FAVOURITE THINGS

This is an article I did this year for the Sheffield Telegraph newspaper about some Sheffield related things I like.

FAVOURITE THINGS

GREAT SHEFFIELD ART SHOW

I returned to live in Sheffield in 2000 and wanted somewhere to show my new paintings of the city. I had heard of the Great Sheffield Art Show, so decided to submit five paintings and was delighted when they were all accepted. I have now been showing here for ten years and have had a professional artists’ stand for the past four years. It really is a great event for artists of all standards to show their work. The organisers are so dedicated and work so hard to keep this brilliant event going each year.

Another wonderful event that I participate in is ‘Art In The Gardens’. This is a lovely family event held over two days in the beautiful Botanical Gardens with art, crafts, music, performance and food. A brilliant day out, especially if the sun shines.

VIEWS

I love the views of Sheffield from the surrounding seven hills. My most popular paintings are the view from Ringinglow. It’s the first glimpse of the city as you drive from the Peak District and strikes an affectionate chord with many of my customers. I love the ever- changing big sky that dwarfs the distant city and which looks quite enchanted when caught by sunlight.

The view from Meersbrook Park is perhaps the most spectacular vista of the city and has inspired a number of my paintings. Turner painted Sheffield from here, so it must be pretty good.

A view I’ve painted many times is of the iconic Tinsley cooling towers, now sadly no more. I must have done about thirty paintings of the towers, one of which is in the Francis Newton pub on Clarkehouse Road and another in the NHS Highgate Clinic at Tinsley. I still have photos and studies that I made so can still paint the towers to commission.

THE GRAVES AND GEORGE FULLARD

I have always loved the Graves Art Gallery. I can even recall visiting the Graves in my pram to see an exhibition by Van Gogh. I’ve seen so many great exhibitions there over the years including Howard Hodgkin, John Walker and Sheffield Sculptor George Fullard. George is one of my favourite sculptors and his ‘Walking Man’ is perhaps my favourite of his works. I’m glad he’s found a permanent home outside the Winter Gardens after many years of being moved around the city centre. Three more of George Fullard’s sculptures can be found tucked away in the grounds of Upper Chapel on Norfolk Street, usually surrounded by parked cars!

JOHN PIPER AND RENISHAW HALL

I have just had an exhibition of my paintings at St. Mark’s Church in Broomhill, as part of the Broomhill Festival. It was here that I discovered a real hidden gem: a truly stunning stained glass window designed by one of my favourite painters, John Piper. The largest collection of Piper’s work can be found at Renishaw Hall, another of my favourite places. Home to the Sitwell family, this is another hidden gem with beautiful gardens, woodland, a Sitwell museum and a gallery with a different exhibition each year. One year they had John Wayne’s hat and Marilyn Monroe’s dress on show. A tour of the hall is highly recommended and I’m looking forward to the Christmas tour, which I was told by the excellent guide is quite magical.

PUBS

Well, I love beer and Sheffield is blessed with so many real ale pubs these days. Two of my favourites are in locations that have inspired paintings. My local pub ‘The Blake’ in Walkley, where I live, is situated at the top of Blake Street, reputedly the steepest street in Sheffield. The pub can be glimpsed in the background of a scene in ‘The Full Monty.” The view over the city from the top is amazing and I have done a number of paintings from this vantage point. Right at the bottom of the street is a lovely Georgian house, once the home of Sheffield poet Ebenezer Elliott, the ‘Corn Law Rhymer’.

The Ranmoor Inn in Fulwood is another favourite location. Situated below the beautiful, imposing St. John’s church, I have painted the challenging perspective of the pub, church and diverging roads many times, especially in the evening with a striking sunset and the pub all lit up; very welcoming!

MUSIC

Live music has always played a big part in my life and Sheffield has, and has had, many great venues. The first gig I went to as a teenager was at the majestic City Hall where I saw the legendary Lou Reed, the godfather of Punk, a memorable start to my gig going odyssey. I could have gone to see David Bowie the same year but wasn’t allowed as I had Physics and Chemistry ‘O’ levels to revise for. I failed both.

My current favourite venue is the Greystones, the new flagship pub for Thornbridge brewery, who put on a diverse range of musical acts and events. Oh, and great beer. 

  

FLOWERS IN THE SPRING

I painted these flower paintings in the spring after walking through Weston Park here in Sheffield.

I love the spring, everything is fresh and new.

I forgot to publish the accompanying blog post (or did I?) so I'll post the paintings anyhow with some new text about how brill flowers are and why they are so good to paint and now we're in the deep mid winter, a bit of spring time colour.

"Most people in the city rush around, so they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not" ~ Georgia O'Keeffe

"I hate flowers - I paint them because they're cheaper than models and they don't move" ~ Georgia O'Keeffe

I love painting flowers  for a number of reasons. There's the colours of course, the shapes of the petals, the middle bits of the flower and stems.
I buy a bunch of flowers that catch my eye from the supermarket, usually when they're reduced in price, bring them home and set them up in a corner of the studio. 
I'll then get spotlights on them to emphasize the shadows to create new shapes in the background.
I'll work on 6 to 10 paintings in sequence at a time, painting quickly on each one for a few minutes so by the time I get back to the first one, it's pretty dry and I can work over and into it again and so the process goes on till I've got maybe 5 or 6 paintings I'm happy with.
I love working like this as I can can try out new ways of using paint. Splashing, diluted paint, textured paint, brushes, palette knives, sticks, cardboard, kitchen roll, fingers, anything that comes to hand really.

Painting flowers reminds me of an early lesson I learned from one of my teachers: if it's right but looks wrong, it's wrong, if it's wrong but looks right, it's right.