You are here: Home » Newcastle
Tag Archives: Newcastle

Charity Christmas Cards

by on May 9, 2012 in Latest News, What's on the Drawing Board

Theatre Royal in the Snow on the Drawing Board

Theatre Royal in the Snow

Earlier this year I was approached by the charity The Cyrenians based in Newcastle who work with vulnerable, disadvantaged and homeless people. Sian Thomas, their marketing administrator, asked if they could use some of my paintings as Christmas Cards to help raise money for the charity which has been going for over 40 years.

Over the last 20 years or more, I know that the paintings I have done have raised thousands of pounds through being reproduced as Christmas cards, in particular for the Marie Curie cancer care, so I was more than happy to oblige.

We’ve decided to do three paintings of Newcastle, the first of which is this classic scene of the Theatre Royal in the Snow which was a sell out limited edition print. I’ve painted a similar view recently which I reproduced as a limited edition print titled Grey Street, Snow Shower.

I hope to finish the other two paintings, one of the Tyne Bridges, the other of the Angel, by the end of the month, so watch this space.

Comments { 0 }

Dunstanburgh Castle, November afternoon

by on April 30, 2012 in Limited Edition Prints, North East Prints

Dunstanburgh Castle, November Afternoon

Dunstanburgh Castle, November Afternoon

In November 2009 my birthday fell on our day off, a Monday, so Susan and I decided to celebrate by driving up the Northumbrian coast to Newton by the Sea to have lunch in The Ship Inn. After feasting on crab sandwiches and some local ale we walked along the beach towards Dunstanburgh Castle. I stopped to do a small sketchbook watercolour (yes even on my birthday) to capture the striking low light.

There was no wind and the sea was like a mill pond. I took some photographs and wasted little time in the studio to set about producing this watercolour which sold last year from a charity exhibition at the CastleGate in Newcastle in 2011. I did reproduce it as a limited edition print and sold another copy this afternoon to a couple purchasing it as a 40th birthday present for their daughter. There are only 25 copies in the edition which can be seen at my Studio and Gallery in Ponteland.

Comments { 0 }

Paintings of the Tyne Bridge

by on March 30, 2012 in Limited Edition Prints, North East Prints

Quayside Morning Mist

Quayside Morning Mist

Paintings of the Tyne Bridge have always been on demand and I’m always on the lookout for a different angle. This particular view titled Quayside, Morning Mist was inspired from seeing the Tyne Bridge one morning after a business breakfast meeting at the Slug & Lettuce. The morning had started off dull, dim, dark and damp but by the time I had left the meeting, the sun had begun to filter through the early morning mist, it’s rays bursting through the iconic structure of the magnificant Tyne Bridge.

The light was changing rapidly so there was no way I was going to be able to paint on location. I took a number of photographs and along with previous sketches made on Newcastle’s Quayside, I was able to do this A4 studio watercolour on hand made deckled edged paper. I deliberately kept my palatte simple to create extra mood and atmosphere with just a tiny dot of red for the traffic light on the left.

The painting has been reproduced as a limited edition print and has proved to be very popular, available both online and from my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland.

Comments { 0 }

Kidney Transplant

by on March 28, 2012 in Original Watercolours

Millennium Bridge, Rain's Past

Millennium Bridge, Rain's Past

In the autumn of 2006 Susan and I were filmed by the BBC for Songs of Praise to be shown on bonfire night. The programme was being broadcast from the CastleGate, the home of City Church Newcastle which Susan and I have strong links with. Songs of Praise wanted to interview several people from the church who had interesting life changing stories and they asked if we would share our story about how I gave one of my kidneys to Susan back in 2001. Susan had been going into renal failure through polycystic kidney disease. I was tested along with Susan’s mother,to see if either one of our kidneys would be a match, and remarkably mine was. Usually live donors are family members and because of Susan’s tissue type, the chances of receiving a kidney from a dead donor in the UK would have only been about 3%. A husband/wife donation is much more unusual. The operation took place on 27th June 2001 and has been a total success without any rejection. I commented on the programme the words of Jesus Christ on marriage and what I had said to the surgeon after the operation:

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh”? “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate”. Matthew 19:5-6

I said to the surgeon who had operated on me that the kidney would not reject because it became “one flesh” with Susan when we married each other.

Part of the filming took place on Newcastle’s Quayside and they asked me to do some painting on location. I decided to do this view of the Millennium Bridge which I tackled in one of my sketchbooks. The result was quite pleasing so I decided to do this larger 16″ x 12″ studio watercolour which depicts the bridge highlighted against the backdrop of a sky heavy laden with rain clouds. I think we were spared a heavy downpour during the filming, hence the title “Rain’s Past”!

The original watercolour can be seen  at my Spring Exhibition at my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland.

Comments { 0 }

Saddler Street, Durham

by on February 6, 2012 in Original Watercolours

Saddler Street, Durham, original watercolour

Saddler Street, Durham

Durham is a fine city to visit for the day. One of the highlights of my part-time teaching post at South Tyneside College was taking my students there for one of the painting projects I had set them. They had to do drawings of various aspects of the city, gather reference and take photographs as part of their research. I would lead by example, producing at least one watercolour painted on location. Our trip was usually in February and we would gather at the bottom of Saddler Street to brief the students on where to go and at what time we would re-assemble.

I always found the mid morning light at this particular point looking up the street engaging. It reminded me of a painting I had done of Newcastle’s High Bridge Street, so I decided to paint an original watercolour in the same style and colours which is currently on view at my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland.

Over the years, I’ve painted several other paintings of Durham including Durham in Winter, Durham in Summer and Durham in the Snow, all of which have proved to be popular limited edition prints.

