Northern Skies

I've been working on a new series of oil paintings over the last few weeks focusing on Northern Skies. I'm really enjoying the subject and the buttery blending qualities of the medium. Here are a few examples

Soul reflections

Following my art & soul workshop with the Northumbria Men's Group on Sunday, I was reflecting on the importance of 'soulwork' in whatever we do. In my own work, I sometimes try and drop down into a deeper place before starting a piece of work, perhaps by listening to what's going on inside of me or just becoming still for a few moments or maybe listening to some music. Then I just try and let the image or images flow through me onto paper or canvas. Here are some of a recent collection of such 'soulscapes' and you can view more by clicking the 'innerscapes' tab at the top or by scrolling down your dropdown menu.

soul-painting

I ran a small group activity this weekend with the Northumbria Men's Group  about letting soul express itself through pastel painting. It was about letting go, keeping an open mind, enjoying the process and choosing colours,  tones, gestures, marks and shapes that express stirrings of the soul in some way.  Always difficult to describe these things in words so I worked on a fairly spontaneous piece to introduce the idea and here it is...

Snowy Peaks near Glencoe

We recently spent a week up in Ardgour, Scotland where the scenery was wonderfully dramatic. Here's the first of what I hope will be a powerful series of paintings. This one was painted with soft pastels.