2025-26 ‘en plein air’

During 2025 and 2026, I made a brief foray into plein air painting, a rather different experience from my usual studio-based practice. In 2025, I took myself outdoors to practise painting directly from the landscape in preparation for my appearance on Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year. This was followed in 2026 by an invitation from John Martin Gallery to contribute to A Day in May, an exhibition at his home and gallery in Suffolk. Both experiences encouraged a more immediate and spontaneous approach to painting, responding to changing light, weather and the landscape, often with rather less time to deliberate than I am used to. Here are a few examples from my travels and the various places I set up my easel.