This was based on a photo I took while leaning out of a window above what seemed like a hundred-metre drop, in Ronda in Southern Spain. Must have been all of thirty years ago. It was a hazy day, with the sun behind and to the right of us, and the valley receding in the distance.

This piece started with a blockin, followed by some detail, and finished with some glazing to bring up the colours in the brickwork and foliage.

August 2025.

Painted on aluminium composite panel (ACM), 25cm x 37cm /10” x 14".

This painting shows the Zeitz MOCAA building in Cape Town, South Africa.

This is the final work in a series featuring urban landscapes and architecture that make for interesting art. The six-piece set focuses on the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art (MOCAA) in Cape Town's Waterfront precinct. This museum and the Silo Hotel above it were built into an old grain silo that has been modernized and given a unique look with faceted windows. I was drawn to the contrasting textures in the building - stone-like concrete, smooth metal and reflective glass, that interplay to form a diamond-like beacon in the landscape.

But what really did it for me while photographing it that Sunday morning was turning around and being stunned by its perfect, patterned reflection in the glass building next door. The first four paintings in the series capture this, whereas this one is a direct view in a daring perspective.

September 2024. 50cm x 75cm (20” x 30”).

Oil on 3mm primed Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) panel.

This painting shows the Zeitz MOCAA building in Cape Town, South Africa.

This is the fifth in a series featuring urban landscapes and architecture that make for interesting art. The six-piece set focuses on the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art (MOCAA) in Cape Town's Waterfront precinct. This museum and the Silo Hotel above it were built into an old grain silo that has been modernized and given a unique look with faceted windows. I was drawn to the contrasting textures in the building - stone-like concrete, smooth metal and reflective glass, that interplay to form a diamond-like beacon in the landscape.

But what really did it for me while photographing it that Sunday morning was turning around and being stunned by its perfect, patterned reflection in the glass building next door. The first four paintings in the series capture this, whereas this one is a direct view in a daring perspective.

September 2024. 50cm x 75cm (20” x 30”).

Oil on 3mm primed Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) panel.

I was fascinated by the refraction of light in this highball glass, and a grisaille followed by glazing proved to be the way to capture it. Strong downlighting and multiple layers of glaze give a lovely three-dimensional effect.

July 2024. Grisaille method.

Painted on aluminium composite panel (ACM), 30cm x 24cm /12” x 9".

These two tea caddies found their way into our luggage almost thirty years ago when visiting Harrods in London and Fauchon in Paris (we did pay for them!). The rusty old scale provided a really interesting detail and patina to paint.

April 2023.

Painted on aluminium composite panel (ACM), 24cm x 30cm /9” x 12".

I was drawn to the interaction between light and shadow in this composition, as well as the textural differences between fruit, wood and metal. The patina on the brass balance has to demonstrate not only changes in colour, but also in the varied levels of illumination from the light source above.

The allusion is to the biblical tree of wisdom, setting a quantum of wisdom against a material measure.

April 2023. Grisaille method.

Painted on aluminium composite panel (ACM), 30cm x 24cm /12” x 9".

Multi-coloured antique glass bottles, previously buried and then reclaimed. Original oil painting.

I set them in a bright light field to bring out their character and pearlescence.

Although this was painted on very smooth aluminium panel, I had introduced a ripple effect in the acrylic gesso layer that resembled canvas - I think this added to the character of the glass.

April 2023. Grisaille method.

Painted on aluminium composite panel (ACM), 24cm x 30cm /9” x 12".

Zen-inspired still life oil painting, incorporating Japanese incense, tea bowl, stone and plumbago flower. Original oil painting.

Memento Mori is a traditional still life painting designed to remind the viewer of the fleeting nature of life - in Western art it usually incorporates wilting flowers or on-the-edge fruit, and perhaps a skull, as a reminder that life is finite. I chose a Zen theme, in this case incense because once lit, it burns for a set time and is then extinguished. Flowers bloom for a shorter time than we do, whereas we are outlasted by stone. Perfect for a meditation space, it projects tranquility and simplicity.

June 2022.

Painted on aluminium composite panel (ACM), 29.5cm x 24cm / 11.5” x 9.25".

