The Saltaire Studio

Apr 25, 2019

Reduction Techniques: Tissue Paper

I generally talk about using cold wax as a process of adding and taking away. The taking away is all about applying reduction techniques which is basically removing oil and cold wax with the intention of creating interesting effects and textures and to also reveal earlier layers of colour and texture. Here I will illustrate how you can use tissue paper to create some interesting effects.

Apr 19, 2019

Spring Mists

There are all sorts of things that influence me when I'm choosing the colours I am going to work with. The influence behind this painting was the planning for one of my workshops where I was wanting to use some contrasting / warm / cold colours for people to experiment with. I was drawn to a number of already mixed greys which is quite unusual for me as I do tend to want to mix my own greys generally but these lilac / blue / greys in this painting really got my attention and have worked so well with the Senellier Chinese Orange.

Apr 19, 2019

Crossing

This piece was created recently whilst I was out in Ireland. It started off as a bit of a disaster as the place where I was staying had this gorgeous view out to sea but by mid afternoon the sun would be shining in so much that it was blinding me and making my cold wax go all a bit weird.

Apr 16, 2019

Heron Island

So I am working on a new collection of work as I have a very busy schedule ahead of me this year and this painting just came out of my head the other day and I am really in love with it. The palette is very different to what I've used before but I think this image has come about from a trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to see the Norman Ackroyd prints.

Feb 27, 2019

As if the day...

My time for painting is very limited so when I do get a couple of days completely free I like to scale up and let loose on a large pieces of Arches paper.

I'm not really sure where the inspiration for this painting came from other than the dark autumnal colours; it isn't a scene that I recognise. Sometimes a painting just comes about because of the colours that I want to use and I was really wanting to create a large scale imposing clouds scene.

Feb 20, 2019

The mist descends...

Driving from Newcastle on Christmas Eve the sun had been glorious all the way home but as we hit Yorkshire the sun started to go down and with it the temperatures. The rapidly dropping temperature created steaming trails of mist along the valleys, in tree tops and on roof tops. As we descended down a hill towards home the image stuck in my mind of muted greens and blues.