News from Graham Cooke
September 2015
Again, not much has been happening during the past year due to family and Guild commitments. However, I have been working on 3 interesting commissions. The first was of Franco’s resturant in Jermyn St, London, with Ruxandra and her friends sitting at Ruxandra’s favourite table. It proved quite a difficult subject to paint in that the furthest away that I could stand was the other side of the street!
The second was of a J109 racing yacht, Design Star 2, which was commissioned by the owner’s son as a birthday present for the owner. The scene is early morning off the Needles, Isle of Wight and the owner is at the helm.
The third was for a Typhoon aircraft overflying Warton Airfield where the aircraft are manufactured. The painting was commissioned as a birthday present for the client’s son who worked for BAE Systems. Because the client did not know where on the airfield his son worked, I had to ensure that I included the entire site – a labour of love. Blackpool Tower is suggested in the far distance. All 3 images are in the in the Latest Work gallery.
January 2014
Not much painting has been happening in the past 6 months due to family and Guild committments. However, things are more settled and I have begun to paint again. I am keen to work on developing beach scene techniques and the result is in the Latest Work gallery.
May 2013
My two submissions for this year’s GAvA Annual Exhibition are in the Latest Work gallery.
Finally, I can confirm that the ‘Still Looking for Trouble’ painting has been purchaced by the owner of the Spitfire for a £1000 donation to the RAFBF – result!
October 2012
‘Still Looking for Trouble’ I think that it is a sign of the times that the RAFBF Gala Dinner at Wembly Stadium on 20 September had to be cancelled because of lack of support. (see below) The original painting will therefore be auctioned at a later date, but in the meantime, I have sent a cheque for £154 to Chris Nickols on behalf of members of the 101st Entry RAF Halton apprentices who bought prints following their 50th anniversary dinner earlier this year. It was the first ‘outing’ for the painting and I had agreed that I would donate all of these proceeds to the RAFBF.
August 2102
I have been kept very busy recently during the run up to the opening of the GAvA exhibition on 16 July. This year, I managed to submit only 2 paintings, but I am pleased that they both sold. On the evening of the Opening of the exhibiton, the RAF Benevolent Fund held a corporate event in the Mall Galleries. This follows a similiar successful event which was held last year. I presented a Spitfire painting to the RAFBF on behalf of the Guild and it will be auctioned at the RAFBF’s gala dinner at Wembly Stadium on 20 September. A litho limited edition print series of this painting is now available for sale in the Prints/Cards gallery.
May 2012
The website has been ‘live’ for just a few months and I am now well over half way through uplifting the photographs of my paintings from portfolios and putting them into the galleries. Some of the resolution on my early work is not as clear as recent work. Unfortunately, I have had to take photos of photos, but at least they will give you an idea.
Regards,
Graham