with me this way when I arrived) so this meant... no shipping back to the UK of unsold paintings, a first!

Hmmm I think I will go to IX next year....

After

 

 

 In the "After" pic you can see four paintings packed up in bubblewrap waiting for the buyers to take them away on Sunday the final day of IX.

Yama Jinja sold

 Whilst I was at IX in Reading PA last week (more on that in another post) I sold "Yama Jinja" through Beyond The Everyday, the first I have sold on this platform ran by Every Day Original. This was a painting intended for last year's IX but I was unable to attend. Oil on linen 22" x 16".

Paintings For IX

 These are the paintings that I am bringing to IX this year in Reading PA. Eight are framed the rest will be hung unframed as I have not had a chance to get them framed for various reasons. It's my usual mix of Fantasy and Orientalism seasoned with a bit of Science Fiction and Horror.... I like variety. I will be shipping them in two batches and hope that they don't get lost/stuck in Customs which happened once before and did not make for a relaxing pre-event time with friends in the US while I frantically rang FedEx to find out where the hell they were. As it turned they got delivered on the day I was there to hang them in time for the Private View that evening.....please not again!

IX (Illuxcon) will be held at the Goggleworks in Reading PA from 23 to 27 October. If you're in the area come along it's quite a show!

The Somnambulist sold

 "The Somnambulist" has just sold through Abend Gallery Denver CO. A painting from my "The Sleeping City" series. I wanted a sort of dream/nightmare feel to this one, actually for all in this series come to think of it. Compositionally everything hangs off the central axis of the moon and figure but in an asymmetric way as a counterpoint.

Oil on linen 16" x 12".

International Artist Magazine

 "Steeltown" has been published in the new October/November issue of International Artist magazine as a Finalist in the Cityscapes Challenge. It remains unsold and is currently available at Abend Gallery in Denver CO. Oil on linen 22" x 16".

Dream Street sold

 "Dream Street" has just sold to a buyer in the USA through Artfinder. Oil on canvas 12" x 31".

Art Renewal Center

 Pleased to see that five of my paintings have been accepted for the Semi Final stage of the 17th International Salon competeition. Now I'm hoping that they all make it to the Final! The paintings are "Binary Sunset", "Home Sweet Home", The Night Owl", "Homeward Bound" and "The Safe House".

Lonely Street sold

 I have just returned from a long tour of the National Parks in the South West of the USA and now that the jet lag is receding will begin to process what I saw and photographed and see how/if I am going to incorporate it into my new work. I already have one idea which is related to my work to take to IX in October.... as to how I apply it to my Fine Art work is more nebulous at the moment.

The good news is that while I was away "Lonely Street" sold to a buyer in the USA via Abend Gallery in Denver CO. "Lonely Street" is a painting from my "The Sleeping City" series most of which has a Edward Hopper in Gotham City feel to them, this one has a more surreal feel to it, a bit of a Hopper/Magritte mash up as you will....

Oil on linen 16" x 12".

International Artist magazine

 Pleased to report that "Steeltown" is a Finalist in the Cityscape Challenge of International Artist magazine and will be published in the Oct/Nov issue. This is the second painting to be accepted in consecutive issues... must be doing something right.

Oil on linen 22" x 16".