Steve Greaves Artist's Blog  

An occasional Artist's Diary covering Painting ideas and plans 

as they take shape - giving some insight into the Artist's methods 

of gathering reference materials and making plans for Paintings

(and some other stuff that might only be vaguely related).

22 April 2008 - Tue

South Yorkshire Open Art Exhibition 2008

The Cooper Gallery, Barnsley, South Yorkshire

I have had two Paintings accepted into this year's South Yorkshire Open

Art Exhibition. They are:

Rutt Moose                         Tankersley

The Exhibition is held at The Cooper Gallery, Barnsley

The dates are:

Friday 25 April - Friday 13 June.

Contact the Cooper Gallery:

Tel: 01226 242905

25 March 2008 - Tue

Painting Nature Exhibition - The Bridge Gallery, Llandeilo

My Oil Painting of a welsh Common Buzzard will be on display at The

Bridge Gallery in Llandeilo, South Wales in their "Painting Nature" exhibition

which opens on Monday March 31st. The exhibition will include predominantly

Wildlife Paintings but also Landscapes and Seascapes.

Here are their contact details:

The Bridge Gallery

133 Rhosmaen Street

Llandeilo

Carmarthenshire  SA19 6EN

www.bridge-gallery.co.uk

wpj@bridge-gallery.co.uk

01558 822183

13 November 2007 - Tue

Watercolour Painting Master Class at the Cooper Gallery

I have been invited to lead a Watercolour Painting Master Class at the

Cooper Art Gallery in Barnsley. Details are vague at the moment but the

date should be Saturday 23rd of February 2008 from 9.30am - 2.30pm.

There will be up to 15 places available for the class and the cost will be

around £25 for the day.

More details will be posted as they become available.

In the meantime please contact the Cooper Gallery - (01226) 242905

7 October 2007 - Sun

Borneo Orangutan Survival Charity Art Auction

I have been approached by the charity Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS

UK) with a request to donate some prints of my Orangutan Watercolour

Painting to be auctioned at the two following venues:

Otterburn Hall, Newcastle, Sat 1 Dec 2007 - POSTPONED UNTIL 2008

(New auction date to be posted when details become available).

Flemings Mayfair, London, 16 Dec 2007.

I will be donating a number of Signed Prints of the Orangutan Watercolour

Painting along with some Signed Greetings Cards and also button badges.

You can check out the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS UK) website at:

http://www.savetheorangutan.org.uk

18 September 2007 - Tue

Giant African Land Snails.

In the summer of 2007 I was given an adult Giant African Land Snail.

I named him "Arnie" after the Bodybuilder and action film star Arnold

Schwarzenegger. The big Snail is now about 4 ins long. "He" promptly 

laid a clutch of around 60 eggs, two of which survived and are thriving. 

A month later came the second batch of 70ish eggs - most of which 

hatched. A third clutch was laid about one month after that. Surprising

as Arnie has been kept in a tank on his own. Giant African Land Snails

are hermaphrodites i.e. have both male and female reproductive organs

(although you need two snails to breed) and have the capacity to have 

produce clutches of eggs in installments. I'm currently looking for homes

for the baby Snails and the third batch off eggs is soon to be posted off

to an animal sanctuary in West Wales.

Pictures of Giant African Land Snails

10 September 2007 - Mon

Website Re-vamp.

I have decided to alter the whole look and feel of the website by changing 

the dark backgrounds and light text to a more readable and traditional layout

of dark text on a light coloured background. I hope that everyone finds this an 

improvement!

With well over 300 pages the re-design of the site is going to take several

weeks to complete - please bear with the random style of the site for the time

being and keep checking back for new additions of Artwork and info. 

23 August 2007 - Thur

English Heritage Festival of History at Kelmarsh Hall.

I spent the weekend of 11th - 12th August as a guest of Penny Robinson's

Foure Fryendes Medieval Re-Enactment group, living in their authentic 

Medieval campsite at Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire during the Festival 

of History which is English Heritages's biggest event of the year.

