The Affordable Art Fair opens this week and I’ll have several new paintings for sale at Island Fine Arts on stand E6. The two shown here are from my recent trip the south of France.  I was there painting with Paul Rafferty and we worked in some of his favourite locations from St Tropez to Nice and Antibes.

Pines at Cap D’Antibes,France. 8×12 inches, oil on board. SOLD

Affordable Art Fair Battersea Park, London
Island Fine Arts – Stand E6
20 – 23 October 2011

Opening times
Thursday 20 October 11.00am – 5.30pm
Thursday Late View 5.30 – 9.30pm
Friday 21 October 11.00am – 6.00pm
Saturday 22 October 11.00am – 6.00pm
Sunday 23 October 11.00am – 6.00pm

I have few free tickets left - email if you would like one.

Free shuttle service from Sloane Square tube. Click here for directions.

The warm summer mornings seem to draw everyone down to the river. This view towards Hammersmith Bridge and The Rutland Arms was painted from Furnival Gardens. One of the challenges of painting on location is capturing moving figures. Fortunately, fine days on the embankments of the River Thames provide the artist with a countless stream of figures to paint.

The Trooping of the Colour ceremony takes place in London on Saturday, so I thought I would post this picture from my current show at Island Fine Arts. It was painted in The Mall a few days before the Royal Wedding of William and Kate.

The police were happy for me to set up my easel in the middle of the road, which was closed to traffic that day.  Each time the troops marched to and from the Palace I had to pick up my box easel and kit and quickly move to the side to let them pass, before reclaiming my spot.

To paint the marching band as they passed I had one brush loaded with red paint and another loaded with black.  I hadn’t account for the brass instruments they were playing and had to quickly get another brush and more paint mixed but I got it down in one hit and was quite please with the result.

Painted earlier this summer when The Mall was lined with flags for William and Kate’s wedding, these are two of the new paintings I have on show at Island Fine Arts until 2 July 2011.  The Mall was closed to traffic so I was able to stand in the road to paint.

4 Jun- 2 Jul 2011 Harry Brioche, Roy Connelly and Sally Trueman

Island Fine Arts Ltd
53 High St, Bembridge, Isle of Wight P035 5SE
Tel: 01983 875 133

Royal Flags, The Mall. Oil on board, 12×10 inches.

Ken Howard painting in Richmond

I also paint in the streets of London. In my experience most people are very happy to see artists at work.  It seems to be private security, under the direction of CCTV controllers, that try to move you.

I usually try to stand my ground.  After a polite chat they will often relent and I can carry on with my work.

The South Bank however is a wonderful place to paint. I have found the management and security guards of The Southbank Centre have a friendly attitude to artists.  The buskers, artists, skate boarders and the Golden Carousel all add to the wonderful atmosphere and nothing beats a walk along the river on a sunny afternoon or evening.

Above: The Golden Carousel on the South Bank by Roy Connelly.
Oil on board, 10×20 inches. Private Collection.

I worked pretty fast on this 24 x 30 inch canvas to try and catch the light before it changed.  The whole scene became gradually more blue as the sun moved around and I stopped work just before lunch.  After a bite to eat with friends at a nearby cafe I returned to my easel just before the rapidly rising tide reached it.  I will go back to the location tomorrow to finish it off – light permitting.

Update:
I returned the following morning hoping to finish it off but the light was totally different.  I worked a little on the foreshore then left it to finish another day.  I am now waiting for a day when the tide is lowest at 11am and with a clear sky but before the leaves come out on the trees.  Hopefully that is not too much to ask for.  Below you can see the picture as it is at the moment.

I have two exhibitions opening this week – London Seen at Llewellyn Alexander Gallery and Venice in Peril at W H Patterson.

London Seen, is the work of 9 artists with a passion for our capital city.  This introduction is taken from the exhibition brochure:

“Artist have always loved to paint London – from Whistler to Hogarth, from Monet to Sickert – each one capturing the mood and atmosphere of our great and diverse capital city.”

“Familiar and unusual scenes of London by this group of 9 well-established artists. Dianne Branscombe, Roy Connelly, Lisa Graa Jensen, Mark Harrison, Terry McKivragan, Liam O’Farrell, Nancy Petley-Jones, Nadia Tsakova and Robert E Wells each reveal their own personal interpretation of the city they know and love to paint.  London by day and London by night, as the city wakes up and as it goes to bed, in the sunshine and in the rain, empty London streets, busy London squares are all seen through a painter’s eye.”

“Important city landmarks are documented in richly painted oils or highly detailed watercolours – the London Eye, the Gherkin, Trafalgar Square, the Great Thames bridges, Regents Park in the summer and the Embankment in the spring. London is revealed with the vitality and virtuosity that it deserves.”

London Seen. 10 January – 10 February 2011
Llewellyn Alexander Fine Paintings Ltd
124-126 The Cut
London, SE1 8LN
(opposite The Old Vic Theatre).
020 7620 1322

The Affordable Art Fair in London runs from 21 to 24 October.  Island fine Fine Arts (stand E6) will have a collection of my oil paintings of London, including The Tattershall Castle (above).

I will also be exhibing in Devon again this month.  Dolphin House Gallery in Devon is twenty years old and to celebrate they are holding an anniversary exhibition.  The gallery is home to the work of master print maker Roger St Barbe invited artists.  Twenty artists who have shown there over the years will feature in the show.  The exhibition opens on Saturday 23 October. Contact the gallery for more information.

All of my free tickets to the Affordable Art Fair have now gone.  If you would like to be among the first to hear of my upcoming exhibitions, news etc – why not sign up for my newsletter or email me.

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.