Current Work - Pastel Painting Classes - Correspondence Course.

February 2010

Pastel Classes. There are classes available at my sudio and also a correspondence course. Please subscribe to the newsletter or e-mail me if you want to know about dates of classes or if you wish to receive the free introductory notes for the correspondence course etc. E-mail me ( see link below ) or telephone 01834-831633.

Summer School July

Advanced Class

Thank you so much for your letters and e-mails following the courses. It really does mean so much to me. In planning the course, I have tried to make it informative and fun and your feedback really helps me to know whether or not I am getting it right. ( As well as the feel good factor of course ) I am delighted to see the progress made and the pleasure this is giving to students on the course.

Hilary, who attended a weekend course writes, " many thanks for the course last weekend - both my father and I really enjoyed ourselves and we also learnt a huge amount."

Martin writes, " Hilary and I thoroughly enjoyed our pastel weekend with you and want to say a big thank you for all your kindness and help. Looking at our pictures we are delighted with them and amazed at how much we achieved under your guidence. "

John Walker of Birmingham, who attended the Summer School, writes..... " I felt I should write to let you know how much I enjoyed my five day course". He says that it provided " a joyful experience" As is the case with other students, John had some considerable experience with other media....."Despite my familiarity with other media, my pastel techniques were in need of attention..... I did learn a lot....rest assured, I feel that I have improved".

January class under instruction in the studio

January class working in the studio

New Galleries

I am now exhibiting in The Ardent Gallery in Brecon. This is a lovely, friendly gallery and well worth a visit.

Jelly Egg Gallery in Narberth holds a good stock of my limited edition prints. This is certainly worth a visit. You will find a treasure trove of goodies.

Current Work

I have very much enjoyed working in oil over the last year but am ready now to return to pastel. I plan to work on some new sand dune pieces very soon.

Some of my latest oils are being exhibited in The Ardent Gallery in Brecon.

Wales is a wonderful country with so many beautiful views for landscape artists. Having said this, as well as painting Welsh scenes, there are many other wonderful areas in Britain that I have depicted and continue to enjoy painting. I was commissioned afew years ago to paint two scenes on Dartmoor. I loved working on these paintings and look forward to going there again.

Scotland is another of my favourite places with stunning views of Glen Coe as well as the wonderful west coast. I have a few paintings in my head that I am looking forward to working on including a scene of morning mist at the foot of Glen Coe but at the moment have just started working on a small oil of Loch Tay.

A British Artist

One of the exciting elements of the work of a landscape artist is the creation of a new piece which doesn't exist until it takes shape in the mind and ultimately on the canvas. Moods can be changed and created in this wonderfully exhilerating process.

Whilst I thoroughly appreciate and enjoy living and working in Wales, I would not wish to be labelled as a Welsh landscape artist solely. I am a British landscape artist and produce scenes from the UK and abroad and indeed plan to work on many pieces from my recent travels in Europe and Africa.
Britain, however, has many wonderful locations which lend themselves to landscape paintings from Dartmoor to Yorkshire and Cornwall to the Scottish Isles.

Limited Edition Prints

I try to offer a wide variety of limited edition prints of Wales. There are also some of Dartmoor, Scotland and abroad.
These prints are of a very fine quality and I am confident in their likeness to the originals as I oversea the scanning and printing from start to finish.
It is very important to me that these high quality limited edition prints are a good representation of the original landscape painting.
Seascapes and beach scenes of Wales are amongst the most popular images but I have also painted landscapes of woodland scenes with bluebell paths and sunlit lanes.

Landscape Artists

Landscape artists have a love of the countryside and their environment and I never take for granted how lucky I am to live in this wonderfully unspoilt area of Wales. The UK has many beautifully green and verdant counties, but Pembrokeshire has to be one of the best. Following my recent travels through Spain and Morocco, I am really appreciating the fecundity of home.
One is never short of ideas and I am continually striving, as a landscape artist, to convey, through my work, the pleasure and fulfilment we can absorb from the world around us.
Sometimes I am asked if I can produce a landscape painting from a photograph. I try to avoid this whenever possible as it is really difficult to portray the feel of a place if one has never seen it.
There are so many landscape paintings in my head from places I have been over recent years. I am waiting to do another painting of Glen Coe in the early morning, also the mountains in Northern Greece, Provence with the wonderful fields of lavender, the Pyrenees, not to mention Morocco and the wonderful mountains of Slovakia.
However, for now these must wait as I am filled with the Pembrokeshire Summer and coastal scenes of beaches and seaside paths.
I am very lucky to be a professional landscape artist but contrary to popular belief, artists have to be incredibly disciplined and single minded. Along with many of my artist friends, unless we are painting, we don't feel we are working. Thus, answering e-mails and enquiries and dealing with galleries is generally done in the evening or at the weekend when one is not 'working'.

Your Comments

I would like to thank the many people who have e-mailed and written to me with very encouraging and thoughtful comments about my work. One of the problems of working at home and hanging in galleries is that one is distanced from ones clients and I must say that I very much appreciate the feedback from the website.
I can discuss my work with other landscape artists who are kind enough to suggest links to their sites and also keep in touch with what work other people are doing.

Painting in Wales

I am very lucky to live and work in Wales and particularly in Pembrokeshire which has to be one of the most beautifully unspoilt areas. A wonderful place for landscape artists.

I live in a small cottage with my partner, Nicholas, and a peacock that arrived two years ago from somewhere and seems reluctant to leave.

There are many talented landscape artists in Wales, some of whom are my friends who call to discuss our work and galleries. It is wonderful to be able to talk to other artists about problems with a composition or a particular pigment or framing etc.

The longer I live here, the more I value the isolation and unspoilt environment which is essential to the landscape artist.

I always listen to music when I work which serves to inspire me and also to block out the telephone and outside influences. I play my chosen CD so loudly that I sometimes don't here someone entering the room.
Music is a very important part of my life. I sing with the Dyfed Choir and have just performed the Verdi Requiem ( with 80 other choristers ) in St. Davids Cathedral. I listen to everything from Bach to Beetles but it is invariably vocal. Opera is also a favourite although I am not yet ready to appreciate Wagner. My father used to garden with Wagner and I hope one day to be able to share his appreciation.

There is a wealth of material in Pembrokeshire for landscape artists. From the wonderful beach scenes to the Preseli Hills and fantastic woodland paths, it certainly is a fantastic place to live and work.