Latest work | Cook the Painter

Antarctica landfall. An apology

I was lucky enough to go to Antartica. After sailing for two days without seeing land this was my first sight of the continent. These are the words written into the background of the painting

If the predictions were right this sight, my first glimpse of frozen Antarctica, has completely changed. Even by 2020 the peninsula was 5.5˚ warmer than in the 1950s. I can't imagine what it's like now. I'm sorry, but there weren't enough of us willing to adapt our lives to prevent the planet heating up as it has. We stumbled on, voting for politicians who denied what was happening. Many of them wilfully blocked any change for decades, even though the evidence of the damage we were doing was clear. Millions of us turned a blind eye to our knowing destruction of Earth so that we could lead comfortable and profligate lives, even though we knew that you, in the future, would have to pay for our selfishness.

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

Image: 68cm x 50cm

Frame: 87cm x 69cm

NFS

Antarctica waiting. An apology

I was lucky enough to go to Antartica. This view shows moulting juvenile penguins waiting for their parents to return and feed them just-caught krill. In recent years penguins that wouldn't have been suited to breeding on the Antarctica Peninsula are now nesting in large numbers due to warming temperatures.

The year before I visited more than a third of penguin chicks on the islands died of starvation. In the same area trawlers were ‘suction' harvesting krill, a tiny crustacean, for our increasing demand for omega 3 food supplements and fish farm food. Scientists believe that with less krill in the area, less food was available to the birds. Fewer surviving penguins means less prey for seals and orca.

These are the words written into the background of the painting:

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

Image: 69cm x 93cm

Frame: 90cm x 120m

NFS

Antarctica first glimpse. An apology

I was lucky enough to go to Antartica. After sailing for two days without seeing land this was my first sight of the continent. These are the words written into the background of the painting

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

Image: 68cm x 50cm

Frame: 87cm x 69cm

NFS

Chastelton close cut

The Chasteleton oak has been standing for 1,000 years

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

44cm x 29cm artwork, 53cm x 39cm framed

£1295 from John Davies Gallery , Moreton-in-Marsh

Muddy lane

This lane near home, leads steeply down to the stream and the mill. It is just past the point in the hedgerow where, each year, glowworms meet on warm summer evenings. In the hedges young oak trees are slowly stretching their limbs and filling out. There are 2,300 different species of bats to mammals, lichen to fungi dependent in some way on oak

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

Image: 68cm x 50cm

Frame: 87cm x 69cm

NFS

Snow on the track SOLD

This hazel shaded track in West Melbury was at one time the main route for driving cattle up to Shaftesbury. There are still patches of cobbles on the lane and towards the bottom is a field called Halfpenny. This was the land drovers would overnight their cattle in, which cost half a penny. The next day they would herd them up Gold Hill to the market

Framed in waxed and stained black FSC wood

Artwork: 28cm x 20cm

Framed: 39cm x 29cm

SOLD

Shardow

There are 8.4m trees in London. I find this an incredible thought, especially when you view the city from high up. Besides looking nice and all the other benefits of trees, that equates to 2.4m tonnes of carbon safely stored away. In 2015 I was lucky to have stayed in the Shangri-La Hotel on the 45th floor of The Shard and captured this scene. From that viewpoint I could see only around ten of the 8.4m.

Thinking back to 2015 gives me painful memories as I struggled to even get to the hotel. Two months before I slipped a disc which made walking or standing excruciating after a couple of minutes. For nine months I tried a succession of exercises and physiotherapies to cure the problem. Sadly none worked and I eventually had an operation that thankfully had me standing pain free instantly. Looking back makes me very grateful

Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC ash

Artwork: 30cm x 46cm

Framed: 39cm x 53cm

NFS

Hidden ancient

Tucked away in the hedges next to Lord's Piece near Petworth, Sussex stand this lovely 350-year-old oak tree

Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC ash

Artwork: 30cm x 19cm

Framed: 39cm x 28cm

£750 from Kevis House Gallery Petworth

Lord's Piece heatwave

On the heath of Lord's Piece, Sussex during the heatwave of August 2020

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

44cm x 29cm artwork, 53cm x 39cm framed

£1295 from Kevis House Gallery Petworth

Puddles in the lane

There are 1,058 species of birds to bats, fungi to mammals that are dependant in some way on ash trees

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

Image: 68cm x 50cm, frame: 87cm x 69cm

NFS

Jurgen's view?

I stayed in a hotel Liverpool FC use the night before they play a home game. The whole team, including the manager Jurgen Klopp prepare for the match and overnight there. I was lucky enough to get an upgrade to a lovely room on the top floor. I wonder if this is the view Jurgen usually has? Looking out, I could only spot a couple of trees. The centre of Liverpool had 1% tree cover in 2012. It's aiming now to get to 10%

Ink and watercolour on paper, framed in FSC wood

Artwork: 28cm x 20cm

Framed: 39cm x 29cm

NFS

Embankment winter

There are incredibly 8.4m trees in London. Every plane tree in the city is pruned, but I liked the interweaving branches of this one silhouetted against the low winter sun in the gardens next to the Victoria Embankment

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

11in x 8in / 28cm x 20cm 15in x 9in / 39cm x 29cm framed

£650 from Bermondsey Project Space

Barn Elms Copse

The Barn Elms Plane tree is the largest in London. Its trunk is 8.23m around and was planted in 1680. It is over 35m tall.

