Henry Jones • Artist

More paintings of Suffolk for the show later this month.

Earlier this week I was awarded the Constance Coper Cup by fellow members of the Croydon Art Society. Very pleased to have received this award for the best traditional non-oil painting at the 130th Croydon Art Society exhibition at the Croydon Clocktower.

I will be exhibiting at The Anchor in Walberswick, Suffolk from 19 to 22 December. The art exhibition is taking place at a pop up Christmas event in the flint barn adjacent to the pub from 10am to 4pm. 
theanchoratwalberswick.com
The Anchor, The Street, Walberswick Suffolk IP18 6UA

​Below is a sample of the framed work I'll be showing, including scenes of Suffolk and London.

Below are paintings from two commissions, all quite different subjects. I’ve always struggled with flowers, so view my two efforts shown as something of a success. The Northumberland sky over Bamburgh Castle allowed me to loosen up a bit an create an abstract background for the sharp silhouette of the castle. The dogfight was a treat to paint, revisiting the many drawings I did as a kid, and the one I consider worked very well is then troops and tanks. This was painted quickly with little fuss, almost monochromatic my final action was to paint a thin wash of orange and yellow.

After commissioning three paintings of a WW2 theme, including one of his grandfather’s advance into Sicily, a buyer asked for two large paintings of Venice. He sent reference images of an overall theme plus photos of the wall space they were to occupy. I worked out a suitable size and proceeded with the composition. This began with two small paintings then, from a roll of Arches paper (the 1m x 0.5m size was larger than full standard sheet), I created the two final pieces. Working on a larger scale in watercolour poses unique challenges, mainly keeping the paper wet and the paint live. Arches paper, made in Southern France, is presumably designed for a warmer climate than we have in England, and retains moisture longer than the Saunders Waterford I normally use.

Another batch of paintings went off to Mexico City in October. These are all square format, a request of the gallery.

A few sketches from my current sketchbook.

I was very pleased this month when a hotel owner, a fine chap with impeccable taste in art, commissioned me to paint two scenes of Cumbria: Striding Edge and Honister Pass. Cumbria is a favourite walking area for me, so this was all familiar scenery. Each was full sheet and I'm happy with the result, as was their new owner. If you're thinking of visiting the area, the Hazel Bank Hotel is excellent and offers, in addition to some splendid art, top quality dining and accommodation: hazelbankhotel.co.uk for details.

Last week I delivered (and hung) four paintings for a private client in Surrey. The buyer wanted two full sheet, 30"x22" and two half sheet, 22"x15", supplied framed. She  chose the subjects from images on this web site, two of them being crops of small works. To expand and paint a detail originally couple of inches up to 30" presented a challenge, how to recreate a painted stroke or gesture 15x larger. Watercolour paint behaves differently at from small drop to large pool of watery pigment, there often being too much going on in the latter.  It took four attempts before I created something I was satisfied with, very watery figures mostly in silhouette.

The recent inferno engulfing Notre Dame cathedral in Paris was shocking. The images however provided me with some excellent and often beautiful subject matter. I really hope the new spire will be a replacement and not some gaudy modernist eyesore so beloved of politicians and architects.