I am afraid that the quality is not as good as I would have liked, on some of these pictures; however, I'm working on it! They were all scanned in with a hand-held "Genius" scanner, which is one of the reasons that only miniatures are on display here.

This is a freely-copied still life, after Luis Melendez, a Spanish painter famous for his still life pictures. The original (which is an oil) is in the National Gallery, London. It (the original) dates from 1772.

I have signed it on the box overlapping the table edge. My version is 2" x 2.75", watercolour on paper.

The next is a picture of Geevor tin mine in Cornwall, one of the last mines in Cornwall to remain working, which closed a few years ago. My wife and I went down the mine when it was in maintenance mode, about 10 years ago - it was quite an experience. The workings extend out under the sea, and the miners used to say you could hear the boulders moving on the sea bed when there was a storm! To get to the lower workings, you travel on an inclined plane railway - at about 30 degrees. When you stand at the top and look down, the tunnel in which the railway runs disappears in the distance to a small dot - quite awe-inspiring, really. I was surprised at how warm and dry everything was - not like the "good old days" of Cornish mining.

The painting is about 1.75" x 2.5", watercolour on paper. The source was a newspaper article about shares in Cornish mining, and was in black and white.

I don't paint many abstract pictures, particularly miniatures; I don't think many people like them! Here's one of the few. I have been experimenting with borders and frames, but have not yet resolved the best ones - you will probably see them change from time to time.

This was painted in a moment of fascination with gouache, which is a bit like "thick" watercolour. It is on paper and about 0.75" x 1.25".

This next picture is of a road a few miles from where I live. In the winter, this is one of the first roads to get affected by snow and ice, as it has a steep hairpin bend just out of site. I have painted this view several times, as it is one of my favourites.

This is painted with watercolour on card, and measures about 2.5" x 3.5", and is one of a pendant with a view in the opposite direction, down the hill.

Finally, a picture of standing stones on Dartmoor. This is a bit further away, too far to walk (for me, anyway), but after driving the car a few miles, you have to walk for a few more miles to get here - great exercise on a warm day.

This is another watercolour on paper, about 2.25" x 3". The source is a number of photographs I took some years ago, which show the complete set of stones. The sky and colouring is my own invention, if you were out on the moor at that time of night without a good torch you would find it difficult to get back!

Please send me your comments about my pictures!

If you are interested in a commission, please let me know.

Copyright © 1996 Roger Yeates
Most recent revision 30 September 1996