End of Year News

'Conversations in the Turkish Baths,' 16 x 20ins, oil and acrylic on canvas

Three of my figure paintings have been selected for a show in January, at the Art Pull gallery in Tunbridge Wells (opening Jan 14th). Two of the paintings are inspired by the many visits I made to the old Turkish Baths in Nicosia, Cyprus. I painted in the Baths over a five year period, gathering visual information in sketches and watercolours which I have used for my compositions back in the UK. The other painting is from my 'One Among Many' series, which concerns the idea of people being lost in the vastness and impersonal aspects of today's world. I am attaching a few of these paintings, and also one of my abstracts, as this will likely be my last entry this year.

'Women and Doors in the Turkish Baths,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18ins

I am going to Cyprus on December 30th, to spend some time with my mother-in-law, and get some sunshine! The UK weather lurches from bad to worse, and as I write there is torrential rain and strong winds. I am planning to do some watercolours while I am in Nicosia as the brilliant quality of light will be inspiring. But I'm already playing about with new ideas for when I return. The end of a year is always very positive because it seems to underline where you are, and I find myself tidying up my artwork emotionally, cutting off from paintings, finishing paintings, and seeing January as a time to move forwards!

'One Among Many,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 43 x 32ins

Before I go away, I'm racing to get my book finished and submitted to Kindle, but time is running out. The days before Christmas seem to be shorter than days at any other time of the year! I have designed my cover - which was easier than I had imagined - and used one of my paintings on it. So if I can finish my final 40 pages of editing, the book should be ready to submit before the end of 2013.

'Paintscape,' oil and acrylic on board, 24 x 18ins