Here is my (very old) blog – which is badly in need of an update… watch this space, it is coming soon! (pictures currently missing).

17th June 2023 – Trooping of the Colour (King’s Birthday)

I travelled to London a few days prior to the final Trooping of the Colour, marking the King’s official birthday – it was my intention to do a painting of one of the Lifeguards on duty on Whitehall, as a warmup for the main event. I knew Rob Pointon would be up there working on his painting of the occasion and sure enough, on Wednesday morning as I walked across the hot and dusty Parade Ground, I spotted him tucked away between the stands in his Panama hat, and his 40 inch canvas. It was the first time we had met, and I found him to be very willing conversationalist, which was wide-ranging and he offered me some advice about where I might stand on Saturday. I certainly had some catching up to do as his painting was looking fantastic and nearing completion. Setting up on Whitehall I realised it was going to be hot, with the sun soon beaming down on my back, glad to be wearing shorts and T-shirt, but having seen Rob with a tie and apron, and in front of the mounted guardsmen, I felt severely underdressed! The first one out was from the Blues and Royals and I went to work – but he was soon replaced by a Lifeguard and I began to learn the differences between these historic regiments. As the day wore on and the heat built up, the horses became uncomfortable, until finally just after lunch they decided to abandon their posts. Rob soon arrived to check on my progress, and he said he had never known this to happen. Just my luck! I was surprised when, just an hour later, they reappeared and I continued with my painting. Wednesday came and went and the next day I was still working on the same painting. Rob appeared in the inner courtyard to finish a painting of one of the guards on foot. My artist friend – a Watercolourist and actor – Max Panks came and joined us and all three of us were painting one another. Thursday and Friday I continued working on the Lifeguard while Rob made appearances this time to paint the mounted guardsman on the opposite side from the front, and also the back end of the horse from inside the courtyard, which was the first time he had tried this angle. Since Wednesday the horses were retired in the shade of their boxes and it was difficult to see them, meanwhile tourists thronged around me. I was rewarded when one of the regiment came out in their fatigues came out to ask for a business card for one of the guardsmen was interested in buying the painting.

On Saturday I was up and on my way to St James’ Park at 6:30am, dodging the rubbish blowing about in the streets from the previous night. I arrived and I was the first one there. I had arranged to meet Max Panks, and he finally appeared at 9:30am yet he produced three lovely watercolour paintings compared with my single piece of work, which was incomplete. Admitting defeat, we walked back under the flypast and went and had a drink! 

 

06/05/23 Super Saturday – The Coronation Campers and Bath Rugby V Saracens

Painting some aspect of the Coronation had been near the forefront of my mind ever since I’d stood for almost 24 hours on the Long Walk in Windsor, capturing the crowds at the Queen’s funeral.

 I knew my fellow artists would also be at the Coronation and wondered how on earth we’d be able to secure and then keep a good position along the 1.3-mile long route.  I also reminded myself that I was not going to go without sleep again as I did at Windsor among the hundreds of people pressing against me – that there was no chance I was doing it again!

Just to make it more difficult, it wasn’t the only event happening that day, coinciding with Bath Rugby’s final match of the season (which as their artist in residence I wanted to be there for) and also my sister’s birthday……all perfectly manageable!

For weeks before the Coronation, I went around telling people about my plan to paint the Coronation and the rugby; staying as long as possible on The Mall to see the King and Queen make their way to the Abbey  – then hot foot it to Paddington, hop on the train to Bath to The Rec, and paint a large 5 foot long canvas of the final match of the season. Simple! The look of disbelief and incredulity in people’s eyes made me think that this time I had finally lost the plot.

I told my friend Helen who was going to accompany me to London and she said it was simply not possible “You can’t do both”. Well, that was enough to convince me that I could….

 

Thursday 28th April 2023

As part of the Artist in Residence, I had promised a painting of Farleigh House, Bath Rugby’s training centre – a week before the Coronation – when I checked my social media – Rob Pointon and Pete Brown were already in London and the pressure was on! Apart from the painting of Farleigh House, I still had to start the 5 foot painting of the final match of the season.

