Art Of The Book

I am delighted to say that my original book illustration artwork has found a home with the wonderful John Huddy’s Art of the Book gallery. You may remember John previously ran a marvellous gallery called The Illustration Cupboard in St James’s London. After celebrating fifty years in book illustration and surface pattern design I decided that I was ready to offer some of my original pieces and was thrilled when John accepted me in his prestigious online gallery of illustration art and rare books. The above water colour illustration was first published by Blackie and Son Ltd. “White is the Moon” became one of Blackie and Son’s best selling titles, later published in paper back by William Collins as a Picture Lions Book. It sold co-editions in the USA and in Europe. After man-years it went out of print but after many requests I decided to bring it back with the help of my former editor Martin West. You can still purchase copies of this title from my Folksy Shop Acornmoon.

Recent work

I have been busy painting a new collection of miniatures to submit to the RMS exhibition of miniature paintings, I hope to see you there! All work will be for sale at the Bankside Gallery in London and later online as soon as the exhibition opens, for more details please visit the Society's website. The exhibition opens on Tuesday 18th November and finishes on 22nd November at The Bankside Gallery, Riverside, London, SE1 9JH

Hilliard Society Exhibition 2025

I am delighted to report that all six of my submitted miniature paintings will be exhibited in Wells as part of the Annual Hilliard Society exhibition.The two miniature portraits are not for sale but the other four can be purchsed at the exhibition or online for a limited period. Please refer to the society's website for more information.

Season's Greetings

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for Christmas and the New Year. Earlier this year I was invited to be a council member for The Hilliard Society of Miniature artists, this has taken up my time, trying to promote the society via social media. It has been a juggling act between spending time online and at my desk creating new artworks. As you may have noticed I have been very amiss in updating this blog, but perhaps like me you have an Instagram account? Mine is Acornmoonart. If you have an account there too please say hello. My other news is that after many happy years getting to know people on Etsy I very reluctantly decided to close my shop there. There were technical issues which I could not resolve and I am sorry to say that I ran out of patience trying to contact support. They say every cloud has a silver lining, I have discovered the UK site Folksy which seems to me a lot like the Etsy of old. my shop there is also called Acornmoon and I am open for business here.

The Hilliard Society of Miniature Art Annual Exhibition

 We visited Wells again this year to attend the opening of The Hilliard Society exhibition of miniature paintings. I entered three miniatures this year which will be displayed until the end of the week, if you cannot attend in person you can see the exhibition online here… https://www.hilliardsociety.org/exhibitiononline.html There are many wonderful pieces for sale, I do hope you can visit if only online.

It was lovely to catch up with artist friends and to have the chance to explore more of this wonderful old city. Wells is England's smallest city with a cathedral, Bishop's Palace and wonderful gardens. 

Sadly we could not stay too long as following hot on the heels of this exhibition is The Royal Society Of Miniature Art exhibition at The Bankside Gallery. I will be submitting eight new miniatures for this, details to follow.

Royal Society Miniatures

 

This year saw a Royal Coronation, I decided to create a special gilded miniature for the occasion. My design incorporated our four national flowers and King Charles's favourite native animal, the red squirrel.

The miniature painting was one of six to be chosen for the Art in Miniature Exhibition at Bankside gallery this summer.

 I also demonstrated painting during the exhibition and met lots of lovely people, although I was very nervous to paint with an audience.

The Royal Miniature Society's 125th Anniversary Exhibition

Yesterday we travelled down to London for the day to see the RMS exhibition at The Mall Gallery. I had entered seven paintings and was delighted to have all paintings accepted for the show. I was delighted to learn that I had won two awards. 

The first award was the Society's award for the best collection of five or more works. I entered a set of six gilded bird paintings which I had been working on earlier in the year. 

The second award was an Honourable Mention for the Golden Memorial Bowl. This was for my painting Wren with Ivy, shown above.

It was lovely to meet up with friends old and new and to see close up all the wonderful miniature exhibits.

The exhibition runs until December 5th, details are on the Society's website. Entry is free but you need to book a ticket.

Most of the paintings are for sale and would make the most beautiful gifts, also on sale are greetings cards featuring the artworks of our members. Please visit if you are able, I think you would be entranced.

Exploring Silverpoint

Recently I have been experimenting with Silverpoint drawing. This is a very old technique favoured by artists of the Renaissance which produces very soft and subtle marks which darken over time as the metal tarnishes.

To begin you need to prepare your ground, I used Silverpoint Drawing Ground by C. Roberson and Co.

Mine was traditional off white, I painted it onto Strathmore Illustration board. In the past I have used pre-prepared paper. If you don't have a ground the silver doesn't make a suitable mark.

For very fine lines you can use silver wire and you can attach it to a handle or use it in a clutch pencil, providing that the dimensions are the same. I also purchased a pencil type with a thicker piece of silver, this makes thicker, heavier lines and you can use it to good effect for shading.

