Rothbury in the goldfish bowl....

We would like to thank everyone who phoned, emailed (and even visited us) to check on our wellbeing this past week.  It’s great to know that we have such a loyal following!

It has been a bit of a circus in Rothbury, with events stumbling unexpectedly from farce to black comedy to tragedy. As you are probably aware, our local newspapers usually have headlines like “Youth Snatches Yoghurt” (a single carton of strawberry flavour for anyone who’s interested...) so this whole media frenzy has been a bit of a shock to our normally tranquil village.  Who would have imagined that our Jubilee Hall, better known for its keep fit classes and pantomimes, would be broadcast live on Sky TV...?  Completely surreal!

We’re a pretty resilient lot in Rothbury and not liable to hysteria- despite a certain amount of encouragement from some journalists.  But it has nevertheless been a strain for us to be dragged into such a wretched tale, where there wasn’t ever going to be a “happy ending”.

Now we are trying to get back to normal.  So if you find yourself in the Rothbury area, do drop into the gallery- we could do with all the cheery faces we can get and we promise to reciprocate with a smile!

You can also see an exhibition of my work at Bede’s World until August 1^st.   I am showing a series of wry drawings of family life in County Durham in the 1950s, and a group of still life paintings of family history and mining related objects.  

Hope to see you soon.