A painters look back at ‘23
On a day to day basis in the studio I focus on the work I’m doing right now. I also, if it’s going well, develop thoughts and excitement about ‘what’s next’. It’s good to look back sometimes too though, and as a painter it’s really important to review your work every few months to see ideas, patterns and themes that you may not have been aware of at the time of painting. It’s also important to remind yourself of (and celebrate) things that you have achieved - be it a show you’ve taken part in or an exhibition you’ve seen.
‘Fray (yellow)’ on display at the Old Parcels Office Open Exhibition in Scarborough
A painting show in Scarborough
The year started for me with two paintings being selected for an exhibition at the Old Parcels Office Artspace in Scarborough. I used to live in Scarborough many moons ago, so it was good to see may paintings on show there amongst some familair names. The OPO space is a fantastic artist-run gallery and studios with a lively exhibition and event schedule. It’s great to visit such an ambitious, beautiful and well put together space and the exhibition was a fantastic mix of painting, installation and textiles from across the UK.
‘Emerging’- selected for the Leeds Summer Group Show
Leeds Summer Group Show
This summer another of my ‘Fray’ paintings, which feature a repeated linear mark in a multitude of colours, was exhibited at the Leeds Playhouse. It was selected for the Leeds Summer Group Show, curated by northern based artist-curator Court Spencer - it was a lively show in a busy venue with work from across the UK you can still see all the works exhibited on her website here along with other art projects by Court, well worth a look.
‘Twenty Self-Portraits’ on show at Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert, London
A trip to see Frank Auerbach’s latest paintings
In the summer I took trip (more of a pilgrimage) to London to see the Frank Auerbach exhibition, it did not disappoint. A series of twenty recent self-portraits by the superlative British painter, now in his 90’s. Auerbach is a painters painter - someone you study at art school, and like Hockney someone who by dint of living so long and being financially successful, has had a profound impact on painting. Personally, I found the exhibition incredibly moving - the paintings were built with his usual bold marks, ‘ugly’ colours, smudges and layers allowing the face of an old man to emerge from the abstract physical gestures. The gallery was also a beautiful and quiet space perfect to contemplate and appreciate the work. You can visit the Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert exhibition page to see more.
Some more old painting friends…Van Gogh and Vermeer
I took my first trip to Amsterdam and a visit to the Van Gogh museum reminded me of the genius of his work. Some painters become so ubiquitous through books, TV and film that you risk becoming blind to them. However, being up-close to the real thing again jolted me awake. The brush marks were simply amazing and standing in front of his self-portrait, with its astonishing gaze, felt like a direct connection through time. Portraiture at its very best.
The astonishing gaze of Van Gogh at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Later, I was trying to get close to the Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum. It took some patience and sharp elbows but the payoff was worth it. Standing a few inches from these paintings was magical. Seeing how a few abstract dabs of white paint can transmogrify into cool fluid milk pouring from a jug is sheer magic. This optical trickery and mastery of the medium gives a painter like me such as thrill, something of which I will never grow tired of. I often say when I teach that you should look at as much (good!) art as possible to help you learn how to paint, and this exactly how I continue to learn.
The Milkmaid by Vermeer, painted in 1657/58, held at the Rijksmuseum and full of magic
A day in Edinburgh (and a list of art galleries to visit)
My last art trip this year was to Edinburgh. A day trip from York on the train, and a list of exhibitions that I wanted to see. I started with a tour of the Dovecot Studios, the home of Scottish tapestry. The studio collaborates with international artists creating the most beautiful textile work either as original designs or as transcriptions of paintings. They also have a fabulous exhibitions calendar and I had timed my visit to see the Scottish Women Artists exhibiiton which included works by a painter heroine of mine, Joan Eardley.
On from there I visited the Scottish Gallery and their small but perfect exhibition of Elizabeth Blackadder. Blackadder was more expansively explored at the Royal Scottish Academy along with the work of her husband, artist John Houston. While there I also took a spin around the major Grayson Perry retrospective that was on, and I know I may be in the minority, but his use of digital drawing and machine fabrication of his textiles did leave feeling a little underwhelmed.
Further down Dundas Street and you have the Open Eye Gallery, which was showing a retrospective of the work of John Bellany and there was also time to pop in to &Gallery which shows an exciting roster of contemporary painting.
If you’d like to find out more about any of the places I visited on my day trip here are a few links for you…
And Finally…my last painting exhibition of 2023
To end the year and take me into 2024, I’m exhibiting some of my larger paintings in York. Outside of open studio events I haven’t shown work in York since 1997! There’s a collection of my paintings on view now at the Bluebird Bakery until February. So do pop down if you're in the area and let me know what you think!
Installing work at Bluebird earlier in December
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