Delighted to be part of Herefordshire art (H-art) week starting on Saturday and going through to Sunday September 10th.... I will be exhibiting at 2 venues - at The Old Picture House in Kington with 5 other artisans and at Kingsland Church near Leominster. See more here https://lnkd.in/efnJBJBH I will be stewarding at Kingsland Church on Thursday 7th September and Friday 8th September afternoons from 2pm so please drop in for a chat and see 21 artisans exhibiting including me! Just for your interest #Inspirational, #thoughtprovoking, #stunning ..read more

This is a first for me - using a canvas to create an artwork on. Here I am applying Artspectrum Colourfix Primer to Loxleyarts Ashgate canvas. BEFORE:                                                    AFTER:         This allows me then to use soft pastel and pastel pencils as if on my usual Colourfix pastel paper.... I am doing this as a commission for a neighbour who wants a bluebell wood triptych but does not want to have glass in fron ..read more

This week September 3rd to 11th 2022 is an exciting one as I exhibit 24 of my detailed pastel artworks, at two venues, during Herefordshire Art (H-art) week    I have not exhibited my artworks since H-art, here at home, last year as I have been building a portfolio of new artworks.  This is my display at Kingsland Church HR6 9QW        Some of these artworks are available to purchase on this website and the newer ones will be available here also, if they do not sell this week.   I have also 12 pastel artworks at Grange Court in Leominster HR6 8NL as see ..read more

         Before I post "work in progress" photos of my latest pastel artwork of a vixen, I wondered what you thought of this postcard for marketing my commission artworks? I have chosen a range of subject matter for the front of this postcard and a bit about myself on the back.  I have to credit the talented Shelly Perkins wildlife artist for the idea of a postcard for promotions. Why not have a look at her amazing wildlife artwork on Instagram and follow her as well? She exhibits at the Artists Gallery in Ludlow, an excellent gallery to visit too ..read more

When I was invited enter the Light Space Time 12th Cityscapes Art Exhibition  last month I immediately thought of four of my detailed pastel artworks that may be suitable for entry. The first was a view of New York in the rain, but as I do not know who was the photographer for the reference photo I did not want to enter this. However this did sell many years ago and as I will not be promoting this artwork I will share it with you here. The next artwork I considered was Broad Street, Ludlow, in the rain. This was commissioned by a neighbour who happened to see the above artwork a ..read more

I am always happy to undertake a commission and this pet portrait of the labradoodle Molly is one such commission. The owner's partner Dave wanted to give the owner Mandy a surprise birthday present and chose Ivan to recreate Molly in pastel.   As I was not able to do Molly's portrait as I was very busy with commissions during COVID 2020, I produced a gift card that Dave gave her on her birthday. That allowed me to complete my commissions and exhibition artwork prior to commencing the portrait.    We took her photos here in our back garden and then her owner Mandy chose the one ..read more

"Dear Ivan, and Cathy   I wanted to personally write to you to thank you so much for the exquisitely beautiful portrait of Liesl which was truly a special surprise.   She has been hung pride of place in my living room where myself as well as any guests can admire her, and always comment on how her personality has been captured in the picture.   You made it a very wonderfully memorable day with cups of tea, a delicious lunch and tours of your beautiful garden, and other artistic masterpieces, really did come as a total surprise.   Liesl was such a big part of my life, spend ..read more

I was delighted today to have a text, from the owner of one of my limited edition fine art prints, showing the print of "The Carpenter" in his new frame. This is the original artwork created using soft pastels and pastel pencils on Artspectrum colourfix paper ( see more about the materials I use here....)      I am proud of how this print looks, both before and after framing. The quality of paper and ink used is excellent and the outcome, as shown here, is top notch. I can produce this sort of print from many of my artworks - see more here and free delivery too.....   A ..read more

  I was delighted to be approached by Kimberley, late last year, for a commission after she had seen my vintage car ( below) on an internet search engine.  Kimberley's partner has a birthday on February 17th and she wanted me to create an artwork of his racing car, a Lola T952, as a surprise for that day. As Kimberley lives in Rugby, Warwickshire, it was not possible for me to take photos of the car, let alone when it was racing, so she used Dropbox to share a number of photos with me. After explaining that the car had been damaged and repainted, and that she wanted an action photo ..read more

It is always good when a commissioned artwork is finally given to the owner so that it can be shared with you!  Usually I am asked to undertake a portrait, whether animal or person, for a birthday and so cannot reveal it until after the date of the gift giving. And so it was for Hugo, the labrador.   I was contacted by Paula, who has purchased and commissioned a number of pastel artworks from me, earlier this year. She asked me to undertake a portrait of "Hugo" for her niece, Lucy's, birthday on August 4th.   As Paula lives in Chelmsford and her niece lives in Sunderland I had ..read more