I had a tremendous day today here in Dubai. Ross Bain and Doug McConnell are absolutely fantastic gentleman that have made all this possible for me. Without them I couldnt be here and a very special thank you to both of them. Doug who has looked after me tremendously since I have been here is a special man and I probably will never be able to repay his kindness. The best thing I can do is to make a success of the opportunity I have been given and I plan to do this with both hands.
Day One – The Duabai Dessert Classic Champion of Champions.
It was a brilliant day at the Omega Dubai Dessert classic with Henrik Stenson and Cabrera Bello sharing the honours at 6 under par. It was the first time I have painted live on the golf course and it is a fantastic experience. All the winners from the tournament over the last 25 years were here competing and I got the chance to paint them and also to portray the iconic Dubai Architecture that is in the backdrop of this amazing golf course. My first impression of Dubai is that it is like a space age kind of city, the sort of place that you would find on Mars. It is an exceptional place with beautiful architecture and its structure really suits me and my art work down to the ground. The futuristic clubhouse really sets the tremendous emirates golf club apart from anything I have ever seen before. I decided to set to work at the iconic 18 th hole and decided to pick Henrik Stenson, the charismatic Swedish golfer as my main source of interest. He was the leader at that stage, so I set up my easel to a backdrop of spectacular scenery with the omega hospitality sweet firmly in the background. In this painting I was generally looking to create something that captured the essence of golf Dubai, the 25th Anniversary of this prestigious tournament and the champion of champions day. I wanted this painting to tell a story of the day. Here I am just about to start. The photos that follow capture the atmosphere of the day. I managed to capture Stenson and have called the painting “Stenson looking on at the 18th”
