This morning I received news that I'd been selected along with nine other artists to attend a four night residency in the Brittany area of France. The event, full board and catering, is courtesy of a philanthropic financier via Artfinder. Over the years, in spite of getting myself out there, and applying for things, I have won very little, so this comes as a welcome boost to my artistic career. I'm looking forward to painting plein air in the late spring warmth (fingers crossed) of the French countryside and to be sharing the experience with other artists. Thank you Artfinder.

Earlier this Month the Mall Galleries, courtesy of Parker Harris (sponsor of ST watercolour comp and others) was offering a free figure masterclass hosted by Henry Gibbons Guy, a tutor at the Royal Drawing School. I hadn't sketched a figure in a formal situation for over two decades and couldn't resist the offer. Paper, charcoal and easels were provided, along with excellent, top class tuition from Henry. I managed to produce three almost passable drawings which suggested I need to do more figure drawing.

Last month I was contacted by a French based gallery asking me to preset a few paintings for their monthly selection committee, with a view to producing some work for sale in their brick & mortar outlets around the world. The set up is a something of a production line, creating a number of works at a fixed size for a fixed price, but might bring in a bit to line the HJ coffers, and with little to loose and something to gain ... why not? These are three of the paintings I sent, there''s one more of Trafalgar Square, 13cm, 18cm and 21cm sq. I enjoyed working in the square format, and shall be doing some more.

This morning I spent an enjoyable couple of hours with a group of fellow artists who sell work on Artfinder, along with the team behind this successful enterprise. Created in 2012 by Jonas Almgren, soft-spoken, engaging and enviably good at business, Arfinder has succeeded where other have failed, most notably as a conduit able to sell my work on a regular basis. No mean feat. Artists are often seen as self-absorbed and elitist, and I'm sure some are, but my experience with most is of a self-affacing and gregarious individual, contented in their own creative challenges. Artists and those in creative enterprises are, on the whole, a friendly lot.