The massive event covered events in history from the Iron Age to World War

Two and included Roman Army camps, and many Battle Re-enactments.

Click here to see:

Photographs of English Heritage Festival of History at Kelmarsh Hall 2007

I may use some of the Photographs as future reference for Artwork. 

14 August 2007 - Tue

Exhibition Offer.

I have just been offered an Art Exhibition space in the Art Gallery of 

Swinton Lock Activity Centre close to where I live in South Yorkshire. 

Once confirmed the Art Exhibition should take place some time in the 

spring of 2008. Watch this space for details.

28 July 2007 - Sat

Ian McMillan Portrait Painting seen on TV.

Ian McMillan The Barnsley Poet

I occasionally have my hair cut in Mad Geoff's barber shop in the village

of Darfield where I live. I was in there yesterday and Geoff told me a TV film

crew had just been in the shop filming with Ian McMillan for the Yorkshire 

news program Look North. The cameraman had zoomed in on my signed

greeting card on the counter which features a portrait of Ian McMillan. The 

card had also been signed by Ian and given to Geoff as a souvenir.

The camera shot was one which had appeared on TV.

Ian McMillan has just been the subject of a documentary film for ITV's

The South Bank Show with Melvin Bragg.

14 July 2007 - Sat

Steve Greaves, Bodybuilder.

Steve Greaves, Bodybuilder 1983

As mentioned in the Biography section, I have been Weight Training 

on and off since I was in school. I've just started to add a Bodybuilding 

section to the site which includes some of my contest photos from the 

early 1980's. I haven't competed in a show for 23 years but the lads at 

Damon Brown's Temple Gym in Wombwell where I train are trying to 

get me to enter a Natural Physique Association (NPA) Bodybuilding 

Competition 2008 (Yorkshire area) next year in Holmfirth. 

Will I get into shape in time? Watch this space....  

23 June 2007 - Sat

Bobby Hatfield Charity Golf Classic,

Dinner Show / Art Auction for Lupus Charity.

A set of my Limited Edition Prints will be auctioned for the charity Lupus

International at Newport Beach Country Club on Monday 9 July 2007.

Host for the event will be Linda Hatfield, wife of the late Bobby Hatfield  

of legendary singing group The Righteous Brothers. You may be familiar 

with the songs "You Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and "Unchained Melody".

Linda Hatfield bought a set of my Limited Edition Prints at the recent 

Savor The Night event held by Lupus 

International - check out the entry below for 7 April.

Lupus is an incurable Autoimmune Disease.

For more details about the event or about Lupus see their website:

www.lupusinternational.org

or contact: (888) 532-2322

12 May 2007 - Sat

South Yorkshire Open Art Exhibition 

I have had the Watercolour and Ink Painting 

Garrick Theatre, London accepted into the 

South Yorkshire Open Art Exhibition.

The Art Exhibition runs from Sat 5 May - Sat 23 June 2007 at

Cooper Gallery

Church Street

Barnsley

South Yorkshire

England, UK

To Buy the Painting please contact the Cooper Gallery:

(01226) 242905

Please note this painting is now SOLD

7 April 2007 - Sat

Charity Wine Tasting / Art Auction 

I was contacted on 4 April by the Charity Organisation Lupus International

in California USA requesting me to donate a piece of Artwork to be auctioned

for Charity at their forthcoming Savor The Night event.

The Original Painting to be auctioned is:

New Street, Barnsley - Acrylic Painting

Impressionism Style Townscape / Landscape Painting.

I will also be donating a number of Limited Edition Prints

Details of the event are as follows:

Date: Thurs May 3, 2007

Time: 7.00pm

Location: Summit House Restaurant, 2000 East Bastanchury Road,

Fullerton, CA 92835

USA

Lupus is an incurable Autoimmune Disease.

For more details about the event or about Lupus see their website:

www.lupusinternational.org

or contact: (888) 532-2322

26 March 2007 - Mon

David Beckham Key Ring / Key Chain Painting update.

