Newly built studio/workshop

At last my long awaited work space is ready
and its so wonderful 

not sure what to do first
painting or carving or just DIY

The whole garden needs a good sort
so much to do  never enough time

painting from the figure any figure

"The Artist Model Has Grubby Feet" 
the title is a reminder that things are rarely perfect; a beautiful model with dirty feet and parts of the painting may appear sketchy, Yet it is complete)
painted 6/4/13 acrylic on canvas 100 x 100 cm
I'm concidering puting this one into the Leamington Open
influenced by Pre Raphaelites romance and the wonderful linear style of the Art Nouveau posters
I feel I've moved on a thousand miles in a month
I've been painting the figure from life, obsessed with depicting  skin
yet not possible without the discirplin of painting at trinity 5-10 hours a week for the last three years
painting anything and everything

Not Pretty 3 Acrylic on paper 29/3/13
 a portrait of Jac my friend and wild life illustrator
during a nasty bout of shingles effecting the optic nerve,
potentially devastating for an artist
The Jenny Saville book  my daughter bought me for Xmas
has helped me start my "Not Pretty" series I've been thinking about for a while
Thanks Julia

Not Pretty 1 Oil on canvas 17/3/13
 portrait of my friend with MS, again potentially devastating
illness. Lucian Freud inspired