Friday 22 May 2015

The Other Tree Sunset

This is the last drawing for a while due to work commitments.  This one is based on the same sunset as 'Tree Sunset' but focused on a different tree. 
The Other Tree Sunset, A3 carbon pencil, charcoal pencil, coloured pencil.



Wednesday 20 May 2015

Tree Sunset

Sunsets seem to be a theme at the moment.  Maybe it is because I am having to take a break from art for a couple of months while I work hard on my paying job.  I think the time while I'm working is quite useful as it gives me time to think about the art that I've done so far in the year and what projects I have in mind when I am free to work on my art.  I already have lots of ideas and plans about what I will be doing in the next few months.  Anyway, this piece is a continuation of Forgotten Tree but with more focus on colour.  Winter trees are the major beauty of winter.  I don't generally like winter and the weeks and weeks of cold and dark.  What helps get through winter is frost, picturesque snow, fog in the evening and looking at the shapes that trees make against the sky.  For now though I'll be looking forward to heat and sunshine at least at some point this summer.

Tree Sunset, A3 carbon pencil, charcoal pencil and coloured pencil

Friday 15 May 2015

Playground Sunset, November 2013

I have two children so spending time in playgrounds is something that I find myself doing a lot.  On one occasion we went out just before sunset for a quick visit to the local playground.  November and December 2013 were particularly good for the wonderful sunsets.  I don't know whether there was more pollution than normal or whether it was to do with other unusual weather, however whatever the cause the sunsets were spectacular for a number of days.  Sitting in the park while the kids play really does give me time to look around and take everything in.  It was particularly lucky when I got to take in the sunsets of November/December 2013.


Playground Sunset, November 2013, A3 carbon/graphite and colour pencil

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Forgotten Tree

I've called this piece Forgotten Tree because there are so many of these 'forgotten' trees in parks across the country.  I sit in the park after collecting my girls from school and take in the surroundings.  Generally they are familiar and rather mundane.  The park looks the same and rather forgotten.  It could do with an overhaul.  The trees capture my imagination especially in the winter.  Trees make interesting patterns in the winter.  How many times do people sit and take in their surroundings and the trees?  Everyone at the park seem to be engrossed in each other's conversations, the kids play on the park equipment ignoring everything except each other.  I sit away from them all and take it in and think.  Maybe forgotten applies to aspects in my life.  I certainly was forgotten in previous workplaces.  Often the most qualified person, I would be overlooked for a promotion in favour of someone more loud mouthed and noticed.  I've left that behind and find life more peaceful and happy.  

Forgotten Tree, A3 carbon and colour pencils

Monday 11 May 2015

Reality, Southsea Common, June 1977

If this picture seems ominous or threatening to you then I've achieved what I set out to do.  Southsea Common was near where I lived in Portsmouth.  I remember living on the South Coast of England, the walks, days out in Brighton and breathing the fresh air.  My mum finished her degree in June 1977.  During the lead up to June I was told about our impending move to Manchester, or more specifically Longsight in Manchester.  Longsight was nothing like Portsmouth.  Before I came up to Manchester I always had the stereotypical view of the North of England as grim, rather like the opening credits that were shown on the soap opera Coronation Street.  Where we ended up living in Longsight actually turned out just as bad as I feared.  It was grim, back alleys, smogs so thick that the buses stopped running because they couldn't see where they were going and standing outside made your feet disappear.

I also had a sense of wonder at what was actually real.  I believed that I was the only real person in the world while I lived in Portsmouth.  Everything else was fake/a robot/not alive.  Whether this sense of alone in the world was a manifestation of autism I don't know.  Reality on Southsea Common was me and an unwelcome move up to the North of England.  Sometimes reality is not what we want or expect.

Reality, Southsea Common, June 1977, oil painting on board 120x100cm

Saturday 9 May 2015

Think Differently Exhibition

Three of my recent artworks, Sounion, Siesta in Epirus and Alone are currently being exhibited at Art With A Heart in Altrincham as part of the ArtismUK art group which supports autistic artists.  Further exhibitions will be following over the next few months which will feature some of the other recent work that I have produced.  So far the response has been positive!

Me and my work (from left to right), Sounion, Siesta in Epirus and Alone.


Detail of Siesta in Epirus and Alone.