Many who have followed Robert's development over the years will have observed the wide range of subjects he has tackled from still life to landscape; from gorse bushes to goats; and from ships and boats to fish as well as every possible mood of the sea. Often galleries ask artists to paint to one consistent theme when working towards a solo show, but as Robert himself has said he finds this restricting and in turn this limits his imagination and sense of spontaneous creative reaction to a moment in time. Hence Robert's next exhibition will be a selection of different subjects that have all inspired him over the past year.

For Robert, painting the ever-shifting lights of the sea, sky and landscape equates to capturing a parallel range of human emotions. This is why so many make a human connection to his art. It is not just about decoration, pretty colours painted with great facility and flair, but a reflection of the artist's and our own changing moods and feelings.

A recent trip on a square-rigged sailing ship in the Tall Ships race from Falmouth to Ilhavo in Portugal has given Robert a fresh view of painting the sea. When there is 360 degrees of horizon and you are just aware of the sea and the sky, it's a unique experience says Robert. He is an artist whose name is synonymous with paintings of the sea in all its moods as well as its many related aspects, be it sky, clouds, seabirds, ships and boats, buoys, the shore line or fish. The ocean has been a subject of his paintings since he was a young man. As an artist and mariner Robert has always been fascinated by others in art history who have been associated with the sea, and he has written biographies of the artists Alfred Wallis and Reuben Chappell.

Robert grew up on the north coast of Cornwall, in Newquay, and after art school at Falmouth and teacher training at Brighton he taught for three years at Summerhill School in Suffolk, then, on returning to Cornwall he spent seven years as a skipper of various fishing vessels. His knowledge of life at sea as a working fisherman stood him in good stead for working as a 'plein air' painter, where in order to capture the magic of a passing cloud or a shift in light across the water, he has worked despite the cold and exposure to the elements to capture the exact moment in paint.

A key part of his experience on the Tall Ships was meeting the characters on board the vessels. Robert found the strength and enthusiasm of the young crew particularly fascinating and on getting to know them discovered one girl was a musician. She reminded him of paintings he created of his children when they were younger, playing various instruments. Three of them grew up to become professional musicians. This encounter provoked Robert to tackle this subject once again leading to the creation of a series of paintings inspired by the young musician as she practised the saxophone and flute. As he says 'I became absorbed by this subject, a complete diversion from what I was doing'.

Robert has always had an affinity with in the Welsh landscape and often visits it as a break from Cornwall to draw upon new inspiration. On a recent visit on his way to paint a mountain he suddenly found himself captivated by a glimpse of an old oak tree 'a dark presence in the otherwise sunlit landscape. A dark oak with animals in the shade beneath, as well as this the tree was a world to itself, a home to other animals birds and insects.' It is seemingly simple subjects such as this that suddenly captivate him as an artist and lead to a detailed exploration of one subject, an expressive reaction that constantly renews his passion for painting.

Robert's early work was self limited to drawing in black and white, introducing colour slowly through coloured pencil drawings. In contrast his current bold, expressive use of colour seems even more confident and assured. This exhibition provides an opportunity to view the mature painting of a true Cornish artist who knows the subject of the sea like the back of his hand but still finds new ways to express it and continues to give it new meaning. It has also provided Robert to explore his creative eye anew, examining a variety of subjects that no doubt will continue to change and evolve in the weeks before the exhibition.' For me this promiscuous eye is the stuff of painting. Always by the seat of my pants, always the just in time'.