Pen and Wash Demonstration for Burnham Art Club

I chose this beautiful white weatherboard house as the subject of my recent pen and wash demonstration for Burnham Art Club.

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My painter’s eye was drawn by the symmetry, bold outlines and interesting shapes…and also by the weatherboard bin store!

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Many thanks for the invitation to share my tips and techniques, and for such a kind and attentive reception from all the lovely art club members who came along.

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It was my first demo so I was a bit nervous beforehand, but once I got going I really enjoyed it.

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Swan Hotel Custom Print

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This Swan Hotel custom print was an 80th birthday gift for an ex-landlord of the iconic Maldon establishment from his family.

I may have mentioned before that Marc Bolan, David Bowie (Jones at the time) and Joe Cocker all played gigs in the back room in the 60s!

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A3 prints of my Maldon High Street series parts 1-8 and any of the individual buildings included in those paintings are now available to order. Please drop me a line.

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Maldon House Commission


maldon, essex, town house, house, illustration, landscape, commission, architectureDelighted to complete this pen and wash commission of an elegant Maldon townhouse for its splendid owner.

Please get in touch if you’d like a portrait of your own beautiful home.

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“Looking Up” – Pen and Wash Portraits of Maldon High Street

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I was delighted to show my pen and wash portraits of beautiful Maldon High Street in the Maeldune Centre, at the top of Market Hill, Maldon, from 17th August to 2nd September 2023.

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Here I am on the launch night, sitting in front of the half size fine art prints I had made of the original paintings. Click here to find out more about the prints and buy them.

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The exhibition had a tremendously generous reception from Maeldune Centre visitors and volunteers alike. By far the star of the show was the black and white print I had made for the table tops in the centre of the gallery. People had great fun colouring it in and writing on it; the comments and shared memories of Maldon High Street were really touching. As the exhibition drew to a close the Maldon Society photographed it for their archive – I was truly honoured.

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Maldon’s mayor, Andrew Lay, and young Blake hone their colouring skills at the launch party.

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Maldon historian Stephen Nunn visited a couple of times and I was able to add some fascinating facts about the High Street to the interactive artwork as he dictated. Here he is with my dad, Ron, who was also very enthusiastic and generous with his High Street memories. 

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Click this link to see a video of the interactive artwork and learn some fun and fascinating facts!

The Maldon Society is in the process of adding photos of the interactive piece and digital versions of the original paintings to their archive. I am truly an honour.

Here’s what Stephen said about the exhibition along with some other reviews:

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Pen and Wash Portraits of Maldon High Street

I was born in Maldon (as was my dad), and I lived there until I was 18 so I feel a very strong bond with the place despite having lived away for 30 plus years.

 I decided to paint some of Maldon’s most beautiful buildings. 

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While I was taking reference photos I got the urge to paint all the façades from the old police station in West Square down to the Rose & Crown on the corner of Butt Lane. 

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Part of the loveliness of buildings comes from their relationship to their neighbours; that’s something we could also say about ourselves.

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That stretch of High Street was too long to fit onto one piece of paper so I divided it into eight sections and started making rough sketches. Then I challenged myself to finish all the paintings in a year and exhibit them at the Maeldune Heritage Centre, which is one of the buildings included in the series.


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And since I’ve painted these buildings I’ve notice that they’ve become more vibrant to me. I mean that when I walk or drive past them now, they seem brighter and more alive. It’s as if by getting to know all the little details of their faces I’ve made friends with them!

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The exhibition ran from 17th August to the 5th September 2023. Many people dropped in to see the paintings and the low tech interactive element – they did some colouring in and shared their High Street memories on the large black and white print in the centre of the gallery.

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Please contact me if you’d like to purchase or exhibit any of my original Maldon High Street paintings.

Fine Art Prints

I’ve had some beautiful fine art prints made which capture the essence of the original paintings at half their size. Please click here to contact me if you’d like to buy prints.

The ink is lightfast, so it won’t deteriorate over time and the museum quality paper is Hahnemuhle William Turner 310gsm, which has a texture and weight similar to the watercolour paper on which I painted the originals.

Exhibition

Read about my summer exhibition at the Maeldune Heritage Centre here.

Burnham Art Club – Spring 2023

Grapnells Farm, Wallasea Island

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 Just as the spring weather became gentle enough for open air painting I ventured out onto Burnham Quay. Those two black headed gulls kindly adopted a stylish pose on the post for just long enough for me to sketch them. Got to love an Essex gull.

Sharings’ Wisteria

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Struck by the glorious wisteria adorning Sharings cottage one spring morning, I quickly snapped a photo hoping to make a painting of the scene at a later date. I worked from that photo to make the pen outline and then went back to sit outside the cottage and paint the watercolour washes. Quite suddenly a cloud of bees appeared and started settling on the cars parked behind me. “Keep calm and carry on,” I said to myself before scarpering sharpish a couple of minutes later as the swarm intensified. Such drama for a calm spring morning.