Comments { 0 }

Tyne Bridge from the Keep

by on February 4, 2012 in Limited Edition Prints, North East Prints

Tyne Bridge from the Keep

Tyne Bridge from the Keep

I’m now at the stage in my career where some of the early paintings of Newcastle I’ve had reproduced as prints are now historical. They have captured views that have seen dramatic changes over the years. This view of the Tyne Bridge from the Keep is a prime example. I painted the original watercolour  around 1997 and it captures many elements that are either no longer there or have been transformed by re-developments.

The distant white building of Spillers Flour Mill, which has supplied Newcastle with flour since the 1930′s, has recently been demolished. At its peak in the 1970s it providing the flour for one in every 10 loaves baked in the UK with over 500 staff. Spillers supplied the baking industry for decades, including flour for Greggs and Home Pride flour, famous for Fred, their bowler-hatted mascot.

The Baltic, a home for seagulls at the time when I painted the scene, is now a contemporary art gallery and the empty space behind the iconic arch of the Tyne Bridge is now the home for the Sage, a venue for music lovers and the Newcastle/Gateshead Art Fair.

There have been two different boats berthed under the bridge since the early 1980′s, the Tuxedo Princess and Tuxedo Royale which were popular night clubs in their day. Despite all the changes, the limited edition print continues to sell. At the time of this post a customer called in to my Studio and Gallery in Ponteland to buy a copy to take out as a gift to a friend living in Australia.

Comments { 0 }

John Martin APOCALYPSE

by on January 13, 2012 in Exhibitions, Favourite Artists

John Martin Apocalypse

John Martin Apocalypse

This week I went to London to see the Da Vinci Exhibition at the National Gallery, (more on that on another blog post) but I also decided to take in the John Martin “Apocalypse” Exhibition at Tate Britain. This show was actually on last year at Newcastle’s Laing Art Gallery but I missed it. I almost missed it again as it finishes on the 15th January.

John Martin’s paintings were phenomenally popular. His spectacular paintings of Biblical scenes and vast landscapes attracted great crowds who would flock to exhibitions of his paintings to be enthralled and moved by the scenes and visions he portrayed. They would pay for tickets for the shows as the paintings went on tour, rather like we do today to see concerts or movies. Indeed, John Martin’s work continues to provide inspiration today for science fiction films, Hollywood blockbusters, video games, manga comics, musicians and artists.

I was particularly impressed by The Last Judgement Triptych depicting chilling scenes from the book of Revelation and the promise of eternal life for those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. The viewing of these three paintings was made even more relevant by a 10 minute light show every half hour with appropriate readings which I assumed were originally read when the paintings were first shown.

Last week I went to see the Turner Prize at the Baltic in Newcastle. The work on show there was about as relevant to 21st Century life as the Easter Bunny. John Martin’s paintings on show at Tate Britain are “right on the nail” today with the message they first communicated back in Victorian times. The exhibition finishes 15th January, so if you can make it, try to make the effort.

 

Comments { 0 }

Independence Preview

by on July 5, 2011 in Exhibitions, Latest News

Last night was the preview evening for the charity exhibition “INDEPENDENCE” to raise money for OWN IT. The evening was a great success with over 100 guests attending the CastleGate Centre (the home for City Church, Newcastle) to view the paintings and to take part in the charity auction.

There were some great prizes being auctioned on the night and several paintings were sold including the two original watercolours featured above of High Bridge Street in Newcastle and Dunstanburgh Castle, November afternoon.

The exhibition continues ever day this week, 10am-6pm, Tuesday to Friday and Saturday 10am-4pm. Please call 01661 871 800 or 0771 874 1546  for further details.

Comments { 0 }

St Giles, Edinburgh

by on June 15, 2011 in Limited Edition Prints, Scotland Prints

St Giles, Edinburgh

St Giles, Edinburgh

St Giles Cathedral stands proudly along Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile in-between the Castle and John Knox House. It has a distinctive crowned spire which reminds me of Newcastle’s St Nicholas Cathedral. Today it attracts a congregation of several hundred worshippers led by around 50 elders who manage the building and the church. When I say church, I mean the people, not the building.

For this particular painting of Edinburgh I wanted to make the Cathedral the main focal point, so I made took photographs of the sun hitting the stone work. This meant that most of the rest of the buildings were in shadow. To create further interest, I wanted to show the Royal Mile on a typical rainy Edinburgh day, so I took some reference photographs of the High Street in the rain with plenty of folk avoiding the puddles. Using a combination of photographs taken on two different days I was able to produce this watercolour capturing a burst of sunlight breaking out from behind the clouds after a heavy Scottish downpour. The red phone box and black cab add further colour and movement to the whole aspect of life in the city. It’s been one of my best selling limited edition prints of Edinburgh.

Comments { 0 }

Theatre Royal, Newcastle

by on June 9, 2011 in Limited Edition Prints, North East Prints

Theatre Royal, Newcastle

Theatre Royal, Newcastle

Grey Street was described by the architectural critic and writer Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as being the finest curved street in Europe. With its gentle curve of fine Georgian buildings sweeping down to the Quayside, it’s difficult for one to argue against that claim. BBC radio 4 listeners added to its praise describing Grey Street as the best street in Britain. Its jewel in the crown is the Theatre Royal which protrudes out from the classically proportioned columns and windows running either side of the street.

I first noticed this view taken from Emerson Chambers back in 1992 when I was doing a series of scenes of Newcastle taken from elevated vantage points. I managed to spend a morning painting on location sitting at one of the windows which gave me a deeper appreciation of the overall scenario. Together with reference photographs I produced this particular watercolour which was reproduced as a limited edition print. It has proved to be very popular over the years and is one of my best selling prints of Newcastle.

Comments { 0 }
← Older posts