Before & After

As an Art teacher at Bishop Hedley High School in Merthyr Tydfil, I’m always preaching about planning ideas and showing where they come from. This gets our students more marks – it’s a bit like demonstrating how you’ve solved a Maths equation.

Truth be told – I rarely practise what I preach in my own work. I tend to get an idea, jot a few words down and away I go, although there have been some occasions where I make more ‘finished’ sketches and drawings.

Most of the time these drawings explore colour, composition and the use of symbolism (using objects to represent something personal or to tell a story).

Here are some examples. I’ll be doing some more this half-term break. I’ve been offered a small show (10-12 pictures) this April at Kooywood Gallery, Cardiff, so will hope to continue the good run of ideas that I’ve had this past couple of months. Long may it continue…

Sketches and drawings are available to purchase HERE.

 

Countdown…

MontageJust two weeks until my exhibition at Fosse Gallery, Stow-on-the-Wold. Apart from delivering the paintings to the gallery this week, everything is done and dusted – I can’t recall that ever happening before! My thanks go to the gallery owner Sharon Wheaton for giving me deadlines and helping me to stay focused. Being a teacher, it’s usually me who sets the targets! Click HERE to view the exhibition online.

I’ve also updated my site so that available works are easy to find. I’ll continue to update it as often as possible if and when I make sales.

Small World…

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With my exhibition at Fosse Gallery quickly approaching, I’m concentrating on painting smaller canvases at the moment. I love smaller works. I’m not very patient as a painter, because I often have a new idea as I’m painting and want to get onto it as quickly as possible, just on case I forget what it was.
I also use these smaller pieces as an opportunity to experiment with letterbox-shaped and square compositions. I’d love to try oval or circular canvases more, but getting hold of frames for them is a challenge.
Visit http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JamesDonovanArt or http://www.fossegallery.com to see available drawings and paintings.
I’ll be uploading images for my show at Fosse during the next few weeks, so watch this space…