Why I'm not reviewing the ROI and RMS Exhibitions - yet!

The short answer is that it's very definitely not for the want of wanting to travel into London to see the annual exhibitions of:

• The Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI)
• Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers (RMS)

at the Mall Galleries this week and next - until 1pm on Sunday 8th December.

The longer answer is I've been kiboshed by my duff ankle yet again. Earlier this month a Consultant Radiologist at Barts Hospital gave my ankle an ultrasound and announced I had three bits of bone floating free in my right ankle.  I looked at the picture - they looked rather big and rather sharp to me. They probably account for why I keep suffering from extreme pain and immobility i.e. I have to stop walking. I knew from the last lot of scans in 2016 that I had one bone fragment in my ankle due to my osteoarthritis (it had broken off). It would seem that the increasing rate of problems with my ankle is almost certainly due to the increased number of slivers of bone which are in places they shouldn't be.

Being on my feet for much of the evening at the PV of a new exhibition last week finished off my ankle for this week. Hence why I have not yet visited these two exhibitions which I always love to visit.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Shopping this morning was OK for the first half and not OK for the second half - which suggests that a trip into the Mall Galleries might have to wait a bit longer still. I hope to get there at some point next week.

More about the 2019 Annual Exhibitions

Mall Galleries pages with details of each exhibition are below

• Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2019 27 November 2019 to 8 December 2019
• Royal Society of Miniature Painters Sculptors and Gravers 2019 28 November 2019 to 8 December 2019
• both are open 10am to 5pm (closes 1pm on final day)

Below are some links to those who would like to visit or catch up on who has done will in the prizes and news of demonstrations

Royal Institute of Oil Painters

The Mall Galleries website includes a virtual exhibition of the work in the show. Just scroll down this page to see most of the works in the exhibition.

ROI 2019 prizewinners on the ROI website is a news item about the winners of the prizes at their exhibition - with images of the winning paintings - one of which is pictured above.

White Peonies in a Green Bowl by Linda Alexander ROI SBA
Winner of the The Alan Gourley Memorial Award
Oil on linen, 42cm x 42cm
£2950
(Currently in the ROI Exhibition at the Mall Galleries)

The ROI Art Event Evening will be held on 3 December 2019, 6:00pm to 8:30pm - however the event is now sold out.

Royal Society of Miniature Painters Sculptors and Gravers 2019

This page on the RMS website details the awards made to artists as a result of artwork exhibited in the 2019 Annual Exhibition.

I'm very pleased to see that Dorian Radu, an artist who has been a client of mine is amongst the prizewinners. I thought his painting skills might be well suited to the demands of the RMS - where paintings are limited to not bigger than 4.5" x 6" (11.5 x 15cm) - and recommended their open exhibition to him!



The RMS have member artists demonstrating on the following days.

• Sun. 1st December - Marian Tumelty VPRMS - A composition of natural objects in watercolour on vellum.
• Mon. 2nd December - Paul Eaton VPRMS - Sculpture using investment casting wax to create original sculpture, using low voltage soldering iron and various stainless-steel carving tools
• Tues. 3rd December - Alison Griffin RMS - A Conservatory interior scene in acrylic, on board
• Wed. 4th December - Carole Flanders VPRMS - A Dog in water mixable oils, on paper
• Thurs. 5th December - Michael Coe RMS - Portrait on vellum, in watercolour
• Fri. 6th December - Barbara Valentine RMS - Still Life in watercolour, on ivorine.
• Sat. 7th December - Helen White RMS - Medieval inspired designs in watercolour, on vellum