News & Events
The Art of the Miniature show at the Sea Side Art Gallery in Nags Head, NC, USA, has finished as has the Miniature Art Society of Florida's exhibition where my piece, The Cat That Walked By Himself, was awarded third place in the Animals category.
The Snow Goose Gallery in Bethlehem, PA, have their annual invitational miniature show from May 4 to June 14, and I shall be submitting work for the first time at the Parklane Fine Art miniature exhibition in Washington State in July.
Meanwhile, back home in the UK, there is an exciting new show at the stunning Nature In Art Gallery, Tigworth in Gloucestershire. Nature in Miniature runs from May 6 to June 8 where I shall be exhibiting six pieces, and then the Hilliard Society will be holding their annual show in Wells, Somerset, from 7 to the 14 of June.
Hopefully I can take a bit of a break before I start working for the Royal Society of Miniaturists exhibition which will be held once again at the Bankside Gallery in London towards the end of the year.
In another life - my collaboration with lifelong friend Paul Brice - our book, The Duchess In The Cupboard, has been getting some great reviews!
Here are a few -
'The text is so impressive, delightful, sassy and heart warming'.
'I can feel the influence of Carroll, Lear, Belloc - even Spike Milligan - but the end product is unique and the Paul/Debby partnership a creative dream. What a celebration of a lifelong friendship.'
'Irrepressible, joyous and delightfully quirky drawings of unforgettable characters.'
'Brilliantly funny, clever, absolutely engrossing.'
'Paul is quite the wordsmith.'
'It flowed brilliantly and each picture captures the verse wonderfully.'
So delighted with such amazing revues - but we can't rest on our laurels. There is another book to follow so a few more pub lunches to help ease the flow are in sight ...
A lovely surprise to end a very busy year.
I am delighted to have the pleasure of being the custodian of a beautiful engraved glass bowl for a year and, needless to say, it is in a very safe place on a shelf well away from any possibility of accidents!
2024 started with the Miniature Arts society of Florida's annual exhibition where five of my six entries, including my award winning piece, 'Bright Star', have sold.
My calendar is rapidly filling up with submission deadlines and dates for exhibitions.
The Sea Side Art Gallery, Nags Head, NC, USA, are hosting the Animals in Art and 33rd Annual International Miniature Exhibition starting on February 1st and May 4th respectively, the Snow Goose Gallery's Art of The Miniature international show in Bethlehem, PA, USA, starts on May 4th.
Here in the UK, the Hilliard Society of Miniature Painters exhibition starts on 8th June in Wells, Somerset, and the Royal Miniature Society return to the Bankside Gallery in London for their annual exhibition which begins on June 26th. A very busy time ahead for me!
When I'm 'off duty', I'm greatly looking forward to spending two very special days out with Roberta, my dear friend of over 60 years. We are heading to the Holbein exhibition at the Queens Gallery in Buckingham Palace, and - reliving our youth and some wonderful days in London - the Biba exhibition at the Design and Textile Museum , celebrating the work of Barbara Hulanicki, her ground breaking fashion designs and the beautiful Biba stores, culminating in the truly extraordinary 'Big Biba' in the old Derry and Toms building in Kensington High Street. It was a magical place and we were so lucky to have visited on many occasions, travelling up by train on our 'Super Saver' tickets. Those were the days!
I've got a large collection of all things Biba - a small selection here in the photo - a cabinet full of make up, perfume. tins, bags, household goods and cards, and much more packed away in drawers - clothes, diaries, books, catalogues, a pair of shoes and the famous boots that regularly sold out when new colours came into the store and a fabulous cardboard suitcase in snake skin print. I'm hoping there will be some merchandise at the exhibition that I can add to my collection.
I am steadily working my way through the illustrations for the final book in the Kit the Mouse series by Barry Thornton.
Eight have been completed so far and four more to go. Such a change from my miniature work as these paintings measure 6.5" x 9.5" - enormous by my standards!
I am looking forward to planning new work for submission to the Royal Miniature Society Exhibition at the Bankside Gallery in London. A really exciting new venue.
The gallery has a fine selection of miniature works, including sculpture, always available for sale and I am very pleased to be among their featured artists.
The prospectus and entry forms for the Fine Art In Miniature Exhibition by the Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Society of Washington, DC, has arrived so a busy time ahead for me as work has to be be ready, framed and delivered to America by September 9th at the very latest.
This will be the 90th annual exhibition by the MPSG and is held at the Mansion, Strathmore, North Bethesda from November 18th '23 to January 13th '24.
At last years exhibition, my miniature 'Hope' won the Margaret Hicks Award so I feel a certain amount of pressure to turn in some really good entries for this years show!
