Constable Walks Series

As most of you who follow me regularly know, I have been working on my ‘Constable’s Walks’ Series recently. This series is based on the three walks Constable undertook when he stayed in Brighton between 1820 and 1824 while his wife was very sick with tuberculosis.

I have been working on this for some time and have about 25 works already completed from the three walks.

However, you’ve probably read my exciting news above: I have been invited by Petworth House & Park, the National Trust site, to paint their estate and grounds culminating in a solo show this summer!

As a result ‘Constable’s Walks’ will be put on hold until the Autumn. So if you were following along this project, don’t worry, I will resume painting the three walks out of Brighton for my online show later this year. This is a series I am very excited to be painting and will look forward to picking it up at the end of my Petworth House exhibition.

ING Discerning Eye Drawing Bursary 2020

I am thrilled to have been shortlisted for the ING Discerning Eye Drawing Bursary 2020. This means so much to me as drawing underpins all my work. I feel I spend more time drawing than painting sometimes.

I work ‘en plein air’ and also in the ‘studio’ however before I start painting each work will have a drawing completed before I start work. Even when out in the field painting ‘en plein air’ I will make a thumbnail sketch in charcoal before hand. For me making the drawing either in charcoal or graphite is a way of exploring and understanding the image in shapes, tonal values and feel.

I like to use charcoal sticks, old school style. I know there are a wealth of liquid and fancy charcoals available. And I have tried them all. Believe me I like nothing better than investigating art products. But for me there is such a beautiful feel about charcoal and the unpredictability of it snapping and using the new snapped edge. Picking up a small piece from the bottom of the Tupperware box that I keep them in and then crushing it on the paper. Nothing like getting your fingers messy. I work light to begin with and then push in into the work with the darks.

The painting which follows feels familiar due to having worked a drawing first. Often the drawings stand in their own right as well. Like the three works which were selected by the ING Discerning Eye Drawing Bursary. These were drawings done out in the landscape and were full of emotion.

You can follow the exhibition at @ingdiscerningeye or #INGDiscerningEye on Instagram. The exhibition will open online on Thursday 19th November at 7pm!

Harvest Moon, Charcoal, 30 x 30cm. Selected for the ING Discerning Eye Drawing Bursary 2020

Rain Blowing Through, Charcoal, 30 x 30cm. Selected for the ING Discerning Eye Drawing Bursary 2020

Clear Light, Charcoal, 30 x 30cm. Selected for the ING Discerning Eye Drawing Bursary 2020

Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition

I am delighted that Evening Falls, Bury Hill - Oil - has been selected for the the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition. It is always a delight and an honour to be selected by this prestigious society.  

Evening Falls, Bury Hill was painted plein air just as the light was fading. Bury Hill sits nestled in the South Downs and is a magical spot. The light around the hill is always fascinating and is a regular painting subject for me. 

The show will run 25th Nov - 6th Dec. Due to Covid restrictions, this year’s ROI Exhibition is online through the Mall Galleries at https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/royal-institute-oil-painters-annual-exhibition-2020

ING Discerning Eye Artist’s Instagram Takeover

I was delighted to be invited by the Discerning Eye to ‘Takeover’ their Instagram for five days. 

Last year my oil painting ‘Through the Fields’ won the Humphrey’s Purchase Prize.  Receiving such wonderful recognition sparked me on to continue pushing my painting.

For the Instagram Takeover I decided to take the viewers on a daily journey of my painting process from sketching and painting ‘Plein Air’. Through to working up larger pieces from these outside works in the studio. 

I work in both oils and watercolours and regularly paint outside.  All my works start off painted in a real location.  It is these works that are used as my ‘primary source’ to paint from back in the studio.  I never use photos.  I like to allow my memory to be part of the process as well.  I also aim to work with a semi-abstract contemporary feel.  For me the ‘mood of her place’ or ‘spirit of the place‘ is the important factor to convey. So I don’t focus on detail.  

My ‘Plein Air’ work although the basis for my larger studio work are also works in their own right.  

Society of Women Artist’s Annual Exhibition

I am delighted that ‘Indigo Skies’ Watercolour (30cm x 30cm) has been selected for the 159th Society of Women Artists (@swainfo) Annual exhibition. 

The exhibition will run from 22nd Sept - 30th Dec.  Due to COVID-19 the exhibition will be exclusively on-line.

 
‘Indigo Skies’ was inspired by my walks and sketching along the South Coast where I live.  There is an abstract quality to the sky over the sea.  Always fascinating. 

SUMMER PLEIN AIR PAINTING

My process is to sketch outside and use these as my ‘primary source’ back in the studio. 

My work is about the ‘mood’ and ‘spirit of the place’. I am not overly interested if a tree or building is represented in the right spot; or even features in the painting at all. My aim is for the viewer to connect to the work in an emotional way allowing them to read their own memories of places in the painting.  

Having said that, all my work comes from an actual location. I paint out and about in my home area from the South Downs to the Coast. I have drawers of sketchbooks... various oil paintings and sketches done in location. 

This Summer, I have enjoyed ‘plein air‘ painting both at the beach and in the countryside. Getting up very early to miss the heat. Taking your breakfast off into the landscape is always such an adventure. The sights and sounds of the landscape always allow for a wonderful interaction with the painting. You can’t really replace painting outside. And it is these experiences that show through in the the studio work that follows time in the field.

