Coastal Rocks

Here is my offering for this week -  I continue to experiment with a looser use of the materials leaning towards the liberal and enjoyable abstract expressionist style and maintaining the smaller size of painting, please enjoy.



Coastal Rocks



Autumn Forest

Landscape Storm

For more details click here

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261135455776



Bob Crossley

Bob Crossley

Abstract painter whose work was inspired by his love of the Cornish landscape

When the abstract painter Bob Crossley moved from Rochdale to St Ives in 1959 he brought with him a solid reputation gained in the lively Manchester arts scene of the 1950s. He was essentially self-taught, his Manchester pictures based on figure or industrial landscape motifs. A degree of realism was subsumed by brisk, expressionistic paint-handling that gave his pictures avant-garde currency.    

The irresistible Cornish landscape did not prevent the inevitable slide – or ascent – towards abstraction, the mode that dominated post-war St Ives art. In response to the work of Peter Lanyon, Roger Hilton, Terry Frost and many others which he encountered in St Ives, Crossley's painting increasingly expunged references to the external world and preoccupied itself with purely technical and painterly issues. During the 1960s and beyond, therefore, Crossley's vividly coloured and assertive pictures contributed to the power and energy of the St Ives "school".

Despite its long history as an artist's colony, however, St Ives and Crossley maintained a professional distance. Patrick Heron, in spite of also using a Porthmeor studio, had little contact with Crossley and did not use his influence as a critic to promote the northerner's work. Crossley did, however, follow Lanyon, Bryan Wynter and others in exploring nature fully, in his case skiing on Alpine slopes every winter.

Informed by such exhilarating experiences, Crossley's work contributes to the raw experience based energy of modern St Ives painting. His reputation will therefore be tied enduringly to the only genuinely popular abstract movement British art has produced.

Please click here to view a short documentary on the artist

http://vimeo.com/1904057

Visit Belgrave Gallery St Ives site for more work by the artist

http://www.belgravestives.co.uk/pages/exhibitionthumbnails/337.html



Nicolas de Stael

Nicholas de Stael was a French painter known for his highly abstract landscape painting created using thick layers of paint. A dedicated artist who lived for painting, de Stael achieved both wealth and fame in his life time.

Nicolas de Stael was born on Jan. 5, 1914, in St. Petersburg, the son of a wealthy baron. Nicolas's mother encouraged him to draw and paint at a very early age. In 1919 the Russian Revolution forced the family into exile in Poland. Within 2 years his parents were dead, and Nicolas was sent to Brussels to study humanities. In 1932 he entered the Royal Academy of Art there.

In the 1930s, he travelled throughout Europe, including Spain, Italy, Morocco, and Algeria eventually settling in Paris in 1938.

In 1941, he moved to Nice where he met Jean Arp, Sonia Delaunay and Robert Delaunay, and these artists would inspire his first abstract paintings

During the late 1940’s and 50’s de Stael had considerable commercial successes both in Europe and the USA. At the same time he was suffering from exhaustion, insomnia and depression and on March 16, 1955, he committed suicide in Antibes.

As I have limited time to dedicate to my art I am producing some smaller lower cost pieces which to date have been received exceptionally well and I thank my customers who continue to support my work.

Below is a new piece which I have kept close to the style of Nicholas de Stael and feel free to click on the link to view more images and details.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261127984048?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261128825764?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

In the style of Peter Lanyon

Here is a piece I created some months ago 'Coastal Headland' for more details click here

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261127114571?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Alex Lowery

Alex Lowery was born in London in 1957. He studied at Bath Academy of Art for his foundation year and subsequently at the Sir John Cass School of Art (1978-9) and the Central School of Art (1979-82). His first London exhibition was held at the Rocket Gallery in 1995 and had his first solo exhibition with Art First in Dec 2000. He now lives and works in Dorset.

He started painting West Bay some twenty years ago and has made his name nationally and in Europe arguably through painting this one unassuming seaside resort.

His work has often been compared to that of the American painter Edward Hopper and English painter Paul Nash for a stillness, strongly contrasting light and shadow, and a way of finding in the banal and ordinary a surprising beauty.

To view more of his work at The Campden Gallery please click here

http://www.campdengallery.co.uk/displayartists.php?rid=21&tid=1

Alexander Mackenzie

The painter Alexander Mackenzie, who died aged 79 in 2002, was a powerful and distinctive member of the post-war generation of modernists at St Ives when the art colony was a hotbed of new talent. He arrived in his 20s and began exhibiting in the Penwith Society in company with important and progressive artists, including Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Bryan Wynter, Patrick Heron and John Wells.

