‘Next Cab Off The Rank‘

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In Liverpool, where I grew up, this is a phrase used to mean ‘on with the next thing’ often quoted by the late, great Paul O’Grady. Well the next ‘cab’, or exhibition, for me is a first… I’m taking part in the very popular Herefordshire Arts Week (H.Arts) 2-10 September and it’s quite exciting!

In our little village of Leintwardine, the historic grade 1-listed 12th century St Mary Magdalene church will be playing host to a collective of 16 creatives who will be showcasing their work from art, ceramics, woodwork, bronzes, millinery plus more. Most work will be for sale too.

Here’s a small selection of my animal paintings that will be available.

Come and visit – there are two venues in Leintwardine – venue 119 which is Lou Lothian’s beautiful pottery and venue 120 the above mentioned collective group in the village church.

Details of all venues and locations around Herefordshire, can be found on the H.Arts web site – just click this link… http://www.h-art.org.uk

See you there!

Standing Highland Cow 108x108cm
Resting Highland Cow 80x80cm
Green Eyes 61x61cm

The Bells of St Clement’s

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This old English nursery rhyme mentions several churches dotted around London, so it’s probably fitting that my two paintings ‘Oranges’ and ‘Lemons’ will be taking part in a Summer Exhibition run by Ludlow Art Society and it will be held in….. St Laurence’s Church in Ludlow, Shropshire.

Running from Saturday 19th to Monday 28th August in the middle of this beautiful market town, there will be lots of wonderful artworks on display so hopefully we will have lots of lovely visitors popping in to have a mooch.

You never know, you may hear the peal (or peel!) of the church’s bells too!

‘Oranges’
‘Lemons’

Exhibitionitis!

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Well it’s turning into a fairly busy year, exhibition-wise. There are a lot of available art exhibitions to submit work to, very tempting, but I’m trying to build my stocks up in between commissions, so I’ve limited myself to the following events…so far.

The Ludlow Art Society and Association of Animal Artists exhibitions are on at the moment, Ludlow actually closes today and I’m delighted to write that ‘Barb’ sold at that one, yay! The Rose Paterson gallery at Weston Park near Shifnal, UK is the setting for the AAA exhibition and it makes for a grand day out, as the grounds are gorgeous, the work on show is amazing and the café does a great flat white!

In a month or so, my donated 5” x 7” ‘postcard’ will be displayed in Vancouver, alongside many others, in the annual Twitter Art Exhibition – monies raised will benefit the Urban Native Youth Association – so if you’re in that Canadian neighbourhood, don’t miss it.

Then later in the year, I’ll be taking part in H-Arts which is the Herefordshire arts festival here in the UK and I’ll be exhibiting alongside a collective of local artists in our village church… very exciting!

Here are some of my submissions to the various exhibitions.

Exhibitionitis – is that a thing, is there a cure?!

‘Barb’ – sold at Ludlow Art Soc Spring Exhibition
‘Red Cow’ at Weston Park – Assoc of Animal Artists exhibition
‘Locked On’ – at Weston Park – Assoc of Animal Artists exhibition
‘Young Fox’ at Ludlow Art Soc Spring Exhibition
‘Border Collie’ for Twitter Art Exhibition 2023

Autumn Exhibition – A Grand Day Out!

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It’s always exciting taking part in an art exhibition and my first one with the Association of Animal Artists will be happening from this weekend until 30 November.

The venue is the Granary Room in Weston Park near Shifnal – a beautiful country house in the Shropshire countryside , which I’m looking forward to discovering.

These are my 3 exhibits which will be taking part amongst an amazing display of talented work by animal artists from all over.

Whether you want to treat yourself to a piece of animal art or just view this collection of work, I reckon it’ll be a grand day out in lovely surroundings. Enjoy!

Pug
Budongo Chimp
Frenchie

Association of Animal Artists

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After a bit of thought and deciding to just go for it, I applied to join the Association of Animal Artists and was delighted to be accepted. There are amazing artists with an incredibly diverse approach to creating animal art in this group. I’m looking forward to admiring the work and linking up to other artists as well as taking part in various exhibitions and social events. Yay!

Ramalamadingdong Merrily on High..!

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The Tolbooth in Lanark, Scotland is an amazing venue used for various events by the local community including a Christmas Shop by the Tolbooth Artists group.

This year we had a bit of a hiccup with a lockdown brought into force a few days after the start of the Christmas Shop but we are now about to re open on Friday 11 December at 10am – yay!

Here are a couple of my paintings for sale at the Christmas Shop – these were 2 Swaledale rams at the Highland Show in Edinburgh last year who knew how to strike a pose! I really missed visiting the Highland Show this year, but hopefully it will be on again in 2021.

Anyway – I’ll finish by wishing you all a Happy Christmas and much improved New Year – stay safe xx

Swaledale Starry Night 2
Swaledale Starry Night 1

Coast to Coast

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Well it’s been a wee while since my last blog and it’s not as if I haven’t had spare time to write one… thank you Covid 19!  So here is something a bit different to my usual animal portraits.

Lanark is a market town close to where I live in Scotland and in the town there is a beautiful old building called the Tolbooth, which is used for various events including art exhibitions.

I am proud to be part of the Tolbooth Artists group and our summer exhibition which closes on 12 September has a theme of Coasts and Rivers.  The pieces of work displayed by local artists have been wonderful, giving visitors plenty to enjoy in a Covid-safe environment.

I was delighted to find out that both of my paintings submitted, have been sold.  A large acrylic on canvas of the setting sun on Arran (just off the west coast of Scotland) and a small pastel painting of moonlit waves – two coastal scenes but different in size, subject and medium used.  Both fun to do and both now in new homes.

Coast to coast!

Setting Sun On Arran

Moonlit Waves

 

Twitter Art Exhibition 2020

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This year’s Twitter Art Exhibition is taking place 3-15 April in Myrtle Beach, California in aid of Horry County Disabilities and Special Needs.  I’ve taken part in TAE for the last few years as I think it’s a great way of raising money for the chosen charities.  Artists connect with others via Twitter, the charity raises funds and the buyers at the art exhibition buy very affordable mini artworks – it’s a win win situation!

If you live near Myrtle Beach, why not check it out?

Here’s my donation to this year’s exhibition – ‘Leo’ acrylic on card.

Leo – acrylic

Pug Dug Making An Exhibition Of Himself

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We visited the Paisley Art Institute Annual Exhibition last week and wow what a fantastic selection of artwork there is.  It was very well attended at the preview and there was a great buzz at the venue.  The ex-supermarket location was spacious and well lit with plenty of room to manoeuvre around the viewers.

I was delighted to spot my little pug, sharing wall space with other small paintings by artists I greatly admire.  I hope he enjoys his time at this exhibition and maybe, just maybe, he might be lucky enough to find a new home.

‘Brooke, Action For Working Horses and Donkeys’ Art Auction & Exhibition 2019

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I was approached a few weeks’ ago by an old school friend, Ann on Facebook to see if I would like to donate a piece of art for an upcoming Art Exhibition & Auction being held in Chester, U.K. by the Brooke organisation which helps working horses, donkeys & mules around the world.

It educates the owners to work their animals without causing distress or suffering. Of course, I wanted to do my bit and contribute to such a great cause, so after a chat with Ann about what would be suitable and her help with the text to accompany the artwork, I found a reference photo by Leslie Charlesworth which was available to use with his permission and modified it to produce a pastel painting called ‘Resignation’.

The title explains the feeling that this mare has, as you can see what she is dealing with in the reflection of her eye if you look closely.

I hope that the auction raises a good amount for the Brooke organisation to further their work.