Local scenes always give me pleasure to paint because I live in an area of England where there is deep history, such as Warwick Castle and Kenilworth Castle, nearby my
studio. With an array of style and character, soulful and aesthetically pleasing looking buildings, including Victorian, Regency and Georgian architectural styles on show, I soon
found inspiration.
By walking around the local area, sometimes with rambling friends, I saw so much more and noticed things that perhaps you would not see travelling in a vehicle.
In 2009 I was invited to join the Mitchell Gallery based in Warwick.
Tom Mitchell, the proprietor became my agent and commissioned me to paint many scenes of Warwick in the same style I employed working with Warwick Studios back in 2002-2008, using monochrome oil paints. He wanted to develop the black and white theme further with the artist, by showing reflections created by wet surfaces after recent rainfall. Over a long period I developed a collection of historic Warwick buildings on the canvas, which became known as the Warwick Collection.
The collection included original oil paintings, framed prints (sometimes embellished to suit customer requirements) and greeting cards.
In May of the same year I had a successful exhibition at the gallery entitled Black and White Nostalgic Evening.
It was well attended and the gallery sold many pieces of my artwork.
Beyond the exhibition it was decided by the gallery to have a permanent exhibition of the Warwick Collection in the gallery, for art lovers to come and view at their
leisure.
During special events at the gallery I would do a presentation of the Warwick Collection to interested art lovers. Always a pleasure to talk to them.
Now and again the Mayor of Warwick would come and see the gallery exhibits, especially during the annual Victorian evening during November.
The Warwick Collection now included my painting of the Court House in Warwick from 2014, where I was commissioned by the Mayor of Warwick.
This was an exciting project to work on and finance was raised from the sale of prints to help with the cost of restoration to the historic Court House building in Jury Street.
The historic Thomas Oken Tea Rooms in Warwick bought a Court House print from the project and is permanently exhibited in the tea rooms on the first floor.
I often frequent the Thomas Oken tea rooms with friends and would recommend the service and hospitality there.
Drinking a cuppa in a living time capsule.
Great escapism!
