My working base for post-production of my images is my home in Wallington but my studio for creating the original images is the World around us. This can be The Surrey Hills AONB, London or any town or city, any of the Home Counties but I also like coastal regions like Kent at Whitstable or along the edge of Romney Marsh, including Dungeness. In fact, anywhere that I see a potential scene that would produce an interesting image for clients to have framed on their walls.
Local scenes are always very popular as everyone can relate to these images. I live very close to the picturesque village of Carshalton and the ponds there are very photogenic. You'll probably have noticed that I have taken many images in and around this area at different times of the day; through many seasons and variable weather conditions. Fine sunny conditions with clear blue sky don't always produce the best results; I prefer to be a bit more adventurous even if it means getting a dousing to get that dramatic image.
I have only been involved in Fine Art Photography in the last 13 years! Then a good friend invited me to join him and other artists, in exhibiting at his converted studio during the SEOS event over three weekends in June & July 2010. I did two further year's at that event; improving my techniques and presentation skills as time progressed.
In 2014 I felt confident enough to have a one-man exhibition at Honeywood Museum in Carshalton over a three week period in the Spring of that year. It was interesting talking to the many visitors that came to see my work and although not a raging success I did sell a few images. I was also, beginning, to learn a variety of techniques that I hoped would help to turn my images from being fairly normal record shots into real fine art images. Photoshop was instrumental in helping me to produce better quality images but there is one other software program I use that turn the ordinary into something really special.
After my exhibition there I had a bit of a lull but I began to approach art galleries and picture framing galleries to see if they were prepared to take-on my images with a view to selling them on my behalf. To my delight, I was accepted at two fine art galleries; MINE in Carshalton Village (recently closed) and Bourneside Gallery in Dorking and also two framing galleries, one in Kingston (also, now closed) and more recently, another in Walton-on-The-Hill.
During 2017 I was asked if I would like to join the new initiative of the Carshalton Artists Open Studios (CAOS) who were planning their first major exhibition during two weekends in the summer including many local artists who would be opening their studios to the public. As I was already exhibiting at Mine I didn't need to do a huge amount of preparation other than provide some new images to show and for their brochures and maps and a new blurb about me! Wow, wow and more wow; was that a huge success for everyone involved. Huge numbers of visitors poured through the doors of Mine and all the other Open Studios and it set the benchmark for all future CAOS Events.
The following year, many other local artists had joined the CAOS group and 2018 saw an even greater number of visitors to the Summer event of that year. I was selling many of my images, as were all the other artists, of varying disciplines within CAOS (potters, print-makers, illustrative artists, watercolour and oil painters, textile artists etc) were all doing well during the two CAOS weekends.
Recently, I have donated a large wide-angle scene of Carshalton Ponds showing The Greyhound Hotel & Honeywood Museum to The Royal Marsden (Sutton) for display in their Outpatient Waiting Room to help transform it into something brighter rather than just a room! I have also supplied two framed prints to Honeywood Museum for an up and coming exhibition running from the end of July to the end of September 2020.
CAOSart22 & 23 were also very successful as the number of artists have risen to well over 60 artist and a wide range of disciplines.
CAOSArt24 I regret I probably will not be able to attend, partly due to my wife's illness but also because I'm her all-time carer and the stress and strain is all a bit too much for me. However, I will be around and probably following as much of the circuit I can too. Also, this web site will continue for as long as I can maintain it!
