Another commission, this one to paint a thunderstorm over Seattle, USA complete with a lightning strike.It was a challenging subject, being quite dark I didn't want it to become muddy so made sure my blacks were made from ultramarine blue and burnt umber with some purple, pyrrol orange and cerulean blue to keep things lively. As a warm up I painted a quiet urban scene of an abandoned building in front of some new tower blocks.

Last week I was contacted by a publisher asking for the right to use a painting of mine is a book cover design. The paint was done some time ago and the only photo I had was poor quality so offered to paint a new one. I ended up painting two.

A couple of days ago I pained a hunting scene and posted it on Twitter. It sparked the interest of a previous buyer and very sound chap who asked if I could paint two more on the theme of England. No problem, I said, and so ... We have The Hunt, Haystacks and Scarfell Pike in winter. Just waiting for the frames now.

Owing to a clumsy Royal Mail postman, who folded in half the paintings I sent to a buyer, I’ve had to paint more. However, I think the new ones are an improvement, so that’s nice.

Mulling over the current virus affecting the world which has been causing chaos and feeling a bit gloomy about the situation in Italy where I'd recently enjoyed some ski touring with Mrs J, a cityscape or two, or three seemed in order. This did the trick, and although the dreaded lurgy is still lurking about, the spirits were suitably raised.

In addition, I wrapped and posted this painting, done last year but not sold until this week. It went off to an actual railway worker.

Below are three paintings of the same scene of Elgol, a village on the Scottish island of Skye. Each has been given a different treatment, from grey blustery, to warm calm to a more impressionistic work.

From the bright sun and snow of the Alps, to the opaque sky and in the gloom of the English winter ... I thought a few London scenes, which look better in an overcast light than blue sky and sun,  might raise the spirits, so painted these. In addition a couple of hound commissions, which are often more difficult than painting people but are rather satisfying and invariably cute.

On a recent visit to Zermatt with a view to promote my work, I enjoyed a mixture of painting, eating/drinking and skiing, and made a few useful contacts which I hope will result in some mutually beneficial sales. Below is some of the work I painted whilst there, and a few I took with me.

A Happy New Year to everyone. Back in the studio for the first paintings of 2020.