Roy Connelly

Above the Ridgeway, Oil on board, 12 x 16 inches

Black Jack Lane, Oil on canvas, 16 x 32 inches

Snow at Marlow, Oil on canvas, 20 x 36 inches

After a busy few days out painting the snow I have finally got round to photographing a few of my plein air paintings.  All of these pictures were completed on location in one session.  It’s been a great having such wonderful subject matter but the snow is now melting.  I cant wait for the next cold snap.

Dipper. Oil on board, 4 x 10 inches.

Palette Knife. Oil on board. 4 x 10 inches

I am very proud to be showing with the NEAC again this year.  I have shown in this prestigious exhibition for the last 6 years. This year, for the first time, I sent in some little still life paintings to show that I do occasionally paint subjects other than my plein air landscapes.  I was delighted that the judges liked them.

The day I painted these pictures I had gone in to my studio to paint a large picture from one of my location studies.  But, as I looked at the dipper sitting on my palette I became intrigued by the way it seemed to blend in with it’s surroundings.  Layers of old paint have built up over the years creating a patina-like finish on both the palette and the dipper.  I realised that it could be painted by reproducing the colour, tone and shape of each mark.

These paintings and many of the others in the show can now be seen and purchased here.

New English Art Club.
Mall Galleries, London SW1.
26 November – 5 December 2010

Cell door in the old village gaol.

I delivered my paintings to The Old Gaol Studios on Saturday.  The exhibition, which opens on Friday evening, is the first to be held in the newly restored village gaol in the Kent village of Wittersham. The artists taking part are: Karl Terry, Chris Daynes, Rowan Crew, Roy Connelly, Peter Robson, John Stillman, Michael Richardson, David Bachmann and Trevor Chamberlain.

Pagham Harbour, Sussex. Oil on board, 12×16 inches

Please contact me if you would like an invitation to the Private View.

Another still life from my studio this week. Red Onion, 8 x 10 inches,  oil on board.

I very rarely paint in my studio but could not resist painting this marvelous pumpkin.  Oil on Board, 8 x 10 inches.

Here are some of the paintings from my trip to Bath last week.  I was there for 2 and a half days and painted 19 small panels.  The smallest was 6×8 and the largest 12x16inches.  There are several I am quite happy with and a couple that were not finished due to changing light and heavy rain, but overall it was a good trip.

The heavy downpour on Friday afternoon resulted in one of my favourite pictures from the whole trip.

Above: Downpour in Queen Square, 6×8 inches, oil on board.
Below: Busker outside the Pump Rooms, 6×8 inches, oil on board.

While I was painting I met up with the winner of last year’s Bath Prize Plein Air award, Adebanji Alade. He has posted photos of several  painters he found at work on the streets of Bath on his blog.  You can see me, Karl Terry and Michael Richardson as well as plenty of Adebanji at work on his own marathon painting project.

My painting Wittering Light has been short-listed in a competition to choose a cover image for the next Ken Bromley Art Supplies catalogue.

To see all the shortlisted images  click here and don’t forget to vote for your favourite!

Another of my paintings, Watching the Thames,  has also been long listed for the London Lives painting competition.

Update: This picture has now made the shortlist and will feature in the exhibition at Bankside gallery in September.

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 (25x30cm) 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.

This is a very quick sketch of the Lasers setting sail at Lyme Regis.  They had sailed past me as I was painting at the end of the Cobb and I quickly sketched a couple of them before rushing round to the beach to paint the picture shown here. The intense colour of the backlit sails was an irresistible subject but one which lasted only a few minutes before they set off again. It is 6 x 10 inches, oil on board.