The lady on the bowling green

Acrylic on hardboard 8" x 8" Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing this painting

Well, bowling greens. Amazing places. There is a "cambre" on the green which means a slight rise in the centre and when the bowls get too near the edge they drop gently into a trough which runs right the way round. The grass is cut so finely it looks like a green carpet. There is a rule that you are not supposed to stand on them in your ordinary shoes - bowls players have special shoes I think. This lady isn't a bowls player. She just happened to be there.

Ghosts in the park

Acrylic on hardboard 8" x 8" Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing this painting

In England, especially in the north of England, the Victorians built municipal parks. This was so that the factory workers would have somewhere to walk on Sundays which was green and flowery because very few of them would have outside gardens to their homes. These parks are very formal and laid out in close clipped lawns and flower beds. I don't know why but I think there is a sense of spookiness in the park. It's hovering, just slightly there, although these ghosts don't look very threatening do they.

In my own shadow

Oil on hardboard 8" x 8" £65 (British pounds) plus postage & packing

There's a custom up here in the north of England of celebrating "Whitsuntide". At least there used to be a custom. I don't think people bother much these days except that we get a Spring bank holiday. However, when I was little each church used to have processions on Whit Sunday (the feast of Pentecost which is the 7th Sunday after Easter) and the tradition was that all the children had new clothes bought for them. So here I am in my new clothes. My mother sometimes took us to see a "stately home" to see how the other half lived :-D so that is one in the background. It makes me laugh because it isn't that much different in appearance to a cotton mill. I feel a bit sorry for the kid in the painting, keeping her hat on and clutching her little plastic handbag. I didn't feel sorry for myself then though - I think I was kind of proud!
This is the twelfth painting in the "Not the Sheila I know" series.

The Tartan Ribbon (re-work)

Acrylic on wood panel 8" x 8" This painting is not currently for sale

This is a rework of the very first painting in the "Not the Sheila I know" series. I was never happy with it and I am learning to listen to those instincts. The eyes were open in the first one and the face smiling but I wanted a bit more sombre mood and the closing of the eyes as I painted was almost instinctive. I thought she looked as if she might be playing hide and seek (a game which always rather scared me). I had a number of tartan ribbons - my mother was a Scottish afficionado :-} - and they always seemed to be on the point of floppily dropping out of my hair.

La Maison de Matisse

This painting has been sold


Oil on hardboard 8" x 8"

This was a bit of a cloudy day weatherwise (I can see some Stalybridge colours creeping in there, haha) and threatening a bit of rain so the sky was quite interesting and not that flat Provencal blue you mostly see. Matisse's family house is huge, like a mini chateau. How come these guys came from such wealthy families? Poor old Van Gogh and Cezanne, they never had this sort of backing. Most of the decoration though on this house is actually painted on - it's "trompe l'oeil" - that ochre coloured stonework and even some of the shutters I think are just painted. So maybe they were trying to save money after all?

The Balcony

This painting has been sold


Oil on hardboard 8" x 8"

This building was in the Cimiez area of Nice. I think it's an area that many, many years ago belonged to Italy. In fact much of that coast line at one time was in Italian hands. There is an air of ostentatious gracefulness in many of the buildings which are now let out as apartments (and they cost a fortune to rent). This one reminds me of Romeo and Juliet!

La Belle Epoque

This painting has been sold



Oil on hardboard 8" x 8"

Another of the beautiful buildings of Nice. This painting caused me no end of trouble. The reason was that the building was heavily decorated with plaster moulding and stucco and whereas I did not want to lose that feel, I did not want to fall into the trap of painting every little detail. What I really enjoy about this one though is that the sky was what we call a "mackerel sky" - a lot of small, light clouds against a deep blue. The sky seemed nearly as "decorated" as the building!

Mediterranean

This painting has been sold


Oil on hardboard 8" x 8".

Nothing shows up the brightness of the Mediterranean sun better than its buildings, themselves graceful and elegant architecture. What a combination.