Roy Connelly

Last week was a busy one, painting in London with Paul Rafferty and Karl Terry along with David Bachmann and Julian Barrow.

We painted at all of the following locations: Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, St James’s Park, Strand on the Green, Royal Academy, Royal Opera Arcade, Pall Mall, House Boats at Chelsea, Sargent’s Studio in Tite Street, Aldwich, Trafalgar Square (again) Strand on the Green (again), the Old Vic Theatre and Hammersmith Bridge.

The pictures above show us painting in Julian Barrow’s Tite Street studio previously occupied by John Singer Sargent.

Painted on the King’s Road in Chelsea this afternoon.  I liked the way the shadows fell across the side of the building. Oil on board, 12×10 inches.

London has warmed up and the sun has been shining for a week now so it has been good to be able to paint without a jacket on.

On Friday I spent a very enjoyable day painting in London with Peter Brown NEAC. Along with Susan Wolff and Ann Hopkins the four of us set up our easels by Cleopatra’s Needle next to the River Thames.  You can see one of my pictures above.

In the last week I have painted at Marble Arch,  Hyde Park,  The Mall and St James Park (above).

Above is a view Duke of York Square, by the King’s Road in Chelsea.  All the paintings shown here are 8×10 inches (25×30cm) and are in oil on board.

This afternoon I painted in the company of the Wapping Group of Artists.  The “Wappers” as they are affectionately known are a group of painters who get together once a week in the summer months to record life along the River Thames and its estuary.

Above is my painting of the Golden Hinde.  This 12×10 inch study is in oil on board.  The two small figures hidden in the middle distance are Bert Wright and Geoff Hunt both of whom are Past Presidents of the Royal Society of Marine Artists.

As well as being a fun evening, the auction at Heatherleys was a great success.  It was an exciting experience seeing my painting of Albert Bridge auctioned by Nick Bonham, formerly of  the Bonhams auction house.  Nick has auctioned over a million works of art in his career.

Other artists in the auction included Julian Barrow, Ken Howard and Jane Corsellis.  Both Ken and Julian were there along with many of the other artists taking part in the Chelsea Riverside exhibition.

Congratulations to Adebanji Alade, who won first price in the competition and many thanks to David Waddell and the Cheyne Walk Trust for organising the event.

I had a fun day out in London today.  I started off at the annual exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours where my friend Naomi Tydeman won the Winsor and Newton Prize for a series of beautiful moonlit beach paintings.  Well done Naomi!

Then I went on to paint the Thames with Karl Terry but we found that Ken Howard RA had beaten us to the best spot

We stopped for a quick chat with him on Hungerford Bridge then left him to get on with the two wonderful paintings of the river towards Westminster.

Ken and I will have work in an auction on Thursday 22 April, conducted by Nick Bonham, to raise funds for a young artist’s bursary at Heatherley School of Fine Art.

There will be selected works by artists including: Ken Howard; Jane Corsellis; Bill Packer; Julian Barrow; Roy Connelly; Hazel Soan and others.  You can see the auction items and competetion entries here.

The Cheyne Walk Trust is raising funds for a bursary for young artists at Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea.

There will be an exhibition of paintings of the Chelsea Riverside at Heatherleys 18 – 22 April, 2 – 6pm.

On the evening of Thursday 22nd April there will be a reception, prize giving ceremony and an auction. Prizes will be presented by Ken Howard RA.

Full details here: Chelsea Exhibition The cover image is a detail from my painting of Albert Bridge which will feature in the auction.

If you would like to reserve tickets for the Reception and Auction click here: Reception tickets for Chelsea Riverside

The annual open exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists is on now at the Mall Galleries in London until 21 March.  I have two pictures in the show, both of the King’s Road in Chelsea.

The Private View was good fun and my friend Karl Terry won the Red Rag Gallery award.  Karl was in London for a couple of days with another friend, Paul Rafferty.  The weather was very cold but we painted all day only stopping after it got dark.

Yesterday I visited Room A at the National Gallery.  This little known room is rarely visited as it is only open for a few hours each Wednesday afternoon.  It houses around 800 pictures.  I was there to see the gallery’s collection of works by Eugène Boudin.  I made sketches of several of them – the one shown here is a beach scene at Trouville.

In the evening I visited the historic Life Room at the Royal Academy, for two hours of  drawing from the model with the New English Art Club Drawing School.

Next time you are in London on a Wednesday you know what to do.

I have work in two exhibitions in London at the moment.  ‘London Seen’ is a group show of London paintings at Llewellyn Alexander Fine Paintings.

‘Venice in Peril’ is also a group show,  in this case featuring paintings of Venice.  This popular annual exhibition, at W.H. Patterson in Albermarle Street, helps to raise funds for restoration projects in that most beautiful city.

At Venice in Peril there are works by Ken Howard, Auguste Bouvard, Ivan Lapper, David Sawyer, Robert E Wells, Roy Connelly, Jonathan Trowell, John Stillman and other talented artists.

London Seen features Tom Coates, Bruce Yardley, Roy Connelly, Liam O’Farrell, Terry McKifragan, Robert E Wells, Fraser King and others

If you fancy seeing both wonderful cities in a day, its only a short 20 minute walk between the two galleries.

London Seen Llewellyn Alexander Fine Paintings
11 January – 10 February 2010

Venice in Peril W. H. Patterson
13 January – 5 February 2010

The paintings above show the view from Riva Degli Schiavoni in Venice with San Giorgio on the left and the Doges Palace (under scaffolding) on the right,  Santa Maria Della Salute is in the distance.

Below that is a view of Cleopatra’s Needle by the River Thames in London.