Runs from 28th April - 9th June 2017
The Old School Gallery, Alnmouth, Northumberland
Born and raised in Dorset, I never thought another county could come to mean more to me than my own,
until I first visited Northumberland in the mid nineties staying with Paula's family in Warkworth.
We've been back every year since.
In 2013 I painted this 12" landscape of the nearby barley fields. It was the first plain air painting
I created where I saw the glimpse of a style I wanted to develop.
Since that time Northumberland has become my main source of inspiration - I find the I find the huge spaces, incredible skies (as the winds of the North Sea clash with the rolling hills of the Cheviots along the Anglo-Scottish border) and the rugged, hewn landscape is overwhelmingly inspirational.
In the local town of Alnmouth there is our "go to" The Old School Gallery we visit each time we're here.
The standard of work is always excellent, with talented painters, printmakers and illustrators on show. I was contacted by Dale and Penny from the gallery quite out of the blue late last year, asking if I'd like to take part in a joint exhibition with fellow artist Gillian Lee Smith an opportunity I jumped at - and as I write I'm finishing off paintings and looking to
get them framed next week to ship to the gallery for the 25th.
I'm incredibly excited to be participating, the fact I'm exhibiting in one of my favourite areas in the UK feels like the joining
of a circle that started almost 20 years ago with the first visit.
I hope you'll visit the show.