I have been painting seriously for 40 years, initially in Watercolour and I appeared in Watercolour Challenge in 1999. I then moved onto oils and more recently Soft Pastels and have developed, I think, a fairly unique style using inks and roller to form a base on which to lay the pastels

On early retirement I formed my own painting class which lasted many years but now I do demonstrations and workshops in Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire. I try to be as informative as possible and encourage involvement from the audience.

I have been a member of The Wapping Group of Artists since 2005 and Chelsea Art Society from 2007. I exhibit fairly regularly at The Mall Gallery in London with The Pastel Society and The Royal Society of Marine Artists.

I never forget that the audience has come out to a demonstration for many different reasons. Hopefully to broaden their artistic knowledge, but also for the company of like- minded people and of course entertainment. I like to think that my demonstration fills these criteria.

I give the audience many tips that I have learnt over the years together with being very informative. My style with Soft Pastels is loose impressionistic and I use inks and roller to produce a vibrant ground to work on.

In Mixed Media I use collage, acrylic, inks and pastels ,great fun.

For more information please see my website www.rickholmes.co.uk

Based in Surrey , I am happy to travel 1.5 hours from Guildford.