The Oxford Art Society Spring Members' Exhibition.

From Saturday 6 March, to Sunday 28 March at West Ox Art Gallery, Town Hall, Market Square, Bampton, Oxfordshire, OX18 2JH.

Opening hours are 10.30am-12.30pm and 2.00pm-4.00pm Tuesdays to Saturdays, and 12.00midday-2.00pm Sundays.

Three of my paintings have been selected for the show: 'Yesnaby', 'Simmer Tree', and 'Ponder'.

I have been a member of the Oxford Art Society for over twenty years. It is a venerable institution and has included many famous artists in its nearly 120 year history.

Although the venue is a long way out of Oxford, it is a very pleasant setting and a good exhibition space.

It is testament to the paucity of available exhibition spaces in Oxford itself, that the society has felt obliged to venture so far into the sticks. One day we may have a home in Oxford. We have been campaigning for many years.

The members' exhibitions are always an interesting and eclectic mix of all kinds of painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture. There are perhaps only two pictures I didn't like there.

Please make the trip if you can, it is well worth it. I may even see you there.

Great news!

This morning Sue and I went to meet a very nice lady, and to look at a beautiful new studio space, in which I shall be having a solo show, later this year.

It is a private studio, in Oxford, and we plan to open for two weekends, and the week inbetween, from September 4th to 12th.

So put it in your diary. Attending this exhibition will be compulsory unless you have a doctor's note.

More details to follow.

Three quarters of the way through February and the daze are lengthening.

I have just finished a painting of Yesnaby, my mother's favourite place in Orkney.

She always jumped at any opportunity to go there and watch the Atlantic waves crashing in. We had many happy times there. If the weather was wet we would sit in the car and eat our sandwiches, still happy just to be there. If it was fine, she would take my arm and we'd stroll on the cliffs. She spent her last seven years living in Orkney. Many happy memories.

See the painting on the Landscapes page.

Negotiations are afoot to organise a solo show of my paintings some time in the summer. More on this soon, I hope.

Meanwhile I continue to develop my body of work. I'm really enjoying this, despite the disappointment of Meller-Merceux, harassment from the Vale of White Horse housing department, and some ongoing uncertainty in the personal health department.

There are three paintings on the go at the moment. Life is good!

My connection with Meller-Merceux Gallery has now been severed. I won't go into the whys and wherefores, suffice it to say that we have come to an amicable agreement to go our separate ways, and my paintings are no longer with them.

I continue to build up a body of work with a view to holding a one-man show in the not too distant future. Watch this space!

More soon.

At last I have finished my latest Ragged Man picture, which now rejoices in the title, 'Simmer Tree'.

It is on the Ragged Man Gallery page, along with some details of it. I would love to get some feedback. I think it is quite good, but then I think that rain is wet, so what do I know?

The Ragged Man series of paintings progresses apace. If you noticed 'Trip Hazard' arrive, a few daze ago, you might like to look again. I have added a couple of details to the painting and added them to the Ragged Man Page. I am also adding some details to 'Symmetry' and will add them to the page very soon. Also another new one is well on the way now, called 'The Meeting'. Watch this space!

I intend to keep you abreast of developments in this blog so please come back again.

Any comments on the way things are going?

Good morning, everyone. This is my first go at blogging. Never thought I'd see the day.

So, another day starts, in which I hope to make some progress with my current project, which involves my trying to produce a new painting every week for the next five or six months.

I have seldom achieved such a rate, but I am focussed on the promise of a one-man show, later this year, at the Meller-Merceux Gallery in Witney. They already have four of my pictures there.

I started this latest manifestation of my madness before Christmas and so far it's going quite well. Some of the finished pix are already on the Landscapes Gallery page here. They all feature the 'Ragged Man'. Today I shall continue on a quite large canvas called 'Trip Hazard', in which he is striding along a cliff top. It's about half finished at the moment, and I'm looking forward to maybe getting it close to finished today.

If you're not already acquainted with the Ragged Man, he is the autobiographical element that has crept into my paintings in recent times. It would be nice to get some feedback, if you feel so inclined. I always like to hear how others perceive my stuff - often showing me things about my work that I hadn't previously been aware of.

Ok, that's all for my first post. I await developments with bated whassname. I'm a virgin blogger; please be gentle with me.