I was really chuffed to discover I’d been elected as a provisional member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters following on from the annual open exhibition in December. It’s a great honour and I look forward to being an active member throughout the year. I’ve exhibited at the ROI show for the last 5 years in a row and enjoyed every one of them. It’s a great motivator and certainly keeps me on my toes when attempting to have work selected from such a high quality field.
The likes of Whistler, Sickert, Fantin Latour and Rodin are past members and the current membership has a formidable spread of talent. No pressure then! Actually, I thrive on the challenge of producing better and better work. It’s what draws me into painting….the process of developing and evolving. It’s easy to get stuck and fall into a comfort zone but those ruts can be hard to escape from. Equipped with forethought, knowledge and experience it’s about being immersed in the moment and making the very best I can of that moment.
Congratulations, that sounds like a very prestigious honour indeed! I really love your paintings, great stuff!
Thanks for the kind words Annes. I'm really pleased but I know I'll have to work hard this year to show I can consistently cut the mustard! It's a good motivator, for sure. I love your watercolour of the arboretum…really fresh colours and a sense of light that would be difficult to surpass in any other medium.
Indeed, I'm sure that'll help give you an extra nudge out the door when it's freezing cold outside!
Glad you liked my watercolour. I hadn't painted for a while so it was really fun to do! Although, is was a damp day so I kept getting caught out by how slow the paint was to dry!
CONGRATULATIONS DAVE, just seen this! WELL DESERVED!!! It was coming…..:)
Thanks Adebanji! Plenty of painting to be done in the year ahead, that's for sure. I'm hunkered down in the studio at the mo but looking forward to heading out for some pochade action sometime soon.