Despite the snow and minus temperatures which led to a lot of the year's final events and meetings being cancelled, I was still able to get the last portrait commissions of 2010 to the framer just before Christmas.   Now it's time to prepare for 2011 which looks set to be the busiest year yet. 

Two new workshops were added to the Spring schedule this month and my teaching activities were featured on the front page of the SAA's 'PA News' newsletter as an example of an innovative way of using materials to add value to workshops and painting holidays.

An update to last month's news - I have now heard that the MS Trust's Secret Art Show raised a fantastic £20,000.  What a brilliant result!

The Multiple Sclerosis Trust's Secret Art Show was staged in York this month.  Nearly 700 donated pieces, all measuring 12 x 12 cm and displayed in CD cases, were offered for sale anonymously at £45 each.  Contributing artists included internationally known names like David Hockney and public figures and media personalities including Alan Bennett, Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen and The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu.  At the time of writing the amount raised for the Trust has not been announced but when I visited the show at the City Screen Gallery there was a sea of red dots on sold pieces.  The watercolour to the left, 'Eggs in a Chinese Bowl', was my contribution to the show.

The month started with the publication of details of next year's visit to the U.K. by Charles Reid.  Stoneflower Studio is running two painting holidays with Charles in October 2011.  As expected, both workshops sold out within a week of the information being released.  Waiting lists are being held so if you missed out on a place don't give up all hope - a lot can happen in a year.  Full information is on the Painting Holidays page.

At the end of the month work was taken over to The Gallery on the Wolds for an exhibition which will run until early December.  A selection of my prints (etching, linocut and woodcut) will be available for purchase for the first time, along with my watercolour paintings.  See the Events page for more information.

From this month Stoneflower Studio workshops are now available as one of the gift experiences offered by Smartbox™ in their 'Fun For All' package.  Gift boxes retail at £99.95 and can be purchased online from Smartbox™ or in high street retailers; they include a gift voucher and an extensive colour directory detailing where the voucher can be used.  The Stoneflower Studio package comprises a place on a one day workshop of the recipient's choice plus a gift of art materials.

Workshops can of course still be booked direct here.  The new programme of workshops for spring 2011 was announced this month and places are being taken already.  The autumn 2010 workshops are now fully booked.
Also announced this month was next year's painting holiday at Manzac d'en Bas.  We had a tremendous time there this year and it will be great to return at the end of next summer - 28 August to 4 September 2011.  Full details on the Painting Holidays page.

I spent a weekend at the Lund Gallery this month, with printmaker Jo McChesney.  Jo has studied printmaking in Japan and hand burnishes her woodcuts onto delicate Japanese paper, completely different from the technique I am used to using heavy paper and a press.  The image to the left, 'Black Swan with Cygnets', is the result of my weekend.

During this month I have been working on a commission with a difference, painting a magnificent historic house in Yorkshire as it would have looked early in the last century.  Only a few indistinct photos remain to tell us how the building looked then as later the house was abandoned and fell into total ruins.  It has since been almost completely rebuilt and restored (and was the subject of an episode of Channel 4's Grand Designs), so the painting is taken from both the old photos and also a visit to the house this summer (by kind permission of the current owners), during which I was able to get a close look at the stonework and surroundings.  To add to the complications, the house has been restored to an earlier point in its history than the period I was asked to depict, so I had to ignore windows which have been reinstated and also the current position of the main entrance.

At the very beginning of the month, just as we were packing up to head back from France (see below), a selection of my work went on display at The Gallery on the Wolds.  The exhibition continues until 5 August.  Free admission and plenty of parking.

A couple of weeks later I was down in Cornwall for a family holiday and while there I was able to pop in to inspect The Crantock Bay Hotel where I am planning to host a Charles Reid Watercolour Workshop in October 2011.  I was very happy with what I saw and will be confirming the venue booking.  Full details of this and a subsequent workshop with Charles in the Cotswolds will be published later this year on the Paintings Holidays page of this website.

Also this month, Stoneflower Studio has joined Facebook.  Up-to-date information on events, workshops and developments will be posted on the wall there but with the added benefit that others also can post their thoughts, comments, photos, reviews of workshops and so on.  To join in simply visit the Stoneflower Studio page and click on the 'like' icon.

Early this month I completed a painting for the Multiple Sclerosis Trust's Secret Art Show to be held in York later this year.  250 anonymous works will be exhibited and sold with the purchasers only finding out whose work they have bought after the show closes.  For obvious reasons, I can't show the painting I have done here, but more information about the show is on the Events page.

