Home & Heart
These paintings are largely inspired by the local vernacular architecture & stuff I have in my own home or have seen in others. For example, the little wooden West Indian houses, with their gingerbread friezes & bright colours, have always attracted me. Other items close to my heart, such as the blue glass I collect, or based on a pun, as I am also an editor when not painting, and I adore word play. For example, two paintings have the same title: one is authentic, inspired by the Le Creuset cast iron black pot I brought from France. The other involves a kettle and flower pots in which a certain Cannabis sativa is growing: both are called “”Pot calling the kettle black”.
TYPICAL CARIBBEAN STREET with the Caribbean Sea in the background & goats & chickens wandering freely with a dog & a couple of cats too... I love the gingerbread friezes on the little wooden houses, with their corrugated iron roofs & fences. I very much enjoy painting the vernacular architecture, such that still exists ( unfortunately much is being replaced by very ugly concrete ones - more practical but not so attractive). Watercolour 11x30". 28x76cm
OLD TOWN WITH GOATS - little wooden houses with corrugated iron roofs & oil drum garbage cans - typical of the Caribbean. Watercolour 12x16" 30x40cm
THE BLUES - a beautiful blend of Caribbean blues & vernacular architecture. Acrylic on canvas 24x24". 61x61cm
HARKING BACK TO THE OLD DAYS - one of the few houses not painted a bright colour but with its own beauty. Watercolour 12x16" 30x40cm
ROOFY! - an old-fashioned but typical pointed double roof, designed thus as it was the best to withstand the frequent hurricanes of the region. Watercolour 12x16" 30x40cm
A TINY TREASURE - a dear little painted wooden house with matching picket fence & shutters with curtains knotted against the breeze in the windows. The ventilator above the door allows for a through breeze. Watercolour 12x16" 30x40cm
ALL SAINTS VILLAGE - so-called because all the parishes with saints' names meet at this point. Lovely natural wooden house with palm-lined roads that harmonise to create a perfect composition, enhance by the blue Caribbean Sea in the background. Watercolour 12x16" 30x40cm
THE PINK HOUSE - an old, faded pink wooden house with its corrugated iron roof & fence, red oil drum garbage can & free-ranging goats & chickens: idyllic in the absence of cars...and a flaming red Flamboyant tree in the distance watercolour 12x16" 30x40cm
THE BLUE AND WHITE HOUSE - favourite old fashioned shutters, white picket fence & a cat sunning itself on the steps: totally idyllic. Acrylic on cradled wood: ready to hang with varnished image & sealed black matt sides. 16x20" 41x51cm
DOGS ENJOY SUNSETS TOO! - one example of a series with the same colours,, subject & composition but with a cat or a cat & dog or a few of each...I have been commissioned several times to include silhouettes of their feline & canine friends - always a joy to paint. Contact me if interested! Watercolour 9x12". 23x30cm
BLUE GLASS - not only is blue my favourite colour but I collect items made of blue glass, mostly bottles. Those featured here include artefacts from Italy, France, Egypt & the USA. Acrylic on canvas 24x36". 61x91cm
POT CALLING KETTLE BLACK - I love play on words & whilst cooking in my old Le Creuset cast iron pot, this phrase came to me. The kettle is stainless steel & the fruit are ackees - national fruit of Jamaica - which I added to give a more colourful & tropical feel. Acrylic on canvas 16x18". 40x46"
POT CALLING KETTLE BLACK 2 - I could resist this one, living in a country where ganja is rife and some of it even legal. The lizard who is obviously enjoying the small is a whimsical touch - he makes a discreet appearance in many of my paintings. Acrylic on canvas 23x23". 38x38cm
MY LITTLE HELPER - a stylised version of the view from my studio window with my lizard friend helping with the creative process. Acrylic on canvas 24x36" 61x91cm
MY COURTYARD TABLE - lots of favourite blue objects harmonise to produce a rhapsody in blue (even the lizard is blue!). Acrylic on canvas 19x19". 48x48cm
FIVE BLUE BOTTLES - 4 items from my collection of glassware with a much smaller entomological addition, making a total of 5 BlueBottles! Acrylic on canvas 11.75x23.75" 30x60cm
FIVE GREEN BOTTLES - I also collect other coloured glass bottles with interesting shapes. The green ones are particularly soothing & the entomological feature is small but important as it completes the set of 5 GreenBottles! Acrylic on canvas 11.75x23.75". 30x60cm
HOMMAGE TO PICASSO - a more cubist approach to my beloved bottles lined up on the exterior wooden balustrade. Acrylic on canvas 19x19" 48x48cm
KITCHEN GARDEN WITH LIZARD - thyme, rosemary, sage, basil, parsley, tarragon and...the last one is obvious & the lizard's favourite ... Watercolour on heavy paper 11x30". 28x76cm - an excellent kitchen accessory!
BRIGHTEN UP YOUR KITCHEN! - how the framed Kitchen Garden would look, hanging in your kitchen - 11x30" 28x76cm unframed
MUGGED! So I collect mugs in different shades & designs of blue too. They used to hang in a rather disorderly row so I removed the disorder & created this composition which would be a beautiful addition to your kitchen - or indeed anywhere else in your home or office. I could also paint your collection of mugs if you send me photos! These last two paintings also feature under Long Ideas as I thought the format was different & lent itself well to this kind of image. Watercolour on heavy paper. 11x30". 28x76cm
HELLO JEREMY FISHER! - I found him sleeping soundly in a mug one morning. My niece asked me for a watercolour of him, so this is it. But I will do another in watercolour & also in acrylic. Let me know the size & medium you would like if this interests you: a fun piece of original art.
WATERING CANS GALORE - inspired by my visit to Alsace, France where I saw a bunch of watering cans hanging on an exposed beam of a house in Colmar. I have no idea why but I thought they would make a nice composition together with a stork, the avian symbol of the region & using a more muted palette. Acrylic on canvas 24x18" 61x46cm
SPOT THE CAT! - whilst hiking through picturesque village in north-east France, I came across a banana palm, used to more tropical climes, growing next to some geraniums (global warming?). This combines the flora & fauna (cat!) & vernacular architecture of exposed wooden beams & green shutters. Acrylic on canvas 24x18" 61x46cm
MUGGY - a small watercolour featuring a favourite mug + lizard friend. 8x10" 20x25cm
PERFECT HARMONY - these 2 paintings are featured under INSPIRED BY NATURE & BIG & BOLD but look how much how they enhance an interior when hung side by side! Both in acrylic on canvas - pink bromeliad on the left + banana palm on the right. each 52x24" 61x132cm unframed
PINEAPPLES GALORE - just an example of how a framed & mounted semi-abstract colourful watercolour can pull a room together ...the painting itself is featured under INSPIRED BY NATURE if you want a closer look - 22x30" 56x76cm unframed
How to brighten-up a space