Recent Commissions in this uncertain market

nearby we are fortunate to have the splendid gardens at Wisley, which are the main gardens of the Royal horicultural Society. The best of the best imho. I was asked to paint the view through the wisteria looking along the canal, towards the fine looking building in mock Tudor, with the more prosaic title of The Laboratory. This lady wanted the painting for her parent’s wedding anniversary. Always a privilege to be asked to paint something for a very special occasion and always a responsibility too.

This painting went off a couple of weeks ago, and received with great delight, so a sigh of relief on that one.

This painting of The Dreaming Spires of Oxford was bought by proud parents to mark their son’s recent graduation from Oxford. The romantic skyline filled with Gothic spires and towers and honey-coloured stone buildings really does deserve its title. A painting that I especially enjoyed doing, which is not done justice by the photograph. Everyone thrilled by it, and sold on line, and a lovely review received which was nice.

And this one, still to do, only received a couple of days ago. This is a wedding group as must appear obvious, underneath the bandstand at Brighton. So much detail in the architecture which will have to be simplified somehow, not to mention all those people. They again will have to be simplified. I am just starting to draw this one out, and the drawing will be the long bit

I ask myself why I take some jobs on sometimes. I have never tackled anything like this before. It must be the challenge which won’t let me say no. I always told people that I didn’t paint cats, but owners were thrilled with those that I did. I said the same about Spinnaker Tower floodlit at night, which was very tricky, but the young woman who commissioned it as a present for her boyfriend was delighted, so had I turned these down, I would not have given pleasure to people, so i take it on if I can

Anyway wish me luck with this one. It will be a long haul

Copenhagen Canal and other paintings

Back in the summer, we toured the Baltic. At one time we did eight shore excursions in eight days. Even by cruise ship, we found this tiring because of our age, especially my wife who has walking difficulties, so we might not attempt this sort of holiday again. Copenhagen was just one of the stops we made in Denmark

Touring the canal system was fun. i like painting boats and this was just one scene that I snapped for reference. Quite a lot of light and dark in this shot. The sun was very bright especially on the buildings in the background. Deep shadows were cast by the trees, which accentuated the boats. The figures on the canal side were reduced to silhouettes. It took me several glazes to get the water to be an acceptable colour, whilst at the same time still looking transparent. This was more of an exercise about light against dark, than anything else

I have been commissioned to paint this church, the village church of Pyrford in Surrey. Ancient yet still in use as a parish church, it is set in a tranquil spot, and is quite charming. The lady who commissioned it no longer lives in the area. Her parents are buried here, so a meaningful place. I always feel very priviliged being asked to paint places that are so important in people’s lives. I am working on it at the moment and will post the result

This is how the painting turned out. I have put sunshine into the painting as the photograph was taken on a very dull day, so the colours are brighter. The lady who commissioned this painting was very pleased, which is always a relief

I have another commission now, quite different to the last, This one is a wedding venue, which I get asked to do from time to time. This one involves marqees and the newly wed couple strolling in the grounds around a lake, so quite a lot of different things to worry about, Still it’s good to have these commissions coming through as sales from my gallery are poor at the moment. Times are hard everywhere still and doubtless will be for some time