Andrew Hood (Artists in focus No.5)

                 I spent the morning with the artist Andrew Hood. Based in Bristol England,
                 he was holding a studio exhibition entitled "City + Land" featuring recent
                 paintings and drawings from locations as diverse as the city of London to
                 beach scenes from the South of France. 
                                                        
                                                                      

Andrew Hood in the studio

 

Hood uses sketches made on location and produces, back in the studio, smaller

works on board to further explore the subjects and produce the finished work.

 

 

 

Sketchbooks

 

 

Using a variety of mediums including oil paint, bitumen and even barge paint!

has given Hood a direction in which "happy accidents" and the "fluidity" of paint

produces work in which an element of chance is embraced.

 

 

 

 

 

Finished framed paintings

 

 

 

 

 

To see more of Andrew's work go to www.andrewhoodgallery.com

(hover mouse if website fails to appear due to white on black type)

Beer & Lyme (not a drink!)

                       Another recent visit to the towns of Beer and Lyme Regis on the
                       East Devon / Dorset coast. Bright weather and even warm Autumn
                       sunshine made for rich colours and a respite before Winter sets in.

                                                               

                                                       "Fishing boats - Beer beach"
                                                                                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Gulls following a fishing boat entering Lyme Harbour"

 

 

 

"Crows over Beer"- Acrylic on paper 10"x 10"

("rough cut" sketch for finished acrylic on canvas)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greek island painting

                    A new piece of artwork from the sketchbook and photographs from
                    the trip to Pefkos on Rhodes. Looking out onto this hill I could watch a
                    herd of goats make their way down a track each day and sometimes come
                    through a gap in the fence to nibble the grass in the hotel grounds that the
                    gardener was attempting to grow!

                                                             
                                                                

 

                                       "Rocky outcrop Pefkos" - Acrylic on canvas 20"x20"

Mixed group exhibition

                   A number of my paintings have been selected as part of an exciting new
                   mixed group exhibition. The Combe Grove Manor hotel near Bath, England
                   are now showing my work with the work of fellow artists throughout their
                   country house hotel.

                                                               

"Combe Grove set in seventy six acres of beautiful landscape"

 

 

The work will be on permanent display and the paintings will be  changed

 periodically to keep the exhibition fresh. I currently have ten paintings on

show in various locations throughout the hotel rooms, the eleventh painting

"Receding Tide", (see previous post), sold on the first day ! As all the work is

  for sale at affordable prices this promises to be a great way for the public to engage

in contemporary art on a day to day basis. Contact myself to buy any of the pieces

   

            E:  alanvistaphoto@aol.com or    T: 01275 831582 .      

 

For more details about the hotel go to their website www.combegrove.com

(Hover mouse if website fails to appear)

 

 

                                 Three paintings in the "Roman Room"                                              

 

 

                                                                               

                     
                                                                              

 

 

"Paintings hung in the Library"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summerhouse in the hotel grounds 

"Notes from a Greek island"

                 With what now seems to be an annual visit to the Greek island of Rhodes (Rodos)
                  the familiarity of the town of Pefkos has a comfortable feel to it. Recognising the
                 owners of the many tavernas and people that you see regularly both Greek and ex-pat
                 British and even frequent visitors to the island that you meet on the beach almost exactly
                 a year to the day since we last met is what is unique about this small town.
                
                 Striking up a conversation with a British lady who runs an apartment complex was
                 especially revealing about the way the place has grown since she and her husband
                 built their house here seventeen years ago. Recalling her time of early visits to the island
                 in the nineteen eighties it was suprising to hear that there were no direct flights to the
                 island (only via Athens) and with mainly "tracks" instead of roads, the favourite mode of
                 transport was by donkey!     

                 Even now the winter months are extremely quiet with all the hotels and apartments
                 closed and only a few shops and the bakery open.

                 Once again I've used a small notebook to make some sketches as an aide-memoire
                 for some future paintings accompanied by some photographs these will develop over
                 the coming weeks.

 
                                                                               
                                                                                

                                                                         

                                                                                 

                                                                                   
                                                                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Receding Tide"

                        A new painting referenced from previous sketches and photographs.
                      

                                                            

                                  
                                        "Receding Tide" - Acrylic on canvas 24"x 24"
                                                            

"Olives"

                            The olive groves that I sketched and photographed on my recent
                             trip to Crete are a great inspiration to produce paintings of various
                            sizes.
                            This painting in acrylic is a 36"x36" box canvas and the larger size
                            emphasises the bright, vibrant colours of the region.  


                                                                        

"Olive trees at Piskopiano"- Acrylic on canvas 36"x36"

                               

"Coastline"

                           Cruising the coastline of East Devon I was amazed by the deep red cliffs
                           formed during the Triassic period over 250 million years ago. The cliff faces
                           are eroding rapidly but the more remote areas are home to hundreds of cormorants
                           and kittiwakes.
                          
                           This painting is in response to that area and the ever changing landscape.   


                                                                        
                                                                          

                                    
                                         "Triassic" - Acrylic on canvas   20" x 20"
               

"Landscapes of the Mind" - the book!

                                                                           

                                                                  

                                                      

                       These are some images of my recently produced, self - published book.
                       As with my solo exhibition earlier this year I've taken the title
                       "Landscapes of the Mind "as the paintings are quite often more "about"
                       a place rather than a representation "of" a scene.

                       This collection of paintings and photographs are from a body of
                       work formed from recent visits to Greece, Spain, France and
                       various locations throughout the U.K.
                                                                                                                                                                                    
                                                             

 Here are a small selection of pages from the book.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

East Devon and the Jurassic coastline

                    Another visit to the East Devon area of England taking in the coastal towns of
                   Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton  and the River Exe estuary up to Topsham.


                                                                  

"Otter River Estuary"- Acrylic on canvas-  20"x20"

 

 

                                                                     

 

 

Low tide on the Exe estuary

 

 

 

 

 

"Sea stacks" on the Jurassic coast

 

Cormorants nesting on the clifftops