Coal paintings

Almonry Ore 150-50cm, Oils and Coal on a Steel Plate 2025

Part of the Coal collection which reflects the rich heritage that surrounds the Coal Industry in Britain and in the Midlands in particular the town of Radcliffe on Soar which is just on the outskirts of the town and has the last coal fired (or had until decommissioning) in Britain and is now it’s future changed. The painting is to reflect on the industry of the East Midlands and is part of a larger collection made as a one off project for the George Thornton Gallery. The Coal in the artwork was heated down to fine dust and added into the paint to help create the texture. The Steel plate that it sits on has been buried in Clay for a year to reflect on the decline in the Coal industry in Britain, similar to how steel degenerates

Haze Light Ore 150-100cm Oils and Coal on Steel 2025

One of the main talking points surrounding this collection was how the colours reflected industry, this was a hard concept to reimagine into the work. I had taken some imagery of Radcliffe on Soar and the powerplants from distance and observed some of the area which had industrial colours on display surrounding the area. I had wanted to use a mix of the colours in the painting, but realised that I was still making art and didn’t want to veer towards the route of it being solely about Radcliffe.

The colours for each paintings were picked on what worked well together. I really wanted a washed out industrial look to occupy the artwork and having buried the steel for n amount of time helped me to achieve this.

Portland Ore 35-35cm Oils and Coal on Steel 2025

This was one of the first pieces created for the collection, more of an ideas board of where I wanted the collection to grow towards. The bolts were added to give the work a more 3D look and set the trend off in a new direction incorporating the industrial feel into the mix. I had looked over a range of bolts to bring into the mix artistically and had sourced them directly from scrap dealerships and antique dealers as I thought it was important to retain that with the process.

Portland Ore 35-35cm Oils and Coal on Hammered Steel with Bolts

SOLD 80-80cm Oils and Coal mixed with fine clay on aged steel.

Radcliffe Ore 35-35cm Oils and Coffee and Coal on steel sheet, Radcliffe Ore is the main point of reference for the entire collection and this piece will always be a special piece.

Blue Ore Bay, 150-100cm Oils and Coal on an aged steel sheet. This was a template piece for the collection as I had a commission on at the time of making, this was almost a duplicate as far as colour goes for the Coal collection.

Green Ore Bay, 150-100cm Oils and Coal on aged steel. One of the collection and an explorative piece looking at the Teals and Variegated Greens.

Sold 150-100cm Oils and Coal on Steel. Since the start of my career, I have been looking on how to manipulate the various hues involved in Red. To find Red in an industrial setting has never been a challenge, so to find this Red in Nottingham around the Radcliffe area was extra special.

Diptych of 2 pieces for the coal collection

Greenite Ore, 120-90cm Oils and Coal on Steel, The image which has been at the forefront of the “Coal” show and has appeared in all the press surrounding the event.

Coral Coal Ore 80-80cm Oils and Coal on a textured steel panel. Incorporating a mixture of the colours which I have utilised through this show.

Diptych of 2 of the pre curated pieces at the photoshoot before the opening

Sold. This was a piece finalised after the show had completed, the work had been made using plastics to form a horizon line, the main elements were coal and oils and the work itself had been hand angle ground and sanded. The work shows amazing elements of primitive industry with hand hammered edges.

Work on the wall curated by the George Thornton team during the event.

Shots from the work on the wall at George Thornton Art

Taken by Kelly Black who studied BA Fine Art Painting with me at Coventry University 95-98

2 of the collectors with their new piece at the show.

Storm, my daughter composed a soundtrack for the exhibition involving over 220 individual sound snippets for the show curated using Logic Pro, It was an amalgamation of sound which we had captured in the studio.