 

Wednesday 4th May 2023

My ticket was booked to travel up to Paddington on the Wednesday afternoon – I was still working on the background of my panoramic canvas when I really needed to be leaving – but I made it onto the train with minutes to spare. I arrived in London at 6pm and it was lovely weather, so I thought I’d use the time to add a few details of my journey to my social media accounts – the sights and sounds of the capital city gearing up for the big event.

 

Wednesday 5th May 2023

 I awoke in my ten-bed dorm to the sound of loud snoring – the joys of having to keep to a very keen budget I knew that people had already been camping on the Mall for days but I even in a dormitory, I was thankful for my bunk bed and full English breakfast. With my long stride I decided to walk with all of my equipment from the hostel in Bloomsbury to The Mall and after getting directions from a friendly off duty policeman, I I walked up and down trying to decide where I would paint – on the St James’ Park side as the other was closed for now – then damn… I needed a toilet break to sustain me through the rest of the afternoon, so this required a 15 minute walk to Green Park Station and back again.

Finally, I was set up and I concentrated my mind upon capturing the scene before me – the people in fancy dress, the tents, the flags, the police on horseback– and in the near distance Buckingham Palace.

And so it began. Media from across the world was interested in why I was there, what I was painting, where I was from. Suddenly in the middle of all of this, there was a commotion a shout of  “It’s Harry and Megan!!!” I looked around and saw twenty people in a circle around a couple smartly dressed in the centre. Cameras and journalists. Lookalikes. They were being paraded up and down and in the scramble for people to get closer and get a photo.

It also seems like everyone wants to tell the story now which includes youtubers and anyone with a social media account. I spoke to them all. The questions they asked me were nearly always the same:

“What is your name?” To which I replied “Charles!”

“Are you a royalist?” To which I replied “Of course”

“What sort of King do you think Charles will be?”  “A modern King for modern times!”

One interview concluded… “Thank you, what was your name again?”… “Charles, of course” (Sheepish look)

6pm came and went but I couldn’t put down my paintbrush, I wanted to make up for the interruptions and further my progress with the painting. I must have been 8pm when I spoke to Helen on the telephone and I said I would pack up and meet her.

I asked some ladies camped next to me whether they might hold a space for me so I could continue painting there the next day. The reply was “We would rather not, as we have had to listen to your interviews saying the same thing over and over all day! ”. Ah well, she possibly had a point!  

London seems like a black hole of time when trying to get to places and the crowds were ever growing. I finally made it back to the relative quiet of Bloomsbury for a much needed pizza.

The next morning, I headed to The Mall and continued with my painting. The media circus began again and tents were popping up all over the place like seedlings after a warm rain shower.

There were comings and goings – police outriders sped up and down the mall and smart vehicles with blacked out windows travelled to and from Buckingham Palace. We caught sight of Princess Anne, William – someone said they had seen Charles.

There was a clap of thunder from the blue skies and I spied a massive raincloud approaching. I knew I  had just a couple of minutes but I was prepared…on went my waterproof trousers over my shorts  and I covered up the painting just in time as the deluge came – there were shrieks and people scattered trying to find shelter. I stood hugging my easel with my umbrella but just as suddenly as it started the rain stopped and the sun came out, and I peeled off the waterproof trousers and  carried on painting  in the occasional light drizzle and sunshine, my palette upside down and a my own design of a wooden ‘canopy’ shielding my painting.

The weather forecast must have improved for, after a time, a motorcade came out of the Palace and suddenly the atmosphere was almost hysterical “My god, it’s really him” someone shouted, and the mob of well-wishers surged away from me down towards the spot where King Charles was parked and he emerged, surrounded by burly security guards. William and Kate got out and went to the opposite side and went to shake people’s hands.

Perhaps it is the artist in me that I like to stand back and admire the view, but I kicked myself later since I was just three strides to the fence where King Charles eventually walked passed me, by which point it was too late and the mob had moved down towards me – by which point I had already decided to stand firm with my easel.