Original oil painting , on stretched canvas. Clay teapot with clay bowls and lavender flowers. Lovely composition in wabi sabi style for lounge, dining room, study or bedroom.

November 2021.

Original oil on stretched linen, 53cm x 36cm / 21" x 15"

I captured this scene down at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. The sea was beautifully calm that day. The rowing team emerged and did a circuit under the bridge I was standing on and then started to turn around. At this stage I was looking straight into the hazy early morning sun and thought there'd be no chance of getting the shot. I set the camera to aperture priority and hoped for the best. It turned out to be the action shot of the day.

Because the aperture was so tight there was practically no colour in the photo, so I did the painting entirely in greyscale. It was a perfect reference for working the depth of field, but I decided to lift the boats at the back out of the shadow slightly to add interest to the composition.

September 2022, 59.5cm x 42cm (23.5” x 16.5”). Original oil painting.

Oil on 3mm primed Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) panel.

Beautiful rainy night scene in the city, looking through a window pane. Soft pastels capture abstract lights so well.

December 2022, on paper (21"x14"), painted with Sennelier and Unison soft pastels and Faber-Castell Pitt pastel pencils.

There’s a reason that there's such a strong tradition of life drawing and painting in Western art - the human body is both complex and subtle, and to render it as a form is challenging. This subject provided simple areas that required complex layering and glazing, and other complex areas that needed little more than a few deft brushstrokes - the contrasts in approach make this piece a real delight to contemplate.

July 2024.

Oil on canvas 21"x14.5" (36.5cm x 53cm)

Another must-paint for new artists - the mandarin orange, with a twist. Mainly variants.of cadmium orange. It's really important to get the waxy quality of the skin right, which was fairly successful. The shadow areas aren't as simple as they look, needing complementary balancing with blue. I wanted to explore the vivid colour of this fruit but found that too many artists had used mandarins in still life paintings, partially peeled with the peel draping down. So I decided to turn the idea on its head. I removed half of the peel and used a skewer through it and the mandarin to hold it above. The result is a quirky image, as if the mandarin has had a big surprise.

I really enjoyed this one, working with the contrast between the waxy outer surface and the soft pithy interior.

October 2021.

Original artwork oil on MDF panel 30cm x 42cm / 12" x 17".

Flour, mixing bowl and eggs on a marble slab.

May 2022.

Original artwork oil on MDF 43cm x 30cm / 17" x 12".

Opened carton from local mail order company. Cardboard in its many forms is a wonderful subject to paint, with its various textures, folds and tears. Who got the gift?

June 2022, 30cm x 30cm / 12” x 12”.

Detailed study of a paper bag. Original oil painting. I took a paper bag that had been thrown away, I opened it and let it sit as it wanted to - and then painted it. Subjects like these provide fascinating studies of shape, form and value. And, of course, the question being what it had originally contained…

June 2022. Oil painting 30cm x 30cm / 12” x 12”.

I decided to do a modern take on the still life - clear light, modern tabletop and contemporary vase, in contrast to the traditional style. First a basic drawing followed by block-in and then detail. I let the quite rough block-in do the talking in an effort to allow a looser painting, so there's not much follow-up detail in the foliage areas. Also - it's roses, so I avoided abstraction in the background, unlike many contemporary still lifes where it's as busy as the subject.

November 2021.

Original artwork oil on MDF panel 30cm x 42cm / 12" x 17".

Giclee fine art print of an original pastel painting. Mango and other fruit against a stainless steel coffee pot, with reflections. Highly detailed, this print will add a touch of colour to a kitchen or living area.

It's a triangular composition, and the mandarin cuts an almost perfect line up to the tip of the mango, whose axis lies exactly perpendicular to it. It's as if the other fruits are attacking the mango - the apple and lemon provide a beachead for the mandarin to climb the pot while the granadilla and avocado provide cover, as the mango surveys its lands from above.

I was drawn to the juxtaposition of the smooth, glossy steel and the organic roughness and rich hues of the fruit.

Original June 2021, on paper (23"x16"), painted with Sennelier and Unison soft pastels and Faber-Castell Pitt pastel pencils.

"Coffee". Middle Eastern coffee is something to behold if you haven't tried it. It's very finely ground, gets boiled and served, usually sweetened, in dinky little china-style cups. It's powerful, but the caffeine and sugar don't hit like with regular varieties.