At the end of the month I headed off to the south of France for a wonderful week tutoring at Manzac d'en Bas in the Ariège region.  All who attended made great advances in their work with some real breakthroughs being made; I'm sure the sunshine, the tranquillity and the excellent wine and food all helped!  We were looked after magnificently by Giles and Louise Nevill and have fallen in love with this fabulously beautiful and unspoilt area.

I will be leading another holiday at Manzac in September 2011.  Details will be published on the Paintings Holidays page later this year but if you would like to reserve a place provisionally do get in touch.

May started with the annual Newton Art Group exhibition over the Bank Holiday weekend.  The standard of exhibits was particularly high which was reflected in both visitor comments and sales, with most exhibitors selling at least one original piece as well as prints and cards.  I am pleased that the original of Sleeping Baby III, which had previously been licensed as a CD cover, has now gone to a permanent home.

The month also saw the completion of this portrait commission, a posthumous painting which was drawn from a number of photos and discussions with the client.  Such works, sadly, can be undertaken only when good clear photos exist of the subject which is often not the case, with only small, indistinct snapshots available.  Fortunately in this case I was provided with excellent resource material which made this result possible.

The autumn workshop schedule was published this month and is already starting to fill up.  Full details and online booking can be found on the workshops page as usual.

In response to demand, online ordering of gift vouchers has been added to the website.  As before they can be purchased in denominations of £100, £50, £25 and £10 and can be personalised with the recipient's name.  They can now be bought with a credit or debit card (or PayPal balance) on the Gift Voucher page.

I'm continuing to get a lot of enjoyment from the printmaking sessions at York College.  The etching to the left, made this month, will be exhibited at York Theatre Royal early in May (see Events).  Sadly the college has announced that the sessions are to be discontinued after this academic year but I will be carrying on with printmaking and expect to be showing linocuts and woodcuts in future exhibitions.

This month I have been pleased to become a member of the York Art Workers Association, 'an eclectic association of craftsmen, artists, conservators, academics and others who share a serious interest in the design of buildings, interiors and landscapes'.  I look forward to broadening my knowledge in the company some very interesting people.

Also this month I was approached by Smartbox™ who sell gift 'experiences' through high street retailers such as John Lewis and HMV.  As a result, Stoneflower Studio workshops will be included in the range of gift days available from August 2010.  As around a third of workshop bookings are currently made as gifts for third parties, this seems a very good fit.  Workshop places will of course continue to be available directly through this website or by writing or phoning.

The double portrait (or triple if you include the puppy!) to the left was a commission completed this month while the new still life of three pears will probably make its first public appearance at the Newton Art Group show in May (see Events).

The month started with a wonderful invitation to tutor a painting holiday in SW France at Manzac d'en Bas.  The prospect of a week in French sunshine was a welcome antidote to the February gloom of rain, sleet and fog.  The week long workshop, entitled 'Fresh Watercolour', will run from June 25 to July 2 and will include portraits, still life and open air painting of the marvellous surroundings.  The holiday is full board (apart from two restaurant meals) in gite style accommodation with a swimming pool.  All materials and equipment are provided.  For full information see the Painting Holidays page.

At the end of the month I received the excellent news that guest tutor Mark Azopardi (see workshops) has once again had two pieces selected for the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries.  The two paintings of pebbles and shells which were chosen by the hanging committee are examples of the sort of work he will be demonstrating at the 'Detailed Still Life' workshop in May.

Meanwhile back at the easel, the latest piece finished this month is the watercolour still life to the left which was a private commission.

The year seemed to start slowly with everything being put on hold by the weather in the first couple of weeks, but things soon started getting busy again.  While kept indoors by the snow I completed this watercolour of cherries in a china bowl on a lace cloth.

Early in January my workshops were featured in the February issue of Caravan magazine as the 'Try Something New' activity of the month.  It was a colourful full page article which you can read here.

Two new exhibitions have been arranged for 2010 at the Gallery on the Wolds.  Full details are on the Events page. The first of these runs from 2 July to 5 August and replaces the scheduled exhibition at Burton Agnes Hall which I have had to cancel because of a clash with family commitments.  The advantage of exhibiting at the Gallery on the Wolds is that I don't have to be there in person every day!

I'm still enjoying my printmaking at York College and this month have been working on linocuts like the one shown to the left.  The process is so completely different from my familiar watercolour work in every way, I find it both challenging and stimulating.