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.

Poppies

It's June.... and at the moment it could be described  as "Blazing June"- the best antidote to the cooler weather we've been experiencing recently.   It's time for me to start looking for sites for seeing poppies. One of the ways I track down those elusive poppies is to take a double decker bus ride from Alnwick down to Newcastle via the coastal villages.  It's a slow lumbering route and certainly not the quickest journey from A to B, but it's well worth my time, because from the upper deck I can spot where the poppies happen to be flowering.  They can be invisible from the lower viewpoint of the car, especially as most of our fields still have thick hedgerows.  Later I can drive to the appropriate fields to sketch and take photos to paint from.  I love painting the scarlet delicacy of poppies- you just can't have too many of them!

Here are some of my most recent poppy paintings- from LAST year's crop.

"Poppy Cottage"

The Edge of the Poppy Field

Poppy Hillside

Bamburgh Castle with Poppies. 

Poppy Farmhouse

Below- Blazing June

GRANNY GOBSMACKED TO BE GRABBED AND GIFTED BY GAZZA!

My mum in law was alone at the rural bus stop near her house waiting for a bus into Rothbury this morning, when a big estate car pulled in alongside her. A man leaped out of the passenger side and proceeded to give her a big hug.  Standing back and looking down at her, he then asked if she was going to have a good Christmas. "Yes...” she replied.  He then dived back into the car for a box of chocolates, which he thrust into her hands saying "Well here's your first present!", before driving off.  She's in shock-it was Geordie legend Paul Gascoigne.

Just as well she recognised him- otherwise she might have lamped him- tiny as she is!

My Latest Small Paintings

Here are some of my latest, ever popular, small 12cm X 12cm acrylic, paintings of Northumberland. I've got lots more in the Gallery.  They are £69.00 each mounted and framed in beautiful natural oak. Postage and packing is an additional £8 to mainland UK.  If you are sending it as a gift I'll even gift wrap it and include a card with your personal message. Email me at sales@crownstudio.co.uk or phone 01669 622890 to make a purchase.  CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO SEE IT BIGGER

Cheviot from Outer Golden Pot

Bluebell Woods

Cheviot Wild Goats

Cheviot from Ros Castle

Coquet Snows on Simonside

Fog & Frost Coquetdale

Inquisitive Sheep

Poppy Fields

Snowdrop Woods

Snowy Birches

Snowy Woods

Snowy Woods

Bluebell Woods

An original painting by Lynda Taylor

£69.00

12cm X 12cm painting mounted framed behing glass in a solid oak frame

Special introductory offer includes poatage & packing within the UK

THIS OFFER IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

Simonside Snow- Dog Walkers on the Riverside Walk

I love it when we have snow like this- fabulously decorative but not in danger of blocking the main roads!  So I'm hoping that we get a good covering during the Christmas period.   It's years since I made a snowman- and now that I have a baby granddaughter, I have the perfect excuse to get wrapped up, get outside and get building......   

"The (other, perfectly polite) C word" - Christmas

 I'm much better organised for Christmas in the gallery than usual this year.  Part of me doesn't even like to think about "the (other, perfectly polite) C word" until after Halloween and Bonfire Night... It just seems too much like wishing the year away, instead of savouring the slow glide from autumn into winter.

 But when you have to arrange to have stock from very small manufacturers, it pays to be well prepared .   And with the added risk of a postal strike too, I decided to stock up on "stocking thrillers" in October this year.  So here I am- with everything from "Coquet Characters" (hilarious, specially commissioned brooches shaped like local Coquetdale people) to knitted cakes(!) and anodised aluminium jewellery.  And what has happened??  I guess I should have expected it-  people are buying up all my new stock.  So it looks like I'll just have to order MORE.    It's a good problem to have.