Lussy was a pre-Christmas commission for a couple in Switzerland. A lovely little dog (much loved but sadly now departed) for some lovely people.

Last year was a strange and lumpy one. For most of the year I had few exhibitions, few sales and few completed drawings. Then for a few months it was the complete opposite before grinding to a sudden halt again. I suppose it's more exciting that way. Exhibitions From the beginning of January until the middle of May I was involved in just one exhibition, albeit my favourite of the year. The 104th open exhibition of the Society of Graphic Fine Art took place at Mall Galleries in London in March.

The South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts is a society promoting fine art across the south west of England. (The clue is in the name.) They have an annual open exhibition at Kennaway House in Sidmouth, Devon, a really lovely seaside town. This is the second year I’ve taken part. It’s always an interesting and varied exhibition and the town itself is gorgeous, especially on an autumn evening. I entered “All the Things You Are”. I enjoyed seeing some fellow SGFA artists there. Sue Side and I always seem to be picture neighbours, which is no bad thing. The exhibition is over now unfortunately but there’s an online catalogue that’s still available.

I’m fortunate to be currently having a showcase exhibition at the Duchess of Cornwall pub in Poundbury, Dorset. Art at the Duchess, thanks to the hard work of David Kingman in particular, organise solo(ish) exhibitions on a two-week rolling programme. I have two prints and twelve original drawings there, all but one available to buy. (All very reasonably priced!) The originals include two new pictures I drew especially for this exhibition, A4 drawings of Weymouth landmarks.

I currently have pictures in three exhibitions across the southwest, with a fourth coming up soon. It’s always fantastic to have work out in the wild, which is where all art belongs. I love drawing (surprisingly) and I’d do it even if no-one ever got to see what I did but I don’t think a picture is really alive unless it’s on a wall somewhere. The Bath Society of Artists’ 120th open exhibition is taking place at the Bath Society of Artists 120th Open Exhibition in Bath until 10 January 2026.

I’ve had two pictures selected for the inaugural Dorset Open exhibition. I think this is going to be a great exhibition, it’s organised by who organised the I was a part of earlier in the year and I thought that was a wonderful exhibition. It’s going to be at the County Museum in Dorchester which is wonderful place in itself. It’s on from 18 October to 30 November and I’ll hopefully have more details nearer the time.

I’m excited to have had two pictures pre-selected for the 120th annual open exhibition of the Bath Society of Artists. The exhibition will take place in Bath at the Victoria Art Gallery from Saturday 18th October until Saturday 10th January. The pictures have only been pre-selected so might not get in but I’m feeling hopeful! It’s been a lean year so far, both in terms of time I’ve had to draw and in terms of exhibitions, so I’m pleased that in both those respects things are looking up a little. I’m also really happy that these two pictures might be getting a chance to get out into the world for a few months.

It was my parents’ sixtieth wedding anniversary this year and to celebrate we went on a family holiday to France: grandparents, parents, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, friends, partners… fourteen of us altogether. We had a great time. Earlier in the year my parents had asked if I could draw my nephews for them for their anniversary present so while on holiday and we were all together, I took some photos of them. It hadn’t been intentional but with them lined up against the cladding of the outbuilding it ended up looking like the famous Usual Suspects poster.

The most common question I’m asked about my work is how long did it take? There are plenty of more interesting (to me) questions that could be asked, such as why did you choose this subject? or what inspired you? or why did you draw it like this? or can I buy it please? But I’m never asked any of those things. And the answer is, well, it depends, but for a smaller picture the actual drawing (as in, the doing of it, putting pencil to paper) takes around fifteen hours and for a larger one twenty to thirty hours.

Long time readers won’t be surprised to learn that I’m a long time and avid follower of Brad and the Pen Addict blog (and podcast). It was through a guest post on the blog that I learned about Magasin Sennelier, an art supply shop in Paris. The shop is on the famous left bank overlooking the Seine, where it’s been since 1887. Inside, I doubt it’s changed all that much, with beautiful wooden shelves crammed full of paints, pens, pencils, bushes, sketchbooks, pastels. . . I mean, this is the graphite pencil station:

I have a picture in St Mary’s Church in Dorchester for a few days as part of the the Harmony Festival of Flowers, Art & Music. I visited the church on Wednesday and I have to say it’s absolutely beautiful. The flower displays, installed by the Academy of Floristry, are stunning and the art is varied and of a very high standard. So much work has gone into the displays. There’s a lot more to it, though. Ben McGregor, who won 2025’s Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year, will be giving a demonstration, there’s a floral demonstration, and there’ a lot of music.

I was very lucky recently to be able to go and visit the Hockney 25 exhibition at the Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris. This is an exhibition of over four hundred of David Hockney’s works from 1955 to 2025, though mostly covering the last twenty-five years. Hockney himself has been involved in setting it all up and it’s his largest ever exhibition. Many of the classics are there: A Bigger Splash, Mr and Mrs Clark and Perry, the completely wonderful Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy, A Bigger Grand Canyon to name just a few.

I currently have a couple of pictures in a beautiful little exhibition at the Fine Foundation Gallery inDurlston Castle near Swanage, Dorset. It’s been organised by Dorset Visual Arts and is described as an exhibition "exploring the relationship between Dorset's natural environment and artists' studio practices, showcasing the county's unique biodiversity and its role as a source of inspiration". The Isle of Portland from Ringstead Bay, currently in the exhibition There’s a great range of media in the exhibition and it’s all of a very high standard. I shouldn’t pick out anyone in particular because it’s all great but I’m going to anyway.