It's fun to experiment with different kinds of metals and objects, this tiny silver spoon was used to create a soft texture on the hare drawing below. The hare and cygnet drawings are ACEO size, 3.5 by 2.5 inches. It has not been possible to show these images at a high resolution due to their size but I hope it gives some idea of the effects of this medium. Maybe you will feel inspired to have a try yourself?

The tiny drawing featured here are for sale in my Etsy shop Acornmoon. 

Good News!

 

I was delighted to learn that my gilded miniature painting entitled "Golden Silence" was voted as a joint winner of the most popular exhibit in this years Hilliard Society Exhibition held in Wells last month. Although the exhibition is now closed it continues online and as I write this painting is still for sale.

You can find details of the online exhibition here- The Hilliard Society 2021 Exhibition

It has been an inspiring time here in England, we have had sunshine and showers and everything in the garden is growing apace. The Swallowtail butterfly miniature is a recently completed piece.

The decorated Jay was a private commission for a bird lover who's name begins with J.

Busy as a bee!

 

Hello again, I hope all is well with you and yours. Spring is always a busy time, longer days and warmer temperatures are always welcome and bring a new found energy to create, garden and explore.

I have been busy painting bees, inspired by the many bumblebees in my garden at the moment. It has been fun to add gilding to these paintings.

In fact I have been getting carried away with gilding, there is something so entrancing about the shiny metal that becomes addictive!

This painting of a Wheatear has been given the treatment, using both flat and raised gilding in the borders.

Finally, I have been busy with preparations for this years Hilliard Exhibition of miniature paintings to be held in Wells Town Hall. The above painting "Golden Silence" will be one of the many miniatures on show.

More details on their website.

 June 5th - 12th 2021

(closed on Sun 6th June)

In the bleak Midwinter

 

Hello everyone, I hope you are all safe and well and coping in these difficult times. I have been grateful to have had lots of projects to occupy my mind and have found great solace in creativity. The news about the dreaded Covid 19 virus continues to go from bad to worse so it has been good to have easy access to some beautiful places to walk our dog and to observe nature. 

Towards the end of last year I tried out digital printing onto silk. The results were encouraging and I hope to have more available soon.

This Amaryllis waited until New Years day to flower. I am taking that as a good omen!

I think this is possibly the most miniature of miniature paintings I have completed to date, the image measures just over one inch across and one and a quarter inches high. The hand made frame is ebony and the painting is displayed under bevelled glass. I really didn't want to part with it but it is now with my gallery Books Illustrated at Art of the Imagination.

 

Autumn days

Strange times continue to challenge us all, however at least I have been able to find solace in nature and quiet hours sitting at my desk. Fortunately walking is still an option and we have enjoyed some splendid excursions. The photograph below shows the landscape around my home close to the Cheshire-Staffordshire border in NW England. I enjoyed working on this gilded painting of a Screech owl with Tiger moths. Earlier this year we visited an owl sanctuary in North Wales and I was able to observe this owl at close quarters. 

This is the time of year we would normally be travelling down to London to visit the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers, to meet up with friends and to experience all that is lovely and magical about Christmas in London. All these things and more have been cancelled, I expect you also have a long list of cancellations. It is possible to visit their exhibition of previously exhibited work here 

Earlier in the year I enrolled on a hand throwing ceramics class with master potter Jon French. I managed to throw and complete several wobbly and imperfect pots before this too was cancelled due to our newly enforced tier restrictions. It was so disappointing as the whole class had made progress and were getting into the swing of things, so fingers crossed we will be allowed to continue our studies in the new year. I tried my hand at decorating with various glazes and techniques including sgraffito.

Fortunately I have been able to sell some of my original paintings through Art of the Imagination who have an online gallery. Nearly all of their planned exhibitions and events have been cancelled, indeed it feels like everyone is living in some sort of suspended animation. They have some pieces for sale online including this badger miniature. Although we have wild badgers living near our home they are very elusive and are now being ruthlessly culled, so I was very grateful to the photographer Steven Owen @steadyowen for allowing me to use one of his photographs as reference. 

I do hope you stay safe and keep busy and hope this wretched virus clears off once and for all before too long. 

Strange Times

Over the last months I have been concentrating on decorative illumination inspired by Medieval manuscripts. For inspiration I have turned to my collection of books and exhibition catalogs that I have acquired over the years, after visiting museums, libraries and charity shops! During this pandemic it has not been possible to continue attending workshops or other events I would have enjoyed in more normal times and apart from dog walking, shopping and gardening there has been little to distract me from sitting at my desk and practicing.

I created this miniature using two gilding techniques, raised and flat gilding.
For the flat gilding I used miniatum and transfer gold leaf. The raised gilding was a new venture for me, for this I used Instacoll which I found much easier than gesso.

We are now being asked to wear a face mask when social distancing isn't possible. I have been having fun creating some designs using my artwork, these are now available to purchase in my Redbubble shop.

So far the owls have been the most popular!