Roy Connelly

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.

I painted this view of Golden Cap from several miles away on the beach at Lyme Regis in Dorset.  It is a very small picture at only 4 inches high.

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