TALP OPEN 2020

The Artist and Leisure Painter Patchings Open Art Competition.

TALP is now one of the most popular fixtures in the art calendar. In normal years, the selected works get displayed in an exhibition as part of the Patchings Art Festival, at the Patchings Art Centre in Notts, U.K..

This year, Patchings Festival is going online and I am delighted to say that my watercolour ‘After the Rains’ was selected for this years show. I am very proud to have been selected several times over recent years and won the prestigious St. Cuthbert’s Mill award in 2017.

The online Festival Will run from 9th July. Click here to enjoy!

Piers Feetham Gallery, Spring Online Exhibition, 12 May to 30 June 2020

Following from my solo show with the Piers Feetham Gallery last year, I was delighted to be invited by the Piers Feetham Gallery to be part of the Spring Exhibition. In usual times this would be in the Gallery, but due to our unprecedented situation this exhibition will run online.

The exhibition will include ten oil paintings of mine, that are a mix of different moods and landscapes all inspired by the natural world in and around Sussex where I live. I sketch in the landscape directly and then work from these sketches back in the studio to ‘abstract’ the painting. My work tends to focus on the ‘mood’ rather than anything literal in the environment allowing the viewer to connect in their own way with the painting.

 http://www.piersfeethamgallery.com/

A Harbour In The Storm, Oil on wood panel, 30 x 30 cm

Artist’s Support Pledge

The Artists’ Support Pledge was initiated by Matthew Burrows at the Matthew Burrow Studio.  The aim behind the Pledge was to support many artists who found themselves without work, teaching, technical support, and gallery work.  Many exhibitions and normal art sales disappeared overnight.  

The concept was simple.  Artists post an image of their work on Instagram which they were willing to sell for no more than £200 then, when they reached £1,000 they ‘pledge’ to buy another artist’s work to help support them.  A great way for artists to support themselves and to give the art buying community a great incentive to invest in these difficult times. 

I was delighted that my pledge paintings ‘flew off the shelves’ and I was able to support two other artists as well have to provide a number of new homes for my works.

Across the fields and far away, Watercolour 28 x 28 cm

Wapping Group of Artists

The Wapping Group of Artists is one of the longest established societies of working artists in the country.  Founded in 1946 the group meets once a week between April and September to paint anywhere along the length of the River Thames, from Henley to The Thames Estuary.  

Obviously in this time of ‘lockdown’ times, the group is not going out on their usual painting trips and instead, have been undertaking ‘virtual’ painting trips. I was so lucky to be invited along as a guest and to join them on their virtual paint-out at Whitstable.  

Having visited Whitstable last Summer I was able to select a great vantage point to paint the Oyster Beds, looking across the Thames Estuary using a range of online images. This matched my work well, as I was able to convey the essence of the oyster beds, rather than seek to reproduce them figuratively.

It was such a pleasure to paint with this prestigious group and capture the famous Whitstable landscape in oil.  

What an opportunity to paint with some wonderful artists!  Only thing missing was the lunch afterwards!  

www.thewappinggroupofartists.co.uk 

Across the Oyster Beds, Oil on Paper, 13 x 18 cm

British Contemporary Art

BCA is an online gallery founded by Mark David Hatwood (FRSA). Mark is a stalwart of the artistic community having been awarded his Fellowship of the RSA for his environmental social enterprises.  

He runs an online gallery, ideally suited to these virtual times, and keeps the number of artists low, so that he can be assured that we bring him the best of contemporary British art today. I am delighted to be one of the gallery’s new artists and look forward to keeping my selection of work fresh and current.

www.britishcontemporary.art/lucy-marks/

Beach Days, Oil on wood panel, 20 x 20 cm

The Mall Galleries: Buy Art

The Mall Galleries have been offering on-line events during our unprecedented lockdown and I recently joined in on the Newlyn Harbour ‘virtual’ paint out. We were all given access to a live webcam feed of the harbor for several hours and painted as though we were there. To get into the spirit of the paint-out I even used my pochade box at home. The experience was hugely enjoyable. A selection of my work is available through the Mall Galleries online gallery ‘Buy Art’.

www.mallgalleries.org.uk/buy-art

Newlyn Harbour, Oil on paper, 18 x 23 cm

Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition

Mall Galleries, London, 27 November - 8 December 2019

Sawyers Hill, Richmond Park, Oil on wood panel 20 x 20cm

The Thames at Low Tide, Oil on wood panel, 20 x 20cm

The Thames at Putney, Low Tide, oil on wood panel 20 x 20cm

ING Discerning Eye Exhibition

Mall Galleries, London, 14 - 24 November 2019

Through the Fields, Oil on wood panel, 30 x 30cm

Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019

Mall Galleries, London, 17th - 22nd September 2019

Society of Women Artists 158th Annual Exhibition

Mall Galleries, 24th - 29th September

Piers Feetham

Mixed Summer Show, 24th July - 3rd August 2019

CHELSEA ART SOCIETY ANNUAL EXHIBITION, 13 - 17 JUNE 2019

FEATURE AND INTERVIEW IN THE APRIL EDITION OF ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS →

PIERS FEETHAM GALLERY, APRIL 2019

A selection of new works will be on display at Piers Feetham Gallery, London throughout April 2019. For more information about the exhibition, please click here.

30x30cm

40x40cm