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

11in x 8in / 28cm x 20cm 15in x 9in / 39cm x 29cm framed

£650 from Bermondsey Project Space

8.4m to 1

After sketching the Barn Elms Plane tree I stayed at a hotel in London (serendipitously called the Treehouse in Marylebone). The restaurant is on the 15th floor with 360 degree views. Quite late in the evening, while looking over the London rooftops, I noticed one Plane tree silhouetted in the streetlights. From that particular view it was the only tree I could see. An amazing contrast to the other London tree I’d seen earlier in the day. There are incredibly 8.4m trees in the capital city

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

11in x 8in / 28cm x 20cm 15in x 9in / 39cm x 29cm framed

£650 from Bermondsey Project Space

326: Gascoigne oak SOLD

Of the 2,300 species dependent in some way on oak trees, ranging from beetles to birds, lichens to mammals, 326 of them only live on oak trees. This is what makes every tree so important. Our once vast ancient woodlands now only cover 2% of the UK

Ink and watercolour on board, framed in waxed FSC wood

11in x 8in / 28cm x 20cm

SOLD from Bermondsey Project Space

Oak in the water meadows

Chalk streams creating mist meander through the water meadows at Southrop in the Cotswolds. On an early morning walk, the sun burnt off the dampness revealing this lovely oak standing among the willows

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

Image: 68cm x 50cm, frame: 87cm x 69cm

£1950 from John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

Gathered in

I do love a barn. This old one stands near Adlestrop in the Cotswolds

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood

31cm x 20cm artwork 39cm x 28cm framed

£675 from John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

Dunwich lane

Along a lane near Dunwich beach. I loved visiting here, just to remind me of the Brian Eno Ambient 4: On Land track, Dunwich Beach, Autumn, 1960

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

44cm x 29cm artwork, 53cm x 39cm framed

£1250 from Sea Pictures Gallery

Suffolk skies

Lucky to see a great sky while driving around the lanes of Suffolk

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood

Image: 29 x 20cm

Frame: 39 x 28cm

£675 from Sea Pictures Gallery

Beech mist

Selected for the SGFA Draw20 exhibition at Mall Galleries

There are 1,058 UK species associated with ash trees, ranging from beetles to birds, lichens to mammals. All will be affected when we lose up to 90% of the UKs 70m ash trees from dieback disease. Research is ongoing into replanting these trees with ash bred with tolerance to the infection

Ink and watercolour on board, framed in waxed FSC ash

11in x 8in / 28cm x 20cm

£675 from Sea Pictures Gallery

Ground Cloud II

Selected for the SGFA Draw20 exhibition at Mall Galleries

Ink and watercolour on paper, framed in FSC wood

Image: 68cm x 50cm

Frame: 87cm x 69cm

£1950 from Sea Pictures Gallery

Shining through

Walking in the beech woods near Cranham in the Cotswolds

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood

44cm x 29cm artwork 53cm x 39cm framed

£1295 from John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

Frozen fields

Snow in the fields at Asmore, the highest village in Dorset

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood

44cm x 29cm artwork 53cm x 39cm framed

£1295 from John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

Boundary sentinel

Oak trees spend 300 years growing, 300 years resting and 300 years gracefully declining. This younger, but declining tree has thankfully been left standing in the hedge line near Adlestrop in the Cotswolds

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood

31cm x 20cm artwork 39cm x 28cm framed

£675 from John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

Dock drift

Selected for exhibition at The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours exhibition at the Mall Galleries

The stalks of dock plants stand up to a windblown snow drift near Ashmore, the highest village in Dorset

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

Image: 68cm x 50cm

Frame: 87cm x 69cm

£1950 from John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

Blenheim oak (1400)

2,300 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees. There are 326 species that live solely on oak. This tree started growing around 1400 and stands in the Blenheim Palace estate, the wood with the most ancient oaks in Europe

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

5ft x 4ft

£4,400 from John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

Hill mist

There is evidence that people lived on Hambledon Hill 5,000 years ago, 1,000 years before Stonehenge was built. The worlwide human population in 3,000BC was around 7m. In 1964 it was 3,250m, today there are 7,710m of us

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

Image: 68cm x 50cm

Frame: 87cm x 69cm

£1750

Hedgeline giant

At the back of a tangled hedge near Lord's Piece, near Petworth, stands this lovely 350-year-old oak tree

Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC ash

Artwork: 30cm x 46cm

Framed: 39cm x 53cm

£1295 from Kevis House Gallery Petworth

Receding light

I was lucky enough to be wandering in Petworth Park and catch this winter late afternoon sunset

Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC ash

Artwork: 30cm x 46cm

Framed: 39cm x 53cm

£1295 from Kevis House Gallery Petworth

Upwaltham cornfields

This painting is from a lovely day spent around Petworth in the heatwave of August 2020. The Upwaltham church stands among cornfields on the South Downs

Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC ash

Artwork: 30cm x 19cm

Framed: 39cm x 28cm

£750 from Kevis House Gallery Petworth

Park nocturne

In relentless rain I spent a few hours in Petworth Park, Sussex one day. It was a terrible day for sketching and the skies were so dark it made me wonder what the parklands would look like at night. Here's the result

Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC ash

Artwork: 30cm x 19cm

Framed: 39cm x 28cm

£750 from Kevis House Gallery Petworth

Wardour Castle oak (1318)

2,300 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees. This tree near Wardour Castle began growing around 1318

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

Artwork: 76cm x 121cm

Framed: 89cm x 134cm

£2,350

High path

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

30in x 41in / 77cm x 103cm

33in x 45in / 85cm x 115cm framed

£2,350 from the Arts Stable

326: Hedgeline obscurity

Ink and watercolour on board, framed in waxed FSC wood

11in x 8in / 28cm x 20cm

£650 from Kelly Ross Fine Art

Off the hill

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

11in x 8in / 28cm x 20cm 15in x 9in / 39cm x 29cm framed

£650 from the Arts Stable

Earthwork edge

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

11in x 8in / 28cm x 20cm 15in x 9in / 39cm x 29cm framed

£650 from the Arts Stable

Beech shade

Beech trees in the Cotswolds during the August 2020 heatwave

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

44cm x 29cm artwork53cm x 39cm framed

£1295

The path

This painting is from a lovely walk in the back of Ashmore Woods, Dorset

Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC ash

11in x 8in / 28cm x 20cm15in x 9in / 39cm x 29cm framed

£750

Moonlit Donhead oak (1588)

This boundary tree near in Donhead began growing around 1588. 2,200 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

30in x 48in, 76cm x 121cm

£2,350

326: Sezincote (1370)

2,300 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees. This giant tree in the grounds of Sezincote House may have started growing around 1370

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

5ft x 4ft

£3,850 from John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

326: Moonlit Chastleton oak (1020)

2,300 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees. There are 326 species that live solely on oak. This tree in Chastleton may have started growing around 1020

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

5ft x 4ft

£3,850

Bourton on the water oak No2

2,300 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees. This giant tree is 10m around

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

Image: 68cm x 50cm

Frame: 87cm x 69cm

£1950 from John Davies Gallery

High summer mist

Along the lane in Ashmore with a high summer drizzle cloaking the trees

On exhibition with The Arborealists at 'Being with trees' in Gibraltar 19 Jan -12 Mar 2021

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

Artwork: 44cm x 29cm

Framed: 53cm x 39cm

£995 from The Arborealists Gustavo Bacarisas Gallery

West Melbury oak (1825)

2,200 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees. This acorn was sown around 1825

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

88cm x 73cm

£1200 from The Arborealists Gustavo Bacarisas Gallery

West Melbury oak (1856)

2,300 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees. This acorn was sown around 1856

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood:

88cm x 73cm

£1950 from the John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

Silton oak (1018)

This incredible tree at Silton, Dorset could be 1,000 years old. It's trunk is 9.75m around and is also known as Wyndham's Oak. It is a boundary oak marking the border between the Selwood and Gillingham forests. During a revolt in 1685 it was also used as a hanging tree.

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood:

88cm x 73cm

£1200

Loom SOLD

Selected for exhibition at The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours exhibition at the Mall Galleries

Ink and watercolour on paper, framed in FSC wood

Image: 70cm x 90cm

Frame: 90cm x 120m

SOLD from John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

Start of the hill SOLD

Through the ash wood at the bottom of the hill

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood

Image: 29 x 20cm

Frame: 39 x 28cm

SOLD from Sea Pictures Gallery

Edge of the wood SOLD

Getting lost in the woods near Blockley in the Cotswolds

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood

31cm x 20cm artwork, 39cm x 28cm framed

SOLD from John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

Morning with the ancient SOLD

This oak in Chastelton is 1,000 years old. Up to 2,300 species of birds to bats, fungi to mammals are dependant in some way on oak trees

Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood

Image: 68cm x 50cm, frame: 87cm x 69cm

SOLD from John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

It's in the trees. It's coming SOLD

An old oak on a Cotswold lane

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

44cm x 29cm artwork53cm x 39cm framed

SOLD from John Davies Gallery Moreton-in-Marsh

Low cloud on the hill SOLD

Low cloud often smudges the hills around here in north Dorset.

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood

Artwork: 28cm x 20cm

Framed: 39cm x 29cm

SOLD from The Art Stable , Child Okeford, Dorset

700 years in a field SOLD

2,300 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees. I measured this tree near Wardour Castle a couple of years ago and its trunk is 7 metres around. That means it is roughly 700 years old

Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood

Image: 29 x 20cm

Frame: 39 x 28cm

SOLD from Sea Pictures Gallery