Henry Jones • Artist

The activities in Paris and across France of the Gilets Jaunes inspired me to create a series of paintings based on images found online. The bright yellow contrasting with the menacing black of the police, the smoke and occasional French flag all go into the mix of my take on proceedings.

A big thanks to two recent buyers, one Yorkshire (steel mill) and one Lancashire (Gilets Jaunes x2), who sent positive replies once they had the paintings in their possession. There's always a tentative period between sending the work and receiving a reply, wondering if the buyer likes the painting once they have seen the real thing. in addition, watercolours are usually glazed which changes the appearance again.

Anyone who has visited New York, or seen the city in films will know about the steam billowing from red and white striped pipes. I'm still not sure how or why these things exist and prefer it to remain a mystery. In this contre jour painting, I have used a reduced palette to allow the red and white of the pipe, don't walk signal and the flag to stand out.

With 2019 nearly 1/12th over and only 331 days until Christmas, my painting has begun with a Mexican theme. The French gallery which was exhibiting my work in Cologne has moved me to Mexico City with a request for Mexican themed paintings. Excellent. One day they might move me to London and ask for a load of railway paintings ... One day.

Wishing all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thanks to everyone who bought my work in 2018, much appreciated.

I haven't posed here for awhile, so here's an update. I've been in couple of exhibitions since the STWC - one at the A&D Gallery in London and the other at Croydon Clock Tower. Below is some of the work shown.

More good news came a couple of days ago. My painting "Hot Work" has been selected for showing in the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2018. I had a painting selected for the 2014 exhibition, a rejection the following year and left it two more years before entering again. So pleased, it means a lot to have my work recognised at this most prestigious of events. The painting is part of a fire series I'm doing at the moment, furnaces, steel mills, the Saddleworth Moor fire, riots and bonfires all feature.

Last week I visited a friend who owns a property in Southern France, near Beziers. We are planning to set up a series of residential painting workshops for summer 2019. His property  is ideal for this having a large old barn space with room for about 10 people to paint and draw Outside the town has infinite possibilities for people to find suitable scenes and is quiet enough for them not to be disturbed. Whilst on my recce, I did a bit of sketchbook work which you can see below.

Six of my paintings are in an exhibition called The Civil Times at The Troubadour Gallery, Old Brompton Road, London 8-29 July 2018. I used the opportunity to show some recent work based on fire and sold three during the pv, which is nice. Because the buyer wanted to take the paintings immediately, these had to be replaced so that no gaps were left.

New York, so yellow they named it twice. Sketches and, for a change of medium, a couple of acrylic paintings made in preparation for a commission.