Through the 1950s and early 60s the likes of William Scott, Alan Davie and Roger Hilton were regularly present, and even Americans paid homage, notably Mark Rothko and Clement Greenberg. For a brief moment in British artistic development, the periphery became the centre within which Mackenzie played an important role.

 From 1964 to 1984 Mackenzie was head of fine art at Plymouth Art College, where he was valued by students as a quietly committed teacher. On retiring, he moved back to west Cornwall to continue painting. His later works were uncompromising: the drawing linear and tough, the limited palettes dominated by bone whites, cool greens and browns, and the textures scarred and distressed.

For more details on the artist please click here

http://www.austindesmond.com/images/cms/File/071614_cat.pdf

To view my own work

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/richard-witham-art

Ben Nicholson revisited

It was the work of Ben Nicholson which prompted me to start creating artwork over three years ago and I have enjoyed emulating his style immensely.

I found a wonderful old frame a few weeks ago and I renovated it and repainted it and I felt it begged me to create a Nicholson painting to go in it.

So here it is - I have enjoyed working on the piece and by layering plaster and sand mixed with paint and sanding and scratching the work getting to a great surface texture.

For more details and the purchase price please click here

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/richard-witham-art

Art for Hospiscare

I have produced a number of small 20 x 20 [cms] pieces to be included in a charity art auction to be staged by gloss Gallery in Exeter.The auction will feature over 100 pieces all the same size format  and I am happy to present one of the series which is available to purchase.

Once sold 10% of the proceeds will be passed to gloss to add to the money raised by the auction which is for Hospicare. Likewise I shall be donating 10% of the sale proceeds I derive from the artwork currently for sale in my eBay shop.

click here to view the item

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261115095616?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Jeremy Annear - A Kind of Music

Sometime ago I wrote a feature on one of the most exciting artists working today 

 Jeremy Annear.

On October 13th The Campden Gallery present an exhibition of his work. I have provided a link to the galleries website where you can read more about the artist and download a copy of the exhibition catalogue.

So if you happen to be in the stunning county of Gloucestershire you visit the beautiful village of Chipping Campden and view some of the most exciting art being produced today - there is no doubt that it will be a great place and way to enjoy a day out.

http://www.campdengallery.co.uk/displayexhibition.php?eid=117

The studio looks bare!!

As you know I am taking a 'GAP' year or two from focusing full time on my art and I would like to thank all my customers who have sent their best wishes and purchased some of the few remaining pieces. The reaction has been a positive reminder that I shall as soon as I am able re commence what has been a wonderful 'second career'.

The studio is starting to look very bare and I am promoting the last few pieces hoping they will find wall space where they will be well appreciated.

I hope to produce one or two new pieces when time allows and also keep my blogspot alive and well.

view the remaining pieces at

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/richard-witham-art

Padraig MacMiadhachain

When we moved to Dorset two years ago we visited Swanage and we now regularly visit to sit on the sea front with the best fish and chips we have ever found!

During a walk through the town we chanced upon a small shop front Saul 2 - paintings.

All I can say is that when we went in we were unaware that we were walking into a gallery and about to meet the artist and discover his work which was simply wonderful.

The artist Padraig MacMiadhachain was sat there at his desk just inside the doorway and on the walls hung a huge collection of his work. He was gracious - made us coffee and we enjoyed a wonderful hour talking with him about his life and his art.

It is difficult to convey what an exceptional moment it was to an aspiring artist to meet someone and realise that he had rubbed shoulders with so many of my favourite artists. Likewise it is difficult to convey the vibrant and simple nature of his work via images but I would urge you that when next in the area go to Swanage and hope that the gallery is open.

 [beware he is not always open and the messages he leaves on the door as to where he is or what he is doing are works of art and tell a story in themselves!]

I leave you with a quote from the artist which having met him several times now does capture the essence of the man and his art.

Quote from Padraig MacMiadhachain: "I have painted all my working life; I love painting, and I have managed to live by it. I make some good paintings and loads of rubbish too (hopefully you won't ever see the latter). I seem to have two moods in working ; my usual love of pale greys and warm blacks that are all around me in Dorset and Cornwall, my lifelong fascination with fishing harbours and all their, to me, lovely smells (which I cannot paint). ...and the colour and buzz of Buenos Aires and their ice cream and its fantastic colours, these bright colours have carried over into my recent paintings made in St. Ives and elsewhere."

Closing the studio

My customers and regular readers will know that I am in the process of closing my studio in order to concentrate on other things for a number of months - I have a number of pieces which represent the last artwork I shall be producing.

These images represent a few that are available.

Please feel free to view these by clicking here

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/richard-witham-art

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/richard-witham-art