17 July 2011

Painting Sells at 'Children at Play' Charity Auction @ RCA London

Recently I attended an exhibition held at The Royal College of Art, London, where I had donated one of my original paintings to the ‘Children at Play’ charity auction.



This new venture has been set up by Tanya Baxter Contemporary at the Kings Road Gallery and the 'Right to Play' charity organisation. With association from Goldman Sachs, Cadogan Estates and Chelsea FC, the aim of the event was to raise funds for ‘Right to Play’, whose mission is to improve the lives of children in disadvantaged areas of the world by using the power of sport and play for development of health and peace.

I’m pleased to announce that my donated painting, ‘Keys to the World’, sold on the night for £1800 with 100% of the proceeds going to ‘Right to Play’.

 "Keys to the World"
(80cm x 60cm Acrylic on box canvas)

Amongst the exhibition were paintings by 750 pupils from 4 local state primary schools, aiming to raise money for their own schools as well as ‘Right to Play’.

Renowned artists Sacha Jafri and Sir Peter Blake also donated works, and the Chelsea FC players were involved in creating their own unique style of paintings which were then signed and auctioned off.

With over £50,000 raised on the night alone, it turned out to be a very worthwhile evening!



6 June 2011

Join the Mailing List

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Many thanks



3 May 2011

Solo Exhibition @ Artery Gallery


Solo Exhibition

@

ARTERY GALLERY
43 South Street, St Andrews
KY16 9QR
01334 478221

from 18th MAY 2011

including work from the 'Paintings of Plastic Men' collection

"Weekend Wars"


available to view soon at



13 April 2011

Richard Goodall Gallery, Manchester

New collection of work now exhibiting at the Richard Goodall Gallery based in the Northern Quarter of Manchester.

Richard Goodall Gallery is the leading gallery for Contemporary Art and Fine Art Photography in the UK and is the largest commercial gallery in the UK.

28 February 2011

About the Paintings

My paintings are largely inspired by a mix of nostalgia from my own childhood along with watching my own two young kids grow up. Not necessarily making any comparisons, but being reminded of the nostalgic years and how their life today differs in these modern times, yet in many ways mirror my own childhood.

In the garden with Mum. My first memory of snow.

An idea for a painting can come from anywhere. Usually from a memory or experience of when I was young or by observing something my kids might do. Watching them at play or just relaxing in front off the television. I try to imagine what they are thinking, and this sometimes triggers similar thoughts that I may have had at the same age. I then want to put these memories and stories into an image. Although my kids provide the majority of inspiration for my work, some paintings have also been influenced by a particular song, by something I have seen or read in the news or a conversation I have had or heard, all relating to childhood and particularly the comparisons with differing generations.

Pulling on a long scarf. Who needs an Xbox!

Painting the characters in a naive, cartoon like style helps represent the childhood aspect of the work, taking the seriousness out of the piece and at the same time accentuating the innocence of children.

I feel keeping the background clean and sparse, free of any landscape, means the essence of the narrative and the children themselves are the focus of the viewer’s attention.

That's me on the left with the stupid grin.



19 February 2011

New Work at Artery Gallery, St Andrews

Four new paintings are now on show at Artery Gallery which you can see by clicking the link to their website at www.arteryuk.com

I hope to have more news soon regarding a larger forthcoming exhibition at the Gallery. It should be one of my biggest exhibitions of work so far which I am very excited about!

Plans are underway as to what work I will be producing for Artery Gallery, but rest assured there will be some brand new pieces along with some familiar favourites.

So not only will I be looking forward to Spring/Summer for the long awaited better weather, but also for what I hope to be a successful show!