Liverpool, United KingdomI usually work directly on site, outdoors often in the gardens of a local park although the series of paintings in the 2004 exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery were carried out before extensive building work obscured the views. I use heavy weight watercolour paper and Finity acrylic paints starting with a coloured ground. Applying the ground gets me started. The advantage of acrylics is that they are quick drying – you can build up layers and make changes quickly – ideal for working outside. For his work exhibited at the Williamson Art Gallery in 2004, Mike received the prize for 'Consistent High Standard in a Group of Works', awarded by the Fine Art Trade Guild. The paintings exhibited with NAPA at the Obsidian Gallery in 2008 are a small selection of a series of about 70 which have been carried out from December 2006 to the present, and the project is not yet finished. From the studio of the Liver Sketching Club in Hanover Street, Liverpool it overlooks the Paradise Project site and show its development. Work was carried out weekly over one or two days. Some were done in one session, others took longer. Most are on paper but there are a few on canvas. I used acrylics, watercolours, inks and various drawing materials employing different techniques as I went along. Ideally I would want to show the majority of the work in one venue, as it depicts the development of a building site from initial work to finished buildings. All work was carried out by direct observation and I would like to thank the Liver Sketch Club for allowing me to work from its studio.

Mike Hatjoullis NAPA