Creative Hopping

Anyone who knows me, knows I’m a restless soul and an eager walker. Too eager at times.

“Anyone for a walk?”

“How far?”

“As far as it goes!”

An excursion deep into the countryside is, in my mind, the best way to relax, inspire, exercise, discover and simply spend precious hours. There’s a saying ‘All those that wander are not lost’ and that definitely applies to me. Nothing more exciting than to be swallowed up by ancient landscapes following endless pathways on a voyage of discovery returning home dishevelled yet satisfied. These journeys often reveal a rich abundance of interesting, quirky, quaint and lovely buildings, another passion of mine, architecture. There’s just something quite joyful about squeezing and tweeking them into my paintings. Still, some, I felt deserve a little more attention.

I’d always intended to paint individual properties, knitting them into a pleasing scene with collage but the twitchy grasshopper in me was forever unexpectedly and excitedly leaping to other creative stimulus. I’ve been hopping like this all my life but finally landed on this project, which has been simmering away for too long.

Now I’m a great believer in fate. What will be will be. It’s impossible to have complete control in life. Our life journeys, like walks, can have a few obstacles and unforeseen surprises. No sooner had I initiated this series of paintings than the art teacher at school asked me if I knew of any artist painting building facades in a way the students could recreate.

“Well, funnily enough, that’s just what I’m doing presently” I explained.

“Can we use your artwork in the lessons?”

So I can’t wait to see how the lessons evolve and the students respond and adapt to my paintings. In the meantime this grasshopper needs to focus on painting more buildings and less hopping .... but not walking!

I will be setting up a new page on my website for courses and commissions. The courses are being developed with a colleague as we speak, and the commissions are now available once the page is up and running on the site.

So if you'd like your house facade rendered into a quirky original painting, you know where to come. Prices will start from £40 for an A4 piece of artwork. Mounts and framing are of course at extra cost, as is postage.

I can be contacted via the form on this site.

Coming up soon is a show in Ticknall, followed by an exhibition at Wirksworth Heritage Centre in September....plus a well deserved holiday