Paintings

French Lessons

A tribute to my first hero of American art. Larry Rivers used to put type on his pictures in stencil form. They looked like such fun. My text mentions my art teacher in Sandown who kept a pile of Studio magazines where I found so much treasure. What a cool art room that was. Good old Noddy.

Empire Of Dreams 2016

A gate in somewhere near La Croix Valmer in Provence. It was near where we were staying and opened onto a garden which was was a dense mass of palms and shrubs. I’ve made it look a bit more mysterious than it was, but not too much.

Expecting To Fly 2017

A painting of my daughter Chloë Coggin.

The Evening Goods

A hazy, if somewhat dishonest collection of memories of the overgrown world at Halberry Lane near Newport in the steamy 50s. Nigel and I always liked to catch the goods train from Newport as it crossed the footpath. Just before the tracks you were enveloped in a thick canopy of beech but the pond is a fabrication, but we could float our Tri-ang boats on the Medina; so this is it; steam, smoke and water fixed in the mind as the essential elements of a giddy nostalgia.

Barbie and Jonathan anniversary 2018

I’ve known these lovely people for years, and I’ve worked on and off with Jonathan since we shared an office in Long Acre back in the 80s. I came across the title whilst trawling through a ton of Penguin classics and it went down very well. It does slightly reflect the ‘Is all this really necessary?’ expression on Barbie’s face.

Bent Accountant 2017