Exploring the coast on the Gower Peninsula - February 2022

Rock Formation III - Mixed-media on canvas

Welcome to my virtual art gallery.

The images you will see on this site represents a selection of the work I have created over a number of years, although nearly all have been done since I retired from teaching in 2013, with the majority of those done since I retired and moved to Dorset.

My career as an art teacher encouraged me to work with a wide range of media, techniques and processes and I have continued in this vein since leaving the profession. I enjoy the challenge of trying out new materials, or variations on a theme and gain a lot of my ideas from travelling, whether locally, in the Purbeck area of Dorset, or overseas, on visits to Costa Rica, Indo-China, California, New Zealand, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa, France or Italy.

I have tried to reflect the diversity of my work by dividing it into sections such as ‘Paintings’, ‘Prints’, etc. You will also notice a page devoted to ‘Shoes’, which shows a number of images I painted directly onto canvas shoes, using some of my favourite artists as inspiration.

I have been lucky enough to be able to join two art groups since my move to Dorset, Wareham Art Club and Purbeck Art Weeks. Through these groups, I have been able to produce a body of work and exhibit regularly in a variety of locations, such as Rollington Barn, Corfe, Wareham Town Hall, Farwells newsagents, Domus Estate Agents and L'Artishe Gallery, Swanage, as well as sending two pieces to Hemsbach in Germany. In 2017 I also had exhibitions at Arne RSPB nature reserve, the Etches Collection, Kimmeridge and Wool Dental Practice. During Purbeck Art Weeks in 2019, I again exhibited at Moira Purver's studio in Langton Matravers. That year, my work was based on three recent trips to Namibia, Normandy and Venice. Recently, I have been involved in an online charity auction, called Art4Action, which operates every three months.

As a challenge for 2022, I completed one sketch every day in an A6 sketch book, which I was kindly given as a Christmas present by my friend Katie. It was a really useful exercise, which I am repeating again this year.

My next projects are another departure into new territory for me. The first is a series of oil paintings of views of the Lake District, done on a variety of bathroom tiles. These were given to me by a local company who have just completed installing a new shower room, which was an unexpected bonus for my artwork! The second project is going to be a number of mixed-media paintings on canvas, based on images of derelict boats. I have already amassed a large number of photos of this subject, and I plan to use them as inspiration, whilst including bits of rope, wood and fabrics gathered from beaches.

You will also see a section on the website devoted to ‘George’. George was my father-in-law, who sadly died in 2013 after a long and fruitful life. His main obsession was photography and he passed on masses of help and advice, both practical and theoretical. I owe him a huge debt of gratitude for his support and enthusiasm, even when I was showing him some of my less inspiring photos. He left behind him a body of work that deserves as wide an audience as possible and I will continue to do my small part in ensuring his legacy remains in the public eye, for others to enjoy.

If you like what you see and would like to contact me, including any sales enquiries, please feel free to email me at rogerlockey@btinternet.com or through my Facebook page.

RJL

A Futuristic Venetian Mask

1 Mask template, first holes and watches in place.jpg

2 Watches covered and primer coat added.jpg

12 Completed mask with phone coil added.jpg

A Shining Individual - A Tribute to my Mum

This series of images shows the development of a painting based on Wareham Forest from autumn 2020, shortly after my mum had passed away. The solitary birch tree represents my mum and the numerous conifers behind refer to the tens of thousands of people who died during the Covid epidemic. Each one of us probably has at least one 'shining' individual who we can remember vividly, whether it is a friend or family member.

Sweet Memories

This painting is based on an idea which I first had quite a long time ago, to depict a subject harking back to simpler times, when small treats could bring much pleasure. It seemed particularly apt to work on this idea at the current time, when positive emotions are even more precious.

I wanted the final image to have a worn and tarnished look, so I chose to paint on two pieces of a rusty road sign that I had found in a derelict shed I was demolishing earlier this year. I liked the idea that a memory might be incomplete, so I allowed parts of the original sign, as well as the rust and stains to show through the painting, as well as creating four fragments within the composition, separated by torn edges suggestive of parts of overlapping ripped posters you might see on a wall.