The last illustration for 'Much Ado About Mice' is done and all the pieces ready now to go off to the printers. This is the fourth and final book in the Kit the Mouse series and will be available exclusively from B and W Thornton of Henley Street, Stratford Upon Avon.
First, four entries for the 31st annual invitational international exhibition - The Art of The Miniature - at The Snow Goose Gallery in Bethlehem, PA, USA. Deadline for entries was April 1st and I'm happy to say my parcel of paintings arrived just in the nick of time. The exhibition runs from May 7th to June 10th and will shortly be available to view online.
Next, entries for the Hilliard Society of Miniaturists annual exhibition June 10th to the 17th in Wells, Somerset, and finally work for the Royal Society of Miniature Painters exhibition at its exciting new venue, The Bankside Gallery in London. Dates are June 28th to July 8th.
With these commitments met, I am resuming illustrations for 'Much Ado About Mice', the fourth and final book in the Kit the Mouse series by Barry Thornton. Only three more paintings to complete the project with publication later in the year.
2022 has been a very busy year so far with my miniatures shown at the Sea Side Art Gallery and Snow Goose Gallery’s annual international miniature art exhibitions in the USA, and the Hilliard Society of Miniaturists annual show here in the UK.
The Royal Society of Miniaturists exhibition is not taking place this year as, after many years at the Mall Galleries, the show moves to the very exciting new venue of the Bankside Gallery in London. The dates are 28 th June – 8 th July 2023 so plenty of time for me to plan ahead with new works to submit. Situated on the Thames river front beside the Tate Modern in a popular and vibrant part of London, this promises to be a wonderful new venue for the Society.
An exciting project for me has been the completion of the book I wrote during lockdown 2020 for the grandchildren. ‘Jessica Fluffy Gurmington Swine’ – the grandchildren provided the name! – follows the adventures of Jessica and her friend Hugo as they try to discover if the tale of the Gurmington Swine curse is true and along the way learn a lot about what Jessica refers to as her ‘super weird’ family. There are some illustrations in black and white which are nothing like my usual work but the whole thing has been huge fun and it will be wonderful to see it in print.
This is my first time of exhibiting with the Society who are holding their 89th Annual Exhibition of Fine Art in Miniature at the Strathmore Mansion, a stunning arts venue just outside Bethesda.
The exhibition will be going online in late October 2022 and I am looking forward to seeing the 651 exhibits in this prestigious show, selected by a judging panel from many hundreds of entries from around the world.
It was for my miniature on vellum, The Smallest Twig' and the judge for the award commented :
'This work employs not only watercolour techniques but also the technical ability of the illuminator of old with the graphic design and patterns alongside carefully rendered text, everything working together to reward the viewer, and reader, as in days of old.
It was done on a smaller scale by the artist's choice to have the viewer cradling it close for examination and reward.'
Another date for the calendar is the R M S Annual Exhibition to be held at the Mall Galleries in London from November 25th to December 5th. It seems a long time ahead but it's scary how quickly these dates creep up on me !
I have been approached by Martin Dawber, an author of art and design relayed books, who is working on a book featuring diversions in contemporary cat portraiture and asked if he could use some images of my work to illustrate the text. No date as yet for publication but very exciting to be asked and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished book.
Meanwhile, I'm busy painting as usual and soon to start work on a commission for a special occasion. So it's business as usual, coffee and radio on, and brushes at the ready!
It is no great surprise that exhibitions have been cancelled for the remainder of 2020 and even the MASF show in Florida, due to be held in early 2021, will not be taking place.
There are entries from around the world and they all have to be in the gallery by the autumn. With the continuing uncertainty of the pandemic, the organisers have decided not to go ahead.
At the start of the lockdown life carried on pretty much the same as usual for us both and, as Alan and I both work alone, keeping our distance from other people was not a problem.
Whilst Alan has been kept very busy with his classic car restoration projects, my work has slowed up of late so it has been very good to take the opportunity to finish off lots of projects long neglected, and plan new work for the new year.
Meanwhile, our granddaughter, Izabella, has been racking up the accolades with her drawing published in The Beano in August, and a fantastically successful yard sale - her own idea - which included her hand painted mini canvasses and raised enough money to but a huge trolley full of essential items for our local food bank.
Needless to say, we are very proud of her, and, with arty genes on both sides of the family it's good to see that she and her brother, Ethan, derive much pleasure from drawing, painting and creating all sorts of marvellous things. I have a veritable gallery of their work at home!
And so, as autumn approaches, I am looking forward to new ideas, new directions and more exciting projects for 2021.