The Friday afternoon wore on and before I knew it the side of The Mall was a steady but wide river of people doing the circuit after finishing work, or arriving ahead of the next day.

Helen had finished work and came looking for me – she was worried she wouldn’t be able to find me but in reality it was easy – I’m 6’4 and with my easel, I was already being used as a landmark! Somehow, navigating the hoards of people, she managed to bring me a hot coffee and I realised that it was the first drink I had had all afternoon. All I had eaten was a crushed ham and cheese croissant I had concealed at the hostel buffet. Helen made friends with everyone around me and went for a walk and found Pete and chatted to him.

Darkness fell and I carried on for a while by torchlight. Just before I packed up we met a lovely couple Bella and Nigel from Malmesbury – who turned out they were neighbours of an old school friend, what a small world! Bella liked the painting and wanted to buy it.

I decided to pack up and we caught a taxi back to Tavistock Place… but then “No wait, let’s go and look up my artist friend Max!” I had met Max while appearing on a TV programme, and he was working at The Soho Whisky Club, which is an unassuming door inside a shop which leads up a flight of stairs to a fully stocked bar. He was enigmatic and warm as I remembered and I had a couple of whiskies on an empty stomach. By this point I was getting cold feet about trying to get back on The Mall, but Helen hatched a plan for us all to meet at 6am the next morning. It was near to Midnight – we were in Soho and we hadn’t eaten… I wondered about our chances.

 

Saturday 6th May 2023

The next morning I awoke at 7am and saw a phone screen full missed calls. I was exhausted and had slept through my alarms!  I was so disappointed but knew I could put the final touches to it back home. Now it was time to get back to Bath in time for the 4pm kickoff. Who knew it wouldn’t be quite so smooth.

I got a taxi to Paddington and the taxi driver gave me his opinion of my painting “uplifting”, and I thought I’ll take that. All the taxi drivers I had met on this trip also seemed to do a bit of painting in their free time. I got on the train without any problem though I didn’t hear the recording of Charles and Camilla warning people to “mind the gap”.

Normally a train journey would pass without comment, but when I went to get off at Bath, due to the young revellers being slow to alight, I realised very late that I had gone to the wrong end of the carriage. I turned and ran to the other end, dodging a lady in the aisle and the guard said “You will have to be quick”. Aggravated at his apparent indifference to my predicament I pushed a bike out of the way, picked up my duffle bag and tossed it three meters into the centre of the platform, grabbed my easel and lurched into the doorway as it began to close. The door stopped – I had clearly delayed the train’s departure!

I arrived at Bath rugby where I set up my large canvas and was immediately greeted by David, Chairman of the Bath Supporters Association, and I felt glad to have made it back in time.

 

 26/03/23 Bath Rugby V Exeter Chiefs

The game against Saracens kicked off and there were tries galore. Bath also needed to beat Bristol in the table on points, who kept edging ahead. As I listened to the fan radio, in the dying seconds, Ollie Lawrence scored a try that assured Bath’s place in the Champions Cup next season 61-29 and I couldn’t help punching the air! I had been to London, painted the Coronation and made it back for the rugby, and Bath had won.

 

23/02/23 Bath Rugby pre-match walkthrough

It was my first outing with my easel at The Rec, home of Bath rugby for their pre-match walkthrough before their match with Bristol Bears the following day. I met several of the players and coaches who were very welcoming indeed. I chatted with the sports psychologist who was very interested in what I was attempting to do – paint the action live. He spoke about using the right (creative) side of the brain, and how this bore similarities with what he was telling the players. It was interesting for myself to think about this in terms of my artistic practise and how there is very little time for logical thought and reasoning – and I know myself that the left sided brain can impair the result both in terms of slowing down the process, and loosing the immediacy and fluidity or “flair”. I regularly experience what artists call getting “into their groove” or “into the zone” and the headspace where they are at their most productive and where the art becomes seemingly effortless and instinctive. Such instinct must also be a key to successful sport since thoughts and actions are made in a split seconds. As I painted on my canvas and panicked as the players ran around in a blur, I tried to capture something from the day – but it was clear, as well as mental preparation, practise, whether painting or playing rugby is key!

