Heatons art trail

This coming weekend sees my first time exhibiting and selling at the Heatons art trail.
I'm now trying to get a bit organised for it as a weekend climbing Snowden has kept me quite busy.
A few pictures to frame and bits  and bobs to organise ,I have a new Stockport painting nearly finished, hopefully I'll have it completed I  time.
I will be at the Arc centre and Gallery in Reddish just on Greg st ,really easy to find, with a variety of other artists, there will be workshops running over the weekend that you can get involved in.
I was delighted to see my picture being used to advertise the event in this week's Stockport Express.

All the fun of the fair

I've been working on some paintings on a large scale recently so decided it was time to do something smaller.
My latest piece is 12 x 9 and acrylic on board.
For those of you that are aware of my work, by now you will have noticed that I like colour.
What can be more colourful than a fairground.
We don't have them so much in Stockport these days, although I'm sure most of us went to Torkington  Park Fair at some point, and remember the fair at Hollywood park.
A bit of research and memories of being sick on my shoes coming of the Waltzers inspired me to do my latest painting.
I have been looking for the right frame, usually I keep away from swags and bows and anything frilly but I decided that this picture needed something like that.
After a visit to vintage shops in town I came across the perfect one, a little bit of bargaining and it was mine, all I needed to do was make a few tweaks and the job of framing was complete.
I hope you like what I did.

ps, if you are wondering why I have lettuce , I  share my studio with 2 Guinea pigs, Truffle and Clover

Media stuff this week

What an interesting week it's been.
In June I will be taking part in the Heatons Art trail, a weekend of arts and crafts, artists and crafters getting together to showcase their work.
A small article in this week's Stockport Express let's you know a bit about what's going on.
I was surprised to see that one of my paintings had been featured.

A trip into town/192, however I was even more surprised to see that they had made a big mistake and credited my picture to someone else.
For my first time in print,a tad disappointed to say the least.
A phone call to the paper resulted in an apology and a correction in next week's issue....watch this space.
I was also made aware that my Stockport tea towel featured on the telly on Sunday,  a programme about Stockport market and the situation with the council,still a very uncertain  time for the local traders.

Finally a casual conversation about the stone owls that used to reside in the grounds of Bramall Hall resulted in a bit of research and a short while later a photo was found of my brother Pete in around 1965 looking delighted with his discovery. A little more about the story on the' We are lets go blog.'
http://www.weareletsgo.co.uk/blog/

Hillgate Stockport

Over the last couple of months I have been working on my latest Stockport painting.
A trip with my camera took me down Hillgate towards Robinsons Brewery and then onto underbank.
The image I have gone with was looking down Hillgate across the road from the Red Bull, (a very nice pub) if you're passing.
I have lots to work with for my next project.
The lovely Reverend Roger from St Mary's Parish Church is to retire after Easter and was delighted to receive a mounted print as a retirement gift.

I have put together a little montage ,just to try and show you the progress of my painting from start to finish.

Mike

Last summer I tackled my first portrait,
Quite an important one, my son Mike, playing his beloved guitar before he took it of to Uni with him in September.
A personal challenge for me because I don't do faces so I had to get it right,no pressure ,  I am delighted with the result, everyone that knows him can instantly recognise him, will i do more, well my daughter is still waiting for hers, so watch this space.

Manchester 2016

I have been working on this painting on and off since about August, lacking a bit of inspiration I was just waiting for the right time to complete it, My Christmas paintings finished, and work starting on a big commission there was time enough to get working on it.I'm realy pleased how it's turned out, and as usual I have included some old bits of Manchester with the new.

Patrick

Taking a bit of time out from all the festivities recently I spent a bit of quiet time working on a small painting, having a rummage I came across some lovely textured paper ,something different to use for a change.