Here are other other two paintings for the Cambridge Drawing Society. The exhibition runs from Sat 32st May to Sat 7th June 2025. Opening times are 10am to 4pm and admission is free. It takes place in the Pitt Building, opposite the infamous 'Fitzbillies' shop and cafe.

The oldest colleges are depicted in my oil painting 'Cambridge Sixteen' with the River Cam running between them. Many trees are next to the river and some of the city's infamous Red Poll cows are seen dotted around.

'Minerva' is one of my small paintings 20 x 40cms depicting one single tree usually full of books. Minerva is the god of wisdom which is represented here by the owl.

If you are in Cambridge when the exhibition is open do pop in to view the free exhibition.

The Cambridge Drawing Society is a little later than usual this year as the venue, the Pitt Building, has undergone a massive upgrade. Delighted to see all those posts are now gone which means it will be so much easier to exhibit artworks.

Again the four paintings I entered have been accepted. It is always a great feeling when the panel choose all my entries.

Above are 2 of my works accepted, the other two are in my next blog.

'Chasing Geese' is just a fantasy picture. I came across a reference to a lady chasing some geese in an old medieval book. The geese don't look particularly frightened by her traditional besom but I expect they eventually go wherever the shepherdess wants them. Painted in oil on canvas with copper leaf.

The second painting 'Gibbs Building on the Backs' is the classic view of Cambridge with the Gibbs Building next to King's College Chapel. Usually the chapel is always mentioned but I wanted to draw attention to the building next to it, also beautiful in its own right.

I spend a lot of my time painting. My oil paintings takes weeks to build up layer upon layer, waiting for each addition to dry. But I also go urban sketching, making a drawing that takes up to 90 minutes to complete! I belong to Cambridge Urban Sketchers as well as jointly running a sketching group with Cambridge Drawing Society. Plus I go out on my own or with a friend.

It doesn't really matter what I draw, it is fascinating to try and make sense of what is in front of me. Originally I used an A4 pad but now I carry around a square sketch pad of 20 x 20 cms so I don't have to choose between portrait or landscape designs. The paper must be thick enough to withstand watercolour.

When I draw I tend to use both sides of the paper so when my book is opened there are two sketches to see at a time.

When I draw I start with a very rough outline using a 2B mechanical pencil to get the rough outlines and to make sure my image is neither too small nor too large for the page. When I am happy I draw with a fine liner and then I add the colour.

Adding watercolour can be a challenge sometimes, it is a no-go in a museum or a church so I also carry some watercolour crayons with me which sometimes stays as a coloured pencil drawing or often I add the water afterwards.

At home I have lots of full sketchbooks and I am really pleased with them and sometimes they give me ideas for a painting. I do enjoy showing them to people but never sell the drawings!

How do my paintings evolve?

Many people ask me why I paint as I do and how do I get the ideas. I usually have some kind of idea about the painting I work on but it is rare that I end with my original thoughts.

This is a good example. I wanted to paint a few trees together and see what happened. I always paint the first coat of the blue sky and green landscape in acrylic which gives a base for the oil paint. I paint thinly so if the canvas is white that tends to show through, the undercoat sorts that out.

When the first layer was thoroughly dry, I worked out where the trees will be and traced them onto the canvas. I painted an layer of red in oil and waited for it to dry before applying copper leaf. - I added the copper very roughly to give it texture but this meant some parts are not covered, I do this on purpose as the tiny flecks of red showing through gives the copper a vibrancy.

In this painting I added hills in the background which is done by painting the area green and then adding the details when this is dry. Next I painted the leaves which takes many days as I needed to paint several layers and to wait for each layer to dry. I had made a drawing of a shepherdess driving her sheep from an old manuscript, and thought I could use this idea. I redrew the image changing the clothing etc and traced it onto my painting before I added colour.

The final part of the painting was the millefleur. I started on the left hand side and work across. Adding the millefleur took 3 -4 days!!

Each of my paintings takes an average of 3 or 4 months but I work on two or three at the same time as I wait for areas to dry. I work on my paintings most days.

The May bank holiday weekend had TWO sketching experiences for me!

On the Saturday I travelled to Ely for their Ely Eel celebrations where I was invited to sketch in the Kings School gardens. I drew the magnificent buildings behind an old brick wall. I also took photos of the wonderful old maple tree which was covered in the first fresh leaves. It meant I could see the shape of the bark which last time was impossible to see because of all the lush green leaves.

On Saturday I went to the Cambridge Urban Sketchers event on Jesus Green where I drew my favourite view of the river where 'Casper' the barge is moored. I especially love the buildings behind the river.

Both places were extremely cold and windy but us sketchers put up with all weathers - until they can't! In Ely I got so cold I went home on the train and my bike. On Jesus Green several of us retreated to the new pub next to the river where we had fresh mint tea. Delicious.