Painter’s Diary 20 Feb 2020: I started this painting yesterday … just finished! Tiring but satisfying. I’ve been meaning to try reflecting this image in paint for many years – my pal Steve Haw took the photo in Harare in 2009. I have picnicked under this tree myself, and I love the way Steve captured…
14 February 2022 – Thrilled with my new painting of the chalk cliffs near me – a new location this time, Seven Sisters near Seaford, England. I think I got the restless pale, opaque turquoise feel of the sea that comes from the churned up chalky water, and makes the chilly seas round these parts…
Oh no, another war, just when I’d decided to avoid politics for a while. But we need to make our voices heard in times like this. So, I posted on Facebook about my feelings as Russia finally invades Ukraine, and copy to my artist blog, in case Facebook bans me for my anti-war stance (Twitter…
Oil sketch on heavy cartridge paper – made in 2012 as part of an exercise in colour work under Phil Tyler’s mentorship. https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Peach-and-Blue-Dune-Namibia-no-1/295191/8826812/view
Azure Hove 2019 is the view of the sea off Brighton and Hove on a still, sunny, summer’s day, when the chalk in the water makes it a brilliant pale turquoise. Painted with palette knife and bristle brush, zoom in for subtle texture and colour nuances. Hue changes with ambient light. Oil painted onto a…
As promised, to partner Minotaur, Bull God, here is the Snake Priestess of Crete. Or we can only guess she is priestess, some say she is a goddess… (more text below image) The partner of the Bull God of Crete was actually the Moon-Cow, later known as Pasiphae, a daughter of Helios the Sun God.…
The Minotaur is shown as a bronze statue that has come to life in a museum, and, placing his finger to his lips, invites the audience to become complicit in his secrets. (continued below picture) In mythology, the bull-man is a complex figure. I grew up knowing that the Minotaur was the bastard son of…
Catchy activist garage folk tune by activist writer – artist Caitlin Johnstone
In April 2019, I curated an exhibition of Social Art at SEAS gallery in Brighton. Today, I was looking at photos from the show, and I realised I didn’t post much about the show on this, my artist website, though I did create a special website for the show (see ArtoftheReal.net, link below). So here…
07 July 2021 – A portrait of Julian Assange being targeted for his journalistic work, is on show at London’s prestigious Mall Galleries online exhibition, Figurative Art Now (FAN), which opened today. The inclusion of this artwork is remarkable because the mainstream media in the West has blocked all news about Julian Assange from newspapers,…
Air Conditioning – my novel-format reflections about the dystopia we all live in – is published today! See link at the end of this story for where to get a copy, including free sample of the first part. It’s a work of speculative fiction that pretty much wrote itself over the past year or so.…
A new digital artwork from and oil painting I made in 2016. My muse and I engaged in an intersubjective performance, playing with ideas of gender stereotypes, initially reversing the gender of Atlas supporting the world, and with the male gaze in mind. I played the role of director, she interpreted the ideas. I took…
I’m delighted and excited! My latest digital artwork has been selected for Mall Galleries new show Figurative Art now. I’m offering the work as a giclee print 120x165cm in an edition of 5. The show is online 7 July – 20 December 2021. The FAN show invited art made during the year of COVID lockdown.…
Blake’s Original Urizen (Act of Creation)
Inward Gaze (Assange 2 years) (Europa): photo of oil painting of European nude sitting on an African stool with eyes hidden and downcast. Reflection from the glass gives the impression that the naked body is behind glass under observation, maybe shamed. This is a photographic reworking of my painting, which was a comment on the…
Raphael by the Sea 