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As we come to the end of 2025 the realisation that maybe a painting is more special than a photograph in our super digital world.

It has been years since I have painted a portrait and I have to say it was with trepidation that I accepted a commission to paint this attractive couple. But from beginning to end it has been a delight. The commission was for a Christmas present and has been given, received and loved so I can share my last piece of work for 2025.  Working on this and seeing it received with such joy and love, made me ponder on the nature of an oil painting. It is not a direct replica of the person or image, it is never going to carry the same near perfection of a photograph but it has something more authentic. It has the work that shows someone spent time contemplating this person, object or place. It is the representation of the spirit of the person, or place. I might be changed to enhance the feeling of time or mood, to pop in what is important and leave out what really does not matter. I have spent years wondering why work so hard painting a landscape from a photo when after all the photo is the...
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Painting in focus, The Butter Mart

The painting in focus is meant to give people a chance to buy a favourite painting, print of card at a special deal price. Having thought about it, one week is very tight for people to decide and then buy. Therefore, I feel a month will be fair. Also, I did not make it totally clear last week that this is on a first come first served basis; once the stock I have is gone, prices will inevitably change. Last week I set out plans for the painting in focus and I said I would start with original paintings I still own.  This just proves I can’t keep to my own rules because this week the painting in focus has been sold!  It is a painting that was done quite a few years ago, but due to its subject and dramatic lighting it has remained a popular print. The Buttermart in Barnard castle has a rich history from when and why it was built to its gunshot holes in the weather cock. But, like all long-lived buildings it has become an iconic feature of Barnard castle. There are three prints...
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Here We Go Again

This is part of a painting I am currently working on, it is  Barnard Castle from Startforth  Do you ever feel like you go round and round over the same ground? If you do, I can identify with that feeling. Toward the end of 2023 I decided to wind my painting down. There were other calls on my time and attention and painting was not happening on anything like a regular basis. I was working from a work room in the garden which needed wires running out to it every time I went in and which was not heated when I was not there. Oil paints do not like cold, so everything was taking longer to dry and getting any routine built up was really difficult. I September 2023 a new granddaughter was born and by January or February of 2024 I started looking after her three days a week. Around the same time, mum asked if it would be possible to move in together, and we started looking for a suitable house. I had no idea how time consuming looking for a house was, what with viewing houses and al...
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