Gallery
The paintings and prints displayed here in the Gallery are for sale unless otherwise noted.
The images are painted or printed onto Oriental paper then wet mounted onto card or paper; some are framed.
Prices range from c. £200-£500 for the smaller images and c. £ 500-1,000 for the larger, depending also if the picture is mounted and framed. Please contact me for precise details. Post and packing are not included but can be arranged.
The most popular subjects in East Asian painting range from flowers, fruit and vegetables, birds, insects, animals, fish to landscapes. It is obvious that the traditional East Asian painters saw themselves as a part of nature and loved the most humble things in the natural world.
My choice of subject matter is eclectic and there is much overlap in the categories, but love of the natural world remains the primary theme.
Nature up Close: Birds and Animals, Plants and Flowers
Landscapes
Traditional Chinese painting refers to the painting of landscapes with brush and ink as shan shui which literally translates "mountain-water-picture". Chinese painters do not try to present an image of what they have seen in nature, but what they have thought and felt. It is not important whether the painted colours and shapes look exactly like the real object.
I appreciate this freedom of expression, and although I usually begin with a specific place in mind, during the process of translating an image onto paper something quite different from my first intent may emerge. Generally, I retain Western perspective (instead of the Chinese way which represents things as they are known to the mind allowing the eye of the spectator
to be everywhere at once), but my use of colour is sometimes more fanciful.
Prints
Seascapes
The sea has been a fascination for me for many years; two places have provided much inspiration, the Norfolk coast in the UK, especially near Wells-next-the-Sea, and Sanibel Island on the Gulf coast of Florida USA, a wetland swamp that is 70% wildlife refuge. For further images of the sea, see under Ink and Watercolour Paintings.
Miniature Prints
The Human Figure
The brushstrokes of calligraphy derive from the same principles as Chinese paintings, and in the East, calligraphy is the basis of a painter's training. A few lines of calligraphy is a usual way to begin a painting session.
Although in the East, calligraphy was the basis of, and was often considered superior to, painting, in the West, draftmanship was the traditional basis of painting, especially the portrayal of the human figure (at least until the twentieth century).
I have always found my interest sustained in a life drawing class and it is a great way to develop and maintain skill in the visual arts. I have attended life drawing classes regularly over the years. Below are a few examples of figure painting including attempts to capture a likeness with brush and ink. Commissions accepted.
In the Realm of the Immortals
The Arahants (called Lohans in Chinese) were the disciples of the Buddha who attained self-realisation. Images of these Buddhist Saints were revealed in a dream to the monk Guan Xiu in 891 A.D. Guan Xiu’s original paintings no longer exist, but since then artists have sought to portray these essentially mythical figures that were known for their wisdom, courage and supernatural powers. Legends have provided the attributes and dispositions of the Lohans.