This painting required quite a bit of detail work on the cup and saucers, but it was the pot that I enjoyed, since it had more scope for "painting the light" with bolder, flat brushstrokes of reflected light. Brass and gold are tricky to paint, relying more on creating an illusion of their bright colours than on the colours themselves - they have a surprising amount of brown and green in them.

The background emerged out of a dark, muddy mass of brown and navy that I wasn't happy with at all. I decided to "accessorize" it by reflecting the subtle blues and reds in the white of the cup, and the result is a sort of hip, modern, distressed concrete look that I quite like.

Oil original October 2021; alla prima oil on MDF panel 53cm x 36cm / 21"x14".

Giclee print of quartz crystal and dress jewelry, original oil painting on stretched linen.

The background and the quartz crystal were largely palette knife work. Each jewelry item was a challenge in its own right, each needing a different approach to the others. The silver band earrings have four shades of grey with an occasional reflection of the blue table surface. Brass- and silver-like metals, of course, are always interesting to capture in oil.

I enjoyed the serenity of the picture while painting it, and emulating nature in the quartz was made easier by the texture of the relatively coarse linen I used.

Original painting May 2022 - oil on stretched linen 21"x14".

Pineapple, oranges and grapefruit in a blue glass bowl. Original work is oil paint on 18"x14" stretched canvas, varnished. Presented here as a high quality giclee print.

I was especially attracted to the effect of the transparent blue glass, how it refracted reflected light and modified the colour of the fruit.

May 2022. Oil on stretched canvas 46cm x 35cm / 18” x 14”.

My late father bought the book set the year I was born, so over half a century ago now, and I associate them very much with him. In a sense the books symbolize what I know of him, his life wisdom and so on - although worn with age, they're still filled with insight and knowledge that I've yet to read, even though his light is no longer here (the burned down candle).

I assembled this still life from what I found around the house, all things with some significance for me. I had no idea at the time that the above interpretation would emerge only while I was working on the painting. Funny how the mind works...

October 2021.

Original: oil on stretched canvas, 21" x 15".

Original oil painting of the Kadisha Valley in Northern Lebanon. This gorge is the historical home of the Maronite Church, one of the few "non-Roman" catholic churches recognized by the Vatican. It has many monasteries, churches, caves and shrines, and is the birthplace of Kahlil Gibran and neighbourhood of St. Charbel Makhlouf. Historically, it was a thoroughfare both for Bedouin traders and 12th Century Christian crusaders. The scenery is stunning, the people welcoming, and the food memorable.

This painting is based on a photo looking out from the town of Hadath, possibly with Gibran's hometown of Bcharre in the distance, and the residence of the Maronite Patriarch in the foreground overlooking the gorge. The smear of dark green at top left is the famous Cedars of Lebanon forest (also known as the "Cedars of God"). Locals, sadly, say the entire mountainside used to be covered in them, now there are only around three hundred left, the rest having been used for building or export.

The diagonal composition and the shadowed drop into the gorge at left make for a dramatic piece.

Giclee fine art print from original artwork July 2022. Original artwork oil on MDF 60cm x 40cm / 24” x 16”

Close-up of a habenero chilli on a chopping board, one of the hottest chilli varieties commonly available, similar to the scotch bonnet.

I had an interesting experience with the original oil painting of this one, specifically around the red. "You can't just throw cadmium red at it and be done!". I couldn't quite get the warm red I needed either that way or with vermillion, so I went around the other way and used the CMYK palette (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) - almost unintuitively, magenta and a bit of yellow create a sizzling red that I added as a final layer. How does it work? Well, magenta is a sort of red/violet mix, and yellow is the complement of purple - result is that the purple is attenuated, leaving just the red.

And red and green are complements, so a habenero is inevitably going to create a striking picture.

Original June 2022. Oil on MDF panel, 12”x12” (30x30cm).

I saw the Rodin sculpture in Paris at the Musee Rodin on my honeymoon and have loved it ever since. I created this work, based on a photo we took, in the traditional grisaille method where a greyscale underpainting is later colored with a transparent glaze. This works especially well in creating the impression of a bronze man.

August 2021.

Original painting oil on canvas, 30cm x 42cm / 12" x 16".