the artists wife

doctorswithoutborders: REMINDER!—In the Eyes of Others: How...

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:05:18 +0100

REMINDER!—In the Eyes of Others: How People in Crises Perceive Humanitarian Action

LIVE Online Webcast

Monday, April 30, 2012 - 8:00 PM

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We’re hosting a webcast in celebration of MSF’s new book: In the Eyes of Others: How People in Crises Perceive Humanitarian Aid published by MSF, NYU’s Center on International Cooperation (CIC), and Humanitarian Outcomes. The book is the result of attempts to better understand how humanitarian aid and its principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence are perceived by the people receiving assistance.

We invite you to join us for an online panel discussion to mark the English-language release of the book. Panelists will include contributors to the book as well as MSF aid workers, who will share stories from their field assignments reflecting issues of perception and exploring the many facets of humanitarian action today.

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Moderator:

Phil Zabriskie, Managing Editor at MSF-USA Panelists:

Caroline Abu-Sada, Coordinator of MSF’s research unit for humanitarian action in Geneva and editor of In the Eyes of Others: How People in Crises Perceive Humanitarian Aid

Abby Stoddard, Co-Director of Humanitarian Outcomes and contributing writer to In the Eyes of Others: How People in Crises Perceive Humanitarian Aid

Dr. Darin Portnoy, Vice President, Médecins Sans Frontières International, former President of MSF-USA, and MSF aid worker

PLEASE REGISTER to receive information on how to login on April 30.

alanreed: The Northumbrian town of Alnwick boasts a magnificent...

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:04:47 +0100

alanreed:

The Northumbrian town of Alnwick boasts a magnificent castle which has appeared in several films including one of the Harry Potter movies. It also has the stunning Alnwick Gardens. Over the years I’ve had the privilege of painting both. In 2003 I was commissioned to paint over a dozen Northumbrian Castles in watercolour for a leading North East company to grace the walls of their boardrooms and Alnwick Castle was one of them.

I had already decided that I would spread the paintings out over the course of a whole year so that I was capturing all of the seasons. After working out when the sun was most likely to be catching the ancient architecture, I felt that the last light of a summer evening was going to best for this particular scene.

It was painted on an expensive hand made watercolour paper, heavily textured, which was ideal for rendering both the stone and the foreground grasses. It also allowed me to make quite large, free brush strokes to indicate the low lying clouds reflected in the slow moving River Aln. The painting that was commissioned worked well for the client and I was so pleased with the result that I decided to do a slightly different interpratation of the same view which I later reproduced as a limited edition print. The original watercolour can be seen at my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland.

alanreed: Susan and I were saddened to hear of the death of...

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:01:55 +0100

alanreed:

Susan and I were saddened to hear of the death of David Peat on 16th April after a long battle with Myeloma. I had the privilege of working with David back in the autumn of 2001 on a television idea my brother and I had. We decided to make a short pilot video of the idea and some friends of ours recommended David whom they had known closely for many years.

Part of the idea was to show the cooking ability of my brother Philip, so it was decided that David and I would meet up at the restaurant where Philip worked as the head chef, the Launceston Place Restaurant, Kensington in London. The other part of the idea was to show my watercolour painting skills on location, so I was to be filmed outside, painting the street scene, including the restaurant.

Philip and I had no experience working to camera but David made us both feel at ease. He demonstrated his award winning talent as a film maker right from the start. David took stock of the scenario and came up with some great camera angles to capture me painting which made it a lot more interesting than watching paint dry. The way he filmed Philip cooking was equally impressive and although I say it myself, the pilot came out really well. We never managed to get it seen by the right people and eleven years on, I don’t think that British television needs another cookery programme.

I’ll try and get the full pilot uploaded soon, but in the meantime, here is the section that David Peat filmed of me painting.

http://youtu.be/nBEdCAEpeA8

To find out more about David Peat, take a look at his website davidpeatphoto.com Also there is a touching obituary to David which elaborates more on his career in BBC News Scotland.

Beef in Mulled Wine

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:37:00 +0100

I had a lone bottle of mulled wine left from Christmas and wondering what to do with it. I looked...

Left over Lamb - Curry

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:35:00 +0100

After a busy day in the Gallery, Alan & I like to chill out and wind down with a nice warming...

Artist Alan Reed Paint’s Launceston Place (by gavindowd)

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:59:45 +0100

Artist Alan Reed Paint’s Launceston Place (by gavindowd)

North Shields Fish Quay

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 21:45:00 +0000

For many years my Dad (Joseph Henry Thompson) from Willington Quay was a ships chandler first...

Razha Dancing

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:52:00 +0000

This was one of the most amazing scenes that I have had the pleasure of seeing in a long time and...

Spring is Here

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:50:17 +0000

Come and join us for a glass of wine at our Spring Exhibition to celebrate the launch of our new...

Gift ideas for Mothers Day

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:40:10 +0000

Something different for Mothers day, Alan Reed Gift Vouchers, Paintings, Prints, or Commission a...

Exhibition at Bait Muzna Gallery attracts art lovers

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:03:00 +0000

Oman Observer The Bait Muzna Gallery in Oman held the first exhibition “Wave of Arts” at the...

alanreed: Head of an Arab is my study of John Singer...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:54:42 +0000

alanreed:

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.

Hot off the Press

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:46:30 +0000

This fantastic new watercolour painting of “Grey Street, Snow Shower” has just come off...

Pump Room, Bath

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:53:04 +0000

“Pump Room in the Snow” is a large studio watercolour by my husband Alan Reed based on studies...

Alan Reed Winner of the Circus Painting, Bath 2011

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:24:00 +0100

Once again Alan Reed has scooped a winner at the Bath Painting Prize 2011. This year he has won the...

My Little Italy

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:00:05 +0100

As a lover all things Italian my other website creation had to be Paintings of Italy bearing in...

alanreed: Painting on Location Last September I spent a very...

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:35:42 +0100

alanreed:

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.

Paintings of the Gulf

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:13:57 +0100

These last few weeks I have been experimenting building 2 mini websites and although there are...

A Match made in Heaven

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:21:51 +0100

‘One in a million’ couple’s remarkable story told on TV A chance meeting at Ponteland’s Diamond Inn...

Italy, Wine and Websites

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 17:48:02 +0100

After a hard days work I decided to make butternut squash risotto. However, when I came to toast off...