'Pfalz landscape'

‘Pfalz landscape‘ Acrylic and Pastel, 2010, 140 x 100cm.

During my stay in Speyer most of my work has been based on the city’s fine cathedral. As a landscape painter though, I felt it important that I try and paint at least one typical Pfalz landscape. This new painting is based on the view from the edge of the hills, overlooking the vineyards and out over the Rhein plain to the hills of the Black Forest beyond.

The painting is quite an abstract composition, but its scale lends itself well, I think, to this big, open view.

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Speyer Exhibition Preview

I think last week I said I was trying to finish a large painting before we hung the exhibition on Monday. Well …it was finished but not until well into Sunday! After that I had to remove all the painting gear that I’d accumulated over the last four months so that we had two clear clean gallery spaces for the exhibition. This took quite some time and it was 10pm by the time I had everything done. The trouble was that I still had one 80 x 80 cm board that I’d primed with gesso a few weeks earlier and that I’d planned to do a new drawing on. So, even at the very last moment I thought I could get a final drawing completed and announced to my partner Anita that instead of going to bed I’d be working late! And I did …until around 03.00! The result however was not as hoped for and the piece I did was dreadful….but I enjoyed myself even if I did feel shattered the next morning when Markus, Mike and Andrea arrived first thing to hang the exhibition!

Speyer Exhibition Preview

The work went up fairly quickly and by lunchtime we had it almost complete and looking good ….leaving just a few things still to do. The local press arrived in the evening for a preview and at the end, Michael Lauter announced that I was now on holiday.

We had the Preview last night at 8 o’clock, but it was a worrying few hours as all day the sky had got darker and the humidity higher. It had to end with a bang and the 1st thunder storm arrived at 5 o’clock…great stuff. As it turned out though, we were lucky and by 8 o’clock, it was dry again and around 60 people gathered in the courtyard as Holger (Chairman of Kunstlerbund) and the Mayor opened the exhibition and Markus gave a wonderful speech, recounting how I came to be working in Speyer. This being the Pfalz, there was plenty of local wine flowing and by the end of the evening I had sold 2 paintings and was having discussions with a local businessman re him buying my big, 4 metre long drawing for his restaurant in Speyer.

"Markus' Speech"

"Meeting the Mayor"

What a night, finally got to bed at 3:30, but not before we’d been treated to an amazing piece of unaccompanied, improvised singing from one of Speyer’s best loved singers and musicians, Klaus Fresenius…quite brilliant.

Click here to see my Speyer Art Exhibition Paintings

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'Late March, above Loch Rannoch'

‘Late March, above Loch Rannoch’
Acrylic & Pastel, 2009, 60 x 30 cm

This painting is based on the splendid view one gets when on the grassy and heather clad hills above Loch Rannoch.  It’s wonderful easy walking with huge views all around.

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1. Work of the Week: ‘After the storm, the northern shores of Loch Lomond’
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Speyer Exhibition Poster

Well then, this is almost it ….time to show what I’ve been doing during my stay in Speyer. Needless to say, I’m still working on one painting …but it’s getting there and I’m hoping to have it finished by this evening. The preview is at the Kunstlerhaus on Thursday evening at 8pm and the original plan was to hang all the work on Tuesday evening. I’m one of those people who always works right up to a deadline. However, for local journalists to write a review of the show they need to see it by Monday evening. This is no problem but has meant a bit of last minute re-scheduling on both my part and the members of the Kunstlerbund.

So then, the plan now is to hang the show on Monday morning / afternoon. Four of the artists from the Kunstlerbund are coming to the Kunstlerhaus at 9 am on Monday and between us we’ll put the exhibition together. I have 12 paintings completed and the one large piece I’m still working on ….so with a bit of luck 13 pieces as well as the one large drawing and two other medium size line drawings.

This is very much a ‘work show’ rather than a full blown exhibition. Most of the paintings (done on 6mm mdf) will be presented unframed – just two pieces framed for the main wall. Anyway, even though I say it myself, I’m starting to think it’ll look quite good.

It’ll be good to get the work up on the walls and especially good to get them reviewed in the papers. After Monday I have a couple of days off …

On Thursday we hold the main preview evening attended by the cultural mayor of Speyer. She had visited at the start of my stay and so it’ll be interesting to see what she thinks of my paintings almost four months on. The members of the Kunstlerbund were busy on my behalf last week, addressing and sending 200 invitation cards. We have more of the cards still to give out, so hopefully it’ll be a good turn out. Anyway, for anyone who is reading this and can get to Speyer on Thursday evening please accept my invitation to the preview. The exhibition is open to the public on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 27^th, 28^th & 29^th August, 11.00 – 13.00 & 15.00 – 18.00.

Now I’d better get back to that final painting!

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