 

06/11/22 Reflections on Bath Abbey Square

When I look back on the journey of this large painting – my biggest canvas to date, (which does not seem so large to me now after all), I’m surprised myself about how the early stages of the painting developed into the final work of art that it became. It is also lovely to reflect upon the past weeks and months, and how many people came along with me for the journey – occasionally, someone will come up to me and say “I remember when you were painting that”. I also recall with some amusement those people who pass by unknown to me during the initial drawing out only to come back to speak to me later to say that they thought it was “a bit abstract” at first, and to express their astonishment at the developing painting – indeed they often ask “Is it is the same painting that you were working on?!”

 

Luckily I took this early photo and recorded the Abstract Stage as people refer to it!

 

24/11/22 “Finding my inner child”

Often when I meet children when I am painting in the street (or rather, when they come and stand next to me to look at my painting and I notice them, grinning, pixie like below the easel!) they are a source of wonder and amusement and it reminds me about Picasso’s quote. It is very easy, especially as a plein air artist, to become frustrated and grumpy, especially when things aren’t going how you want them to – or when I’m hungry! The sheer delight and candid directness I get from speaking to children reminds me that, according to Picasso, we should all be trying to discover my own inner child. One day recently when I was painting Cleveland House a young teenager stopped with his skateboard and congratulated me on my painting (what he actually said was probably more like “Wow that’s sick!”) I had just added a small bird poking its head out from its nesting place in the wall near the surface of the water – but I wasn’t convinced and had been feeling surprisingly conflicted about the bird’s presence – so I asked the young lad “What do you think that is?” He replied “Why, it’s a dove of course, I should know as I live round here and I see the doves all the time.” I think as adults we have a tendency to over-analyze and overcomplicate things and sometimes it is necessary to ask the opinion of someone smaller!

 

19/10/22 – “All great artists must brave the fire of the critics, and their doubting sheep”

From the film, The Last Vermeer: enjoyable and very thought-provoking.

 

08/10/22 – “It is just paint on a canvas…”

A brilliant artist – en plein air, like myself – who recently covered the life of the Household Cavalry, the Queen’s Jubliee and Her late Majesty’s funeral procession in central London (when I was simultaneously painting through the night and following day, at the top of The Long Walk), recently concluded: “It is just paint on a canvas”“. This is true of course, but in my opinion, this is a great artist of our time being terribly modest. I have thought a good deal myself about what makes a great piece of art, and how this translates to perceived value – ever since I was a 17-year-old boy thinking about making my way in the world. I continued to study History of Art alongside my French degree and throughout my journey more recently as a full time plein air artist. It is an even more acute question as the support of your customers or collectors is of paramount importance and so you must consider how to create art that you not only enjoy creating, and which has artistic skill or merit, but which has wider appeal and meaning. A phrase popped into my head when I was preparing responses to questions from the media following our late Queen’s funeral – though I don’t know where it came from – perhaps a lecturer or an academic book from Manchester University Library, or a jumble of ideas, but which I think sums up my own thoughts: that great Art is about time and emotions – about our own collective humanity and interactions with others, in the spaces we occupy together…”

 

19/09/22 – The funeral of her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II – Top of the Long Walk, Windsor Castle

I attended the funeral of her majesty QEII at the top of the Long Walk at Windsor, arriving the night before (18/09) and set about completing a large portrait as tribute, which I had started a week prior in front of the public at Bath Abbey. Exhausted and without any sleep, the next morning I began painting another picture, to capture the atmosphere and the historic event. So moved was I, that I found it very difficult at times painting and at the same time listening to the beautiful music. I was amazed by the magnificent horses and their expert riders. I was so proud to be part of the day, and the last painter to say goodbye, apart from Charles III himself! I am named after King Charles, as I was born 29/07/81, the day of his marriage to Diana Spencer. May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest!

