River Mersey former lightship, Planet

Have been working in my studio on another Liverpool subject: the former lightship, Planet, number 23. Built back in 1960 in Dartmouth it was formerly A Liverpool lightship from 1961 to 1982. Planet is currently moored at the Albert Dock, Liverpool. This painting measures 20x24 inches, oil on oil board. I have a little more work to do on this painting, the fore mast needs completing. The painting is for sale at £180 sterling plus P&P. If interested, click here and please contact me.

I'm back at the easel!

Yes, back at the easel. Saturday, I returned to the studio, put the following day's disappointing news to the back of my mind and commenced another painting. I returned to a theme I first explored several years ago: young smokers gathered around an old English telephone box. These boxes are fast disappearing from Britain, yet I've always been fascinated by them, especially those in isolated spots, and particularly so when lit at night. Often they provide an oasis of light, creating a little world. In this composition a couple of youngsters, aged around 10 and 14 (the younger one is based on my son - No, he doesn't smoke). The inspiration for this theme came from my own memories of when growing up in Gloucestershire, we - as with most youngsters - had a favourite meeting place, somewhere to congregate, usually to the annoyance of adults. I have a more completed version on my website, but have returned to it because I felt the earlier version wasn't successful. As promised, have republished the image.

not a good experience!

Hello, just a quick update. Feeling a bit let down this past 24 hours. An agent I work through led me to believe a client was about to buy four of my paintings - 99% certain - said the agent that the client would buy and just a question of signing on the dotted line. 24 hours later and I received the message, yes, you guessed it, that the sale had fallen through! Back to square one! I've been an artist for a number of years, and take this sort of thing on the chin. One just takes the disappointment, shake it off after a day or so, and return to the easel. But I'm not going to hide my disappointment. In truth, I needed the sales to pay everyday bills - Such as the television licence, which I'm being kept reminded is "overdue"! It gets dropped through the letter box with the "licence now overdue" message on the evelope seemingly increasing in size and alarm! And as for keeping petrol in the car - another financial juggling act. Why do we artists continue? Can anyone out there please tell me?

A recent visit to Liverpool football club

Tuesday evening my son, Andrew - pictured - had the opportunity to visit Liverpool football club and watch Liverpool win another round of the European Cup, beating AC Milan 2 nil. Despite the bitterly cold evening, with a full moon arching over the stadium, the atmospher was electric, and the Liverpool fans supported the players - and manager - throughout the game. It has been years since I last attended a professinal game, and to hear the Liverpool fans celebrate the two goals was something unique. The event, plus the visual display, with all the colour, lighting and the atmospher, got me thinking about possible paintings - especially the fans arriving at the stadium, with the mobile caterers and takaways doing a brisk job, but the lighting of the streets, full of fans, with the mobile caterers I think is fertile ground for several paintings.

Vincent Van Gogh, and his stay in Arles

Anyone interested in art will be acquainted with Vincent Van Gogh, and his tragic life. To many, he is the epitome of the "true artist". In other words, he sacrificed everything for his art. I have just begun reading another book on Vincent, by the author Martin Gayford, titled: The Yellow House. It deals with the period that Vincent and Paul Gauguin spent together in the town of Arles, southern France in the last months of 1888. I believe that Gayford describes well the essence of being an artist, and this book reads as though it's been thouroughly researched. As a struggling artist myself, I immediately connected to the daily struggle of both Van Gogh and Gauguin. Yet the first thing that strikes me about this collaborative effort by the two artists was their situation: I mean, here they were, away from the obvious distractions of family and friends, a roof over their heads, food to eat and, the most important thing, the time in which to paint - also in their case to argue and debate about "modern art". When reading the opening pages of this story, I felt a desire to have been in their shoes... living at a time when art was changing, that they were engaged in discovering some new way forward - It appears to me that there will never again be quite the same revolutions in art in the future as there was during this period - Certainly not in painting. I will be continuing this subject over the next week and sharing my thoughts with you. If you have an opinion, then please post it here. Please click to see more of the discussion

Cottage on the Leeds, Liverpool canal

This painting I completed in the last few days. The location is about a mile from my studio at Haskayne. It's a view of the cottage, which sits on the Leeds and Liverpool canal. In the far distance, on the hill, a glimps of Christ church, Aughton, nr. Ormskirk. The church is a local landmark and can be seen from most areas. In the days of sailing ships it served as a landmark for ships approaching the port of Liverpool. I passed this cottage last Autumn and was struck by the changing colours. The painting is for sale at £180. It measures 20x16 inches, oils on oil board. If interested, please contact me at www.roymunday.com

recent visit to annual art fair in London

Hello, again. Want to share a visit I made in last couple of weeks to the London Art Fair, held each year in London. It's an opportunity to see a lot of work - hundreds of mostly contempory artists, and over a hundred galleries. Needless to say one sees a broad range of work, including artists whoes work now fetches many millions of pounds - and even more dollars! L.S. Lowry, Walter Sickert and the Scottish Colourist. I find that visiting an art fair of this quality recharges the creative batteries and one cannot fail to discover new ways of working. One artist has recently caught my eye. The work of Ken Howard, represented by the Richard Green gallery. Look up Ken at www.richard-green.com and use the zoom function to get close to the image, so that one can study closely his method of working. Excellent work! A selection of Ken's work can be seen in the image of the fair, his work is lining the wall.

The Liver Buildings & pump house at night, Liverpool

I'm often fascinated by cityscapes at night, the clash of artificial lighting with its surrounding envirionment . Here is another example, an iconic view of Liverpool's famous Liver Buildings, looking east.
Picture size: 16x20 inches. Will deliver world-wide. For price, please visit my site: www.roymunday.com

Queen Elizabeth 2, anchored off Liverpool's waterfront

I'd been working on this large painting, some 36x32 inches, of the QE2 anchored off the Liverpool waterfront for several days, but I became frustrated with it and have put it to one side. Hopefully I'll return to it in the near future. I just felt that somehow it wasn't working, that the painting wasn't coming together as I'd planned.

Another sunset at the Albert Dock, Liverpool

Another painting of a sunset at Liverpool's Albert Dock. As an artist, the way light and colour interact is one of my prime preoccupations when painting. This painting is approx. 36x32 inches, oils on canvas, and is for sale. I deliver world-wide. For more information about this painting, please visit www.roymunday.com
and visit the Liverpool paintings page.