Here's what the David Beckham Key Ring / Chain Photorealism Painting

looked like a few days ago. The metal Chain is beginning to look 3-dimensional

and I'm pleased with the way Beckham's forehead and facial features are starting 

to take shape. The South Yorkshire Open Art Exhibition opens on the 24th 

April so I need to get a move on to finish both this Painting and the half-

finished Dock Leaf Photorealism Painting.

21 March 2007 - Wed

Steve Greaves Photorealism Paintings is now affiliated to Allposters.com.

Links and banners are being added throughout the site allowing you to purchase

Posters and Prints from your favourite Artists. Their product range is huge and

includes a large selection of Prints by Famous Photorealist Painters such as 

Richard Estes, Charles Bell, Ronald Kleeman, Ralph Goings, Chuck Close,

Ben Schonzeit, John Baeder, Tom Blackwell and Audrey Flack, 

Click on the banners or use the Allposters search boxes 

to find Posters and Prints by specific Artists and Art Movements:

Click Photorealism Art Prints  to see their Photorealism Prints page.

13 March 2007 - Tue

I've been trying out a new Paint Brush on the David Beckham Painting 

for the past few days. It's a size 2 Daler-Rowney Sapphire Series 85.

Not sure whether its 100% synthetic or a synthetic/sable blend but It 

is coping pretty well with being scrubbed around on the gesso surface

and is managing to keep a good sharp point. It is showing no signs of

splaying or wear yet which is good. So far I would highly recommend 

this Paint Brush for use with Acrylic Paint.

As you can see from the photo I'm using both Daler-Rowney and

Winsor & Newton Acrylic Paints - these Artists' Quality Paints are both

excellent. Straight out of the tube they have a thick buttery 

consistency and can be diluted down with water to a fine transparent

watercolour-like wash.

If any Art Materials Manufacturer / Supplier would like to supply samples 

of Art Materials, I would be very happy to try them out them and write a 

review on this site. (and of course add links to their site).

Contact the Artist to Supply Art Materials

7 March 2007 - Wed

For the past few weeks I have taken a break from painting and spent 

time adding new content to the site and improving the quality of the 

images, particularly the thumbnails which were a bit small and blurry.

I started painting again just a couple of days ago and have been working on

David Beckham Key Ring - Photorealism Portrait Toy Painting

Been trying out a New Paint Brush which I will review in a day or two.

4 March 2007 - Sun

I called in at the Cooper Gallery in Barnsley yesterday to enquire about

the dates for the forthcoming South Yorkshire Open Art Exhibition. Found

out that it will be held at the end of April which gives me about 7 weeks to

get some new Paintings finished and framed. 

Here are the 2 Photorealism Paintings I am hoping to enter this year:

David Beckham Key Ring Painting         Dock Leaf Painting

The David Beckham Photorealism Toy Painting is about two-thirds finished,

and the Dock Leaf Photorealism Painting is approaching the half-way mark.

There are still a lot of hours to be put into both Paintings. Check out their progress

and how they are being painted by visiting the Photorealism Painting Techniques  

page.

You can see the 3 Paintings I entered last year on the Steve Greaves News page.

3 March 2007 - Sat

The Steve Greaves Photorealism Paintings website is now just over 

7 months old and has 300 or so pages. It has had over 10,000 visitors 

from over 70 countries viewing over 26,000 pages. Google has been kind 

enough to give it a Page Rank of 4 which I am told is pretty good for a new 

site.

This time last year I knew nothing about website building so credit

has to go to my website mentor Kev Randall who has lent me books

on the subject and tolerated my endless questions as I built the

whole thing from scratch.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to check out the site -

please keep checking back, as new stuff is being added all the time.

Thanks also to everyone who has exchanged website Art Links with me!

p.s. Had porridge this morning for breakfast (that bit's for Penny).

Photorealism 

Paintings Books

Photorealism

Art Prints & Posters