The Bait Muzna Gallery in Oman held the first exhibition “Wave of Arts” at the Sultanate’s 18 hole Golf Course at The Wave.
One of the paintings sold was of Dhows,Sur by Alan Reed. The painting was purchased by officials of The Wave who presented it as a gift to the VIP His Highness Sayyid Kamil bin Fahd al Said who inaugurated the exhibition.
See more of Alan Reed Paintings of the Gulf.
Head of an Arab is my study of John Singer Sargent’s oil sketch which he would have painted around 1890-91 when he toured Egypt, Greece and Turkey. It was probably painted abroad, however, he may well have painted it from a model when he returned to London. Sargent was commissioned by the Trustees of the Boston Public Library to paint a mural. He was planning a frieze depicting Old Testament prophets, so this painting is relevant to his preparation.
Having worked in the Middle East since 2007, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to Arabs on a number of occasions and I’m quite struck by their distinctive, fine looking features which are fascinating to paint. In copying John Singer Sargent’s oil on canvas, I’ve tried to make the same direct, confident brush marks as Sargent, painting directly from observation, without relying on any tracing techniques. Also, I’ve kept to a very limited palate to ensure that the colours are as close to Sargent’s as possible. Of course, I’ve had to work from a photographic copy rather than the original painting, so there will be obvious differences in colouring.
The value in making such studies of the great masters works can be seen when one looks at Sargent’s own studies of the artists he admired such as Diego Velazquez and Frans Hals. This particular study was made on board and can be seen at my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland.
This fantastic new watercolour painting of “Grey Street, Snow Shower” has just come off the drawing board today. It will also be reproduced as a limited edition print of 95 and is available in two different sizes.
The painting captures the majestic sweeping curve of what has been described by the architectural critic Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as being the finest curved street in Europe. Despite being depicted on a dull, wet, winters day, I’ve wanted to create lots of life and movement through the figures dashing through the harsh elements, huddled under their umbrellas. The Theatre Royal stands as the jewel in the crown with its fine portico and classical columns. By Alan Reed
“Pump Room in the Snow” is a large studio watercolour by my husband Alan Reed based on studies made on location in Bath. Over the last two years he entered the Bath Prize, a painting competition held annually in Bath where contestants are given a specific location in Bath to paint “plein air”. Once they have painted their allocated scene before the competition deadline, they can enter other paintings they may have done of Bath. In 2010 he came runner up with the painting of the Royal Crescent and in 2011 and won first prize for the best painting of the Circus in Bath. The little girl dressed in a bright red coat (our eldest granddaughter Emily) added an important focal point to the composition. The original watercolour can be seen at the Studio & Gallery in Ponteland.
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Eating fried bread with tomato sauce on (ugh) and getting a train set for Christmas off Mammy & Daddy.
Once again Alan Reed has scooped a winner at the Bath Painting Prize 2011. This year he has won the best painting of the Circus.
“ I wanted to retain the freshness of the location sketchbook watercolours I had painted of the Circus, so I kept my leather bound sketchbook open in front of me at all times as a constant reminder. The result was a winning painting, an original watercolour capturing the early morning summer sunlight warming up the classical Georgian architecture”.
The paintings entered for the competition can be seen at the Octagon, Milsom Place, Bath from 21st -27th October 10am-5pm (Sunday 12noon-4pm). An auction sale of Bath Prize paintings will take place at the Guildhall, High Street, Bath on Friday 28th October, starting at 7pm.
As a lover all things Italian my other website creation had to be Paintings of Italy bearing in mind that I am an amateur and that this is a little work/hobby thing I hope that you find it enjoyable to read as I have in making it.
Of course the paintings are by Alan Reed as that is our business and I do believe he is an amazing talented Artist - and husband!
My favourite page is the Sketchbook Studies which you can see in a slide show and also Watch Alan Paint.
Painting on Location
Last September I spent a very inspirational week in Norfolk with my wife Susan, daughter Louise and grandchildren Ewan and Anya. Every morning I rose before 6am to paint on location.
I usually had two paintings on the go together so that while one wash was drying, I was able to work on the other. The painting above is one I did of Wells-next-the-Sea on a watercolour block 12” x 9”. The second painting of the same scene was in my sketch book containing hand made Italian watercolour paper.
After applying a wash of lemon yellow to set the tone and mood for the sky, I worked directly onto the paper, drawing with the brush and paint, rather than use a pencil. By working this way, one is able to make marks which are more spontaneous and fresh.
These last few weeks I have been experimenting building 2 mini websites and although there are still a few tweeks needed I am quite pleased with myself. The site relating to Paintings of the Gulf, including Oman, Kuwait and the UAE can be seen on www.gulfart.co.uk I have uploaded slideshows and the Famous Sketchbook of Oman that was given to Queen Elizabeth on her visit to Muscat.
‘One in a million’ couple’s remarkable story told on TV
A chance meeting at Ponteland’s Diamond Inn 20 years ago led to Susan Reed meeting her perfect match.
But little did she know just how much talented local artist Alan Reed would transform her life.
Their marriage three years later was very much a meeting of minds – as two committed Christians they already had a lot in common, as Alan explained: “I used to pray I would meet a Christian woman. I felt that was important for my life.
“My parents, who are Christians, knew Susan’s parents and I was introduced by her sister Andrea. Susan asked me if I was a Christian too - it certainly wasn’t your standard one-liner!”
But it was the extent of their physical match which was to stun doctors over a decade later, when Susan’s longstanding polycystic kidney condition worsened.
For Alan proved to be the exact match she was looking for in a kidney donor, saving her what could have been a lengthy wait on the transplant register while on dialysis.
“It turned out I was a rare blood type and only three per cent of the population could have the potential to be suitable donors. My mother was tested but was a different blood type. But amazingly Alan turned out to be a perfect match,” Susan said.
So in June 2001 the Ponteland couple were both wheeled into operating theatres at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital for the transplant of one of Alan’s kidneys into Susan.
“I knew God was going to heal us, but didn’t know whether it would be divine healing or through the surgeon’s hands. Well, we couldn’t have had better treatment – the staff were incredible and saw to our every need.
“It was quite a novelty on the ward, having Alan pop in each day from a few rooms up the corridor. It was a very painful operation for him too,” Susan added.
The operation was an immediate success, giving her the energy which had been so lacking in previous months as Susan became increasingly ill. In short, it transformed her life.
Susan now leads a busy life, helping professional watercolour artist Alan, run his Gallery in Ponteland.
Earlier this month (November 2006) Alan and Susan’s remarkable story was told on BBC1’s Songs of Praise programme, which featured City Church, Newcastle.
Extracted and revised from an article in Pont News