Nature red in tooth and claw

Sometimes life plays out it's most dramatic moments right in

front of you. Sitting quietly at the computer yesterday there

was a huge thump upstairs as a Sparrow Hawk took a Magpie

mid flight and slammed it into the bedroom window spiralling

down to the patio. I got up, looked out and the Sparrow Hawk

took fright, flew a few yards and watched both me and the injured

Magpie. It soon returned and a fight commenced ending up on

the lawn where the Hawk used it's skills to win the day.

It's not often you see a Sparrow Hawk take a bird its own size,

least of all a Magpie which, let's face it, is a tough bird.

Delia Baillie

An exhibition worth seeing in Edinburgh in March is

paintings by Lee O'Connor and Delia Baillie at the

Patriothall Gallery in Stockbridge.

Delia was a finalist in The Aspect Prize in 2006 and

always comes up with good challenging works. She can

draw which allows her to experiment and produce works

which have a greater validity than many who try to work in

the area in which she excels. The three here (under the ad)

are from Delia's web site...from top to bottom:

Give-us-our-eleven-days, Field and...Remember the Wind.

www.deliabaillie.com

The exhibition previews on March 8th (6-8 pm)

Runs 9th to 19th March. Mon-Thurs 12-5 pm.

Devon exhibition

The end of April sees my solo show in the Brownston Gallery

in Modbury in Devon. It will be a mixture of work from Devon,

Greece, France, South Africa and Maine. Above is the Harbour

in Port Clyde in Maine.

With waters running high here it's extraordinary that

there are drought warnings down south. Such a dramatic

divide in only a few hundred miles.

Ever since I was a kid I've had a thing about Land Rovers. I learnt

to drive when I was eight in a series one on my uncles farm. I

didn't know then how lucky I was to be driving around in a

series one. Anyway...I've done a couple of Land Rover paintings.

A director from Land Rover has one which is great.

Found this Land Rover in the town of Procopi in Evvia, Greece.

The painting has just gone down to The John Davies Gallery

in Moreton in Marsh.

Love the cars on this film set.

Graham Murray

When in London I visited a couple who wanted to show me

some works by the late Graham Murray. Graham was a cousin

of my father and was responsible for persuading my dad to let

me go to art school. He was a friend of Stanley Spencer and

Spencer stayed with Graham and Charlotte when he was doing

the war time Clyde ship yard paintings.

This little painting reminded me of a wall of paintings I'd seen

the day before at the Hockney exhibition in the RA.

Ben Eine

Street artist Ben Eine has work all over the world. This lovely

collection is in the Shoreditch area. It was a work by Ben Eine

which Prime Minister David Cameron gave to President Obama.

Clerkenwell

For the first couple of nights that we were in London we stayed

with a friend in Clerkenwell. This is not an area we knew so

exploration of the area was high on our list and we found it

fascinating.

Here is a taste of the history. The top picture is of the Jerusalem

Tavern. Named after the Priory of St. John of Jerusalem which

began in 1140. The village of Clerkenwell grew up around the priory

and the first Jerusalem Tavern came into being in the 14th century.

I'm told that the Crusaders gathered there and at St John's Gate

before heading off on their adventures.

The Tavern moved a few times until it finally settled in this building

which dates from 1720. It was originally a merchants house and a

workshop for watch and clock makers. The current shopfront was

put in place in 1820.

Over the years the Tavern has had some interesting characters

partaking of it's ales. The artist William Hogarth, Samuel Johnson,

David Garrick and, on several of his trips to London, none other than

Handel.

Just down the road is St John's Gate. Part of the original boundary of

the City of London. It was illegal to hold gatherings or demonstrations

within the city so gatherings were held on the other side of the gate.

This is a fine piece of old London. In all the years I lived there I was

unaware of its existence. I'm looking forward to my next visit.

Poor old Piccadilly Circus, known for its lights, now

has this overshadowing Eros. Not what I'd call a sensitive

approach to the problem.

Hockney

Went to see the Hockney exhibition at The Royal Academy.

Tickets are hard to get but opening times have been extended

so it's worth a try. Do go. This is an astonishing exhibition. Not

that everything in it is brilliant but the work that is will blow

you away. If I could go again I would.

London

Spent weekend in London where I had a couple of meetings

with galleries. Sally came along as well and wanted to see

some street art in the Spitalfields...more of that later.

The strange boat shaped thing on top of the Royal

Festival Hall is a temporary placement of this new

moveable apartment which can be rented. It is going

to be placed in various interesting locations.

Nice idea.

Iceland

This is a quiet wee painting of the coastline at Hvamstangi

in Iceland. A very nice lady bought this a few weeks ago

along with another two Iceland paintings (the last ones!).

She then asked me if I would do her a favour and die a

dramatic and painful death to increase the financial worth

of her new purchases. I said I'd rather die a peaceful and

painless death. That won't do she proclaimed...how about

having an affair with someone notorious like Tracey Emin?

I'll take the painful death I said....

A somewhat bizarre conversation and not one I usually

have with clients.

I like the way farms sit in the landscape. This one

is particularly good looking.

Dunlop

This is a view of the village that I like. I've been looking

around at the various views as I'm currently in email

contact with someone in Canada who wants a small

painting of the village. I've given my price and am

now awaiting a response. Let's see what happens.

This is a photo of my grandad's car. I'm not sure what it is.

Someone thought it might be a Humber.

Exhibition of Scottish painting

Running now until February 11th at Wimbledon Fine Art,

41 Church Road, Wimbledon. This exhibition is organised by

Stafford Fine Art in conjunction with Wimbledon Fine Art.

My painting above is 'Near Castine'.

Castine is in northern Maine.

More Huck Bergius images

Couldn't resist more images of Huck Bergius's lovely

stained glass crosses.

To contact Huck: huckbergius@hotmail.com