06 July 2015

St Agnes Sundowner Painting


Last Saturday in St Agnes was The Sundowner. An annual summer village gathering to raise money for Cancer Research with a bar, a buffet, activities and a huge charity auction.


This year they asked me to come along with some paints and capture the atmosphere of the event on canvas and then include the painting in the auction at the end of the evening.





I used a mixture of spray paint, acrylic and watercolour to create a scene of the vibrant evening and painted and chatted with everybody who was interested in what I was doing.
I have been experimenting with this mixture of media lately and it is very challenging but the results can be satisfying, at times.

The painting went up for auction almost before the paint had dried and raised a very respectable £360. Which was a relief after a bottle of Sloe Gin, famously the star of the show, had just sold for £160!



Thanks to Jill Vasey and the other organisers for giving me such a great challenge, way out of my comfort zone, and a massive thanks to the couple who bought the painting as a gift for their friend.







02 July 2015

A scotchman Comes Home Exhibition. Falkirk.

If you're in Scotland over the next few days, get to Falkirk and check out A Scotchman Comes Home, an exhibition dedicated to the homecoming journey of Scottish-born environmental legend John Muir at the Meadowbank Library, Polmont on Fri 3rd, Sat 4th, Mon 6th, Tues 7th July at 10:00am.

My portrait of a young John Muir.