31/07/22 – Guernsey

I met my Aunt and Uncle in St Peter’s Port, only the second time I have been there (the first time I was only a boy of eight). I painted in some of the bays and beaches (Moulin Huet & Petit Bot) around the south west of the island but only having my watercolours and very little time was frustrating, especially knowing that Renoir spent a whole month here and produced no less than 15 paintings! I’ll be back… next time with my easel and oils.

25/07/22 –

This past month, I have spent a good deal of time in people’s gardens. It has been a revelation of colour, and an expensive time, adding to my collection of tubes of paint! My journey has made me consider that, besides the fine brush work for which I am gaining a reputation – my job as an artist is to use the best materials and show them off in all their glory.

09/07/22 – “Looks like a photograph

People often say to me, mainly when looking at a painting I have done “Wow, it looks like a photograph”. Even when I have gone to efforts to make my work more painterly I still get the same reaction. Perhaps people think that this is the aim of the artist, whereas for me it is certainly not the case. I’m sure a lot of artists experience this reaction – although I’m interested to consider that in our digital lives, most people are seeing the work second hand on a device – so what they are actually looking at is a photograph of the painting and not the painting itself. This can mean that a painting that may be six foot wide may be seen on a tiny screen on a phone or tablet. If you look at any great impressionist painting in this way, you might still say it looks photographic, in just the same (or opposite) way that you can’t make head or tail of something if you have your nose right up close to it! The obviously conclusion is that Art generally needs to be seen in person.

08/07/22 – Disaster! (again)

The weather was very changeable and I had to do battle with my worst enemy, the wind.

Later some Army officers came along to discussed an event with a member of the council and what items would be removed from the street. I was surprised when one of the officers said “of course, Charles will still be here!” I forgot that my name was printed on my T-Shirt!

All was going well until disaster struck, coinciding with a man walking past swearing at the top of his voice, somehow the leg on my easel suddenly collapsed and everything went crashing to the ground!!! Several people came to my aid including Ffion and Olivia and a member of staff from the Guild Hall who swept up the broken glass.

04/06/22 – My first Nocturne!

It was the Jubilee weekend and strangely quiet for a Saturday night – perhaps people had taken the night off after the third day of partying. I had wanted to go in after dark which, at this time of year is nearly nine O’clock (past the Queen’s bedtime no doubt); with the aim of painting Queen Street looking from Trim Street. I had to set up outside the Rum Bar and some revellers sat outside and dared me to paint them – so I agreed. The excitement (and astonishment) inside the cafe quickly built as they realised there was an artist outside. I met Carol, the proprietor and Cloud the the barmaid, as well as other staff and customers.

In fact I had been thinking of doing a night time cafe style scene a la Illya Repin, Cafe parisienne.

However it soon began to rain heavily and My subjects apologised and dashed inside, so everything quickly became soaking wet (the concept of painting “in the rain” is a myth, ‘one’ still needs an umbrella!) I had none with me so had to hot foot it back to the car.

I gave my canvas a wipe with my rag and started again… a strange thing began happening, people began bringing me drinks (some proper ones). Fuelled by the goodwill and offerings of these well wishers, I suddenly felt as if I was channelling the French artists of the 1890s and embarked upon my first nocturne. I only just about managed to work in the streetlight to produce a quick painting, which some passers by congratulated me and – to my surprise – said it invoked shades of Edward Hopper.

 

As a passionate plein air artist, I find inspiration in the vibrant landscapes of Bath and the picturesque scenes across England. My journey began with a simple sketchbook and a love for capturing the fleeting beauty of nature. Over the years, I’ve honed my skills, transforming my passion into a career that allows me to share these moments with art enthusiasts worldwide. At CMINTYART, I strive to create pieces that evoke emotion and connect viewers to the serene and dynamic environments I paint. Join me as I continue to explore and paint the world around us, one brushstroke at a time.