Burnham Art Trail 2023

Both these pen and wash pieces are on show in my Burnham Art Trail venue: Holicity Health, 140 Station Road from 24th June to 2nd July 2023. That’s number 12 on the Art Trail Map.

They are framed and priced at £100, please contact me for more details.

Burnham Art Trail 2023

This is me, proud as Punch! Having just hung my paintings in Holicity Health, 140 Station Road, Burnham on Crouch, my alloted venue for the Burnham Art Trail 2023.

It was Art Trail venue number 12, which you can find on the Art Trail Map here.

This was my first Art Trail, the culmination of nine months painting and anticipation, which is why I was so relieved and excited.

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And here’s a little video of the pictures in the window. 

All my Art Trail Paintings are For Sale!

I’ve listed the paintings I exhibited in my Art Trail venue below. They’re all pen and wash and they’re all for sale, so do please contact me if you’d like to buy yourself, or someone else you love, some art:

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Sunset, Winter Trees, Mayland

Framed

£75

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Sold

 

Sunset II, Winter Trees, Mayland

Framed

£75

 

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Sunset III, Winter Trees, Mayland

Framed

£75

 

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Grapnells Farm, Wallasea Island

Framed

£100

 

 

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Blue Boat, Low Tide

Framed

£100

 

 

 

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Wallasea Island from Burnham Quay

Framed

£100

 

 

 

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Clock Tower, Burnham-on-Crouch

Framed

£120

 

 

 

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Green Door, High Street, Burnham-on-Crouch

Framed

£100

 

 

 

 

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Sharings’ Wisteria

Framed

£100

 

 

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Morning Trees, Mayland

Framed

£75

Sold

 

 

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Asheldham Church

Framed

£75

 

 

 

At Burnham Museum

And below is the painting, also pen and wash, that is on the Burnham Musuem ‘taster wall’

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No7 High Street, Burnham-on-Crouch

Framed

£100

 

 

 

And this is the original painted postcard I donated for the auction, it’s based on a sketch I made in my neighbours’ garden last year.

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Lavender Bees

Unframed

Auctioned

 

 

 

There was a lovely Art Trail launch party at Burnham Museum. It was a real treat to meet other participating artists, some for the first time. The range and quality of the artwork on show there was really impressive and I was honoured to be included. 

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Art On The Quay

I also took part in Art on the Quay during the mornings of Sundays 25th June and 2nd July. We painted under the bright pink gazebos opposite The Olde White Harte pub.

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And here’s me painting it!

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Click here for all the Burnham Art Trail 2023 information.

Burnham Art Club – Autumn 2022

Back in September I joined Burnham Art Club – a group of painters formed in the 1960s based in the beautiful riverside town of Burnham-on-Crouch in Essex.

It’s been a joy to meet other like-minded painters for the weekly discipline of painting in the open air, especially since the weather this autumn has been (mostly) glorious.

Apart from the Autumn Acer, I started all the paintings shown below on site, adding the finishing touches in the comfort of home. They’re all pen and watercolour on 30.5 x 23 cm 300gsm 50% cotton Fabriano paper which has a lovely ‘woven’ texture.

Number 7

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I was invited in for coffee and a little house tour by the lovely owners of this gorgeous 250 year old Dutch built property, which they used to run as a combined antique and tea shop.

The Clock Tower

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This stunning clock tower, which is the focal point of Burnham High Street, was built in 1877 in memory of Laban Sweeting, a local oyster merchant and philanthropist. The original plan was to put up a clock in his honour but donations came in so fast after his death that there was enough money to build a tower to house the clock.

I got the bones of this drawing down while perched on my little stool in the High Street, but once the cold rain showers joined the chilly wind I retreated inside to add the watercolour.

Green Door

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After tackling the clock tower with all its bricks and angles I was in the mood for a simpler subject the following week. I was drawn to the beautiful colour of this front door and the calming symmetry of its setting.

Autumn Acer

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At the suggestion of the art club chair person we took a break from street painting and took on autumnal still lifes in the meeting hall. I plucked this acer branch from our garden as I passed because I was struck by the lovely contrast of its reddish leaves against the sky. Hence the blue background.

Wallasea from Burnham Quay

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For week five, I decided that it was time to tackle some boats. I settled on this view across the River Crouch to Wallasea Island, home to a wetland bird sanctuary, from Burnham Quay. That obliging seagull kindly stood on the post for long enough to have its picture ‘taken’. 

Blue Boat, Low Tide

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I loved the dramatic angle that this blue boat made with the horizontals as it leaned over at low tide. The River Crouch is an estuary, so tides flow in from and out to the North Sea twice a day. Of course the tide came in as I was painting, the blue boat started to float on the water, and all those angles changed. The people who came up for a look and a chat were a bit confused by the difference between my painting and the actual view!