I’m surrounded by blue paintings!  Blues and greens to be precise.  This is not deliberate.  But as I’ve said elsewhere, orange, yellow, pink and red just don’t cut it at the moment.  World politics – pah!  No need for comment.  We’re around the low-point of the year….    Hang on, let’s not get morbid.  Lots of good things to celebrate too.

The days are lengthening; we’ve had a wonderful SuperMoon, also a Blue Moon and (though not here) a Blood Moon.. Here in Brighton the skies cleared and we had a beautiful view.  I’d just finished a double commisssion of Night Sky paintings, so to celebrate we drove up to the famous Devil’s Dyke for a proper look. I always have this strange feeling of kinship across time with people who may have stood on (roughly) the same spot 30,000 years ago and looked up at the night sky.

The murmurations are at their peak too. There’s a wonderful Starling Murmuration Facebook page,  on which people post the most spectacular photos.  There seems to be something almost spiritual in the experience of watching  the birds swoop, swirl and turn.  I like this blurred photo at dusk. You can see my most recent Murmuration painting below:

Three of my large paintings, and one small, are on show now at the lovely Burgh House in Hampstead, London  An area I knew long ago in  my teen years, it’s seemingly remained in a time-warp as an enchantingly pretty, friendly village.  If we could all only afford to live there….

The exhibition organiser is Sue Ecclestone, an inspirational curator and encourager of woman artists via the  WIA . This show has both women and men artists: Seascapes and Waterways: till 4th March.  More details here. 

The next exhibition in sight is the very exciting Flux Exhibition – the opposite end of the exhibition spectrum.  Both beautifully organised: Burgh House smallish, themed, in a quiet location. Flux involves 100-odd artists and will be held at the Chelsea College of Arts opposite the Tate, with installation art and many surprises alongside the paintings and sculptures on show.  It’s an equally great honour to be selected for each – and variety is the spice of life!

As the end of February approaches we have been having some dismal freezing grey days, but also stunning sunshine. I’ll leave you with a close-up of the slanting late-afternoon light on Cuckmere Haven.