Painting Live 4th July 2009

The Acorn Gallery is delighted to invite you to meet talented contemporary artist Bob Barker who will be PAINTING LIVE in the gallery SATURDAY 4th JULY between 12-3PM.

Don't miss this unique opportunity to talk to Bob about his fantastic collection of signed limited editions and original paintings. Bob will be pleased to dedicate any purchases made on the day with a personal message.

We have no idea what Bob will be painting but it will be interesting to see him create an image before our eyes!!

Champagne and nibbles will be served so why not bring the family as Pocklington has ample parking and the town has lots of things to see and do!!

Huge Thanks!!

We have now made the draw for the raffle and we can reveal that the winner is ... BECKY MACKENZIE of Becky MacKenzie's Homemade Cakes in Pocklington!! Congratulations Becky :-)

We raised an impressive £184 all of which will be donated to Marie Curie Cancer Care following Diane's fundraising bike ride to Amsterdam earlier this month.

Diane & I would like to say a huge THANKS for your support with sponsorship and raffle tickets over the last few months!

You will be pleased to know that there are no more sponsored events in the pipeline but there will still be plenty happening here at The Acorn Gallery over the Summer so keep watching the blog for news!!

Amsterdame09 Last Day!!

The ferry landed at 8am in Hull and once they had cleared customs they were off!! The three groups kept to the original route up to Brantingham where they stopped for an hour and had a great write up on the pubs website. Check out the article headed Daffodil Girls..at www.thetritoninn.com under the news link.

From there they headed to Howden through some pretty villages. After a very nice pub lunch they headed towards Knedlington and on to Barmby On The Marsh, cycling along the river bank. Whilst on the river bank Diane asked Craz, leader of Team Chaos ( this was the name they gave themselves!!), if she could ring our daughter Emily, as they were going to go through Hemingbrough. Craz said yes so Diane rang ahead and announced that Team Chaos would be riding through the village! The whole team stopped outside the church and Emily managed to get a hug from Diane and also gave hugs to Lisa, Jayne & Lianne.

Diane told me later on that the whole team was in tears when hugs were being handed out and that after she received her hug it spurred her on and she flew the rest of the way!!

At 6pm 54 ladies could be heard singing 'Here Come The Girls' and as they rounded the corner in to the car park they were honking their horns, waving their arms and shouting 'Woop Woop!' at the tops of their voices! Immediately there were party poppers going off, champagne corks being popped and lots of cheering and clapping. You should have been there it was amazing!!

For the next hour there were lots of photos and hugs and tears as the girls greeted family and friends but also as they said goodbye to each other - who knows if they will all meet up next year for Amsterdame10??



Diane has had an amazing trip and is still on a high. What an achievement 250 miles in 5 days! A lot of hard work by all the ladies but special thanks must go to the ride guides, Craz, Gaz, Matt, Ginny, Michelle and Sian and to Mitch & Simon from Red Courier who provided the support vehicles and who according to Craz were fantastic!!


The Ride Guides!!

Diane & I would like to thank everyone who has made a donation and I can tell you all that as I write this entry the total currently stands at £22,431.70 which is an amazing total!!

If you feel inspired by the ladies and want to donate then please go to www.justgiving.com/amsterdame09 and if you want to do the ride next year then look up Charity Adventure who organise these events at www.charityadventure.org.uk.



All I can say is ... what's next???

Amsterdame09 Day 3

Spoke to Diane who advises that the ride back from Amsterdam to Rotterdam was fine and that they made good time as they were at the ferry terminal by 6pm however she did have a bit of a tumble but is ok.

Spoke to Diane later on around 10pm after she had managed to get a shower and some food. Diane says the whole team is in high spirits and that a few of the ladies are now feeling the aches and pains. I wonder if the bottles of champagne had anything to do with the high spirits!! Diane says they are all looking forward to docking in Hull and the final leg back to York.

The ladies are aiming to be back in York for 6pm. You can still donate on line at www.justgiving.com/amsterdame09.

I will update you tomorrow on the last leg of the journey.

Amsterdame09 Day 2

Just a quick update, spoke to Diane on Saturday evening at around 6.45pm she advises that they had docked at Rotterdam around 8am but had only just arrived due to delays getting off the ferry and through passport control!!

Diane advises that they had covered 75 miles today and that she was feeling fine. They stopped on route and had a fantastic pack up thanks to P & O Ferries. Lunch was at the waters edge to a lake where they sat and watched people water sking, sailing and having a swim!!

Diane informs me that Holland is so cycle friendly it is fantastic and I get the feeling that if our kids were not in the middle of exams etc we could be moving!!!

Sunday was a rest day so Diane has had a cruise on one of the canals and sat and relaxed had a meal out and took a walk round Amsterdam taking lots and lots of photos!!

Today Monday is the return cycle back to Rotterdam. I will update you all after I have spoken to Diane tonight.

In the mean time please donate on line at www.justgiving.com/amsterdame09

Amsterdame09 Day 1

Up at 6am, had a shower then breakfast loaded the car with the bike and luggage and set off for McArthur Glen arriving bang on 8am.

We parked up and off loaded Dianes bike and luggage. Fitted her panniers and handlebar bag to the bike and Diane had a quick ride round the car park to make sure everything was working ok.

We then had many photo opportunities before Gary & Richard the lead ride guides called all the ladies together and give them a safety briefing, more photos were taken and then the ladies were told to go to the toilet and make sure they filled their water bottles up!!



After lots of hugs and kisses from family and friends the ladies were all lined up at the start line. The ladies have been split into three groups and to avoid any crashes at the start they were set off at 5 minute intervals.

I am able to track the ride and noticed after about an hour and a half Dianes group had stopped. Diane informed me that one of the ladies had got a puncture and so they were busy fixing it and taking the chance to take on board some water!!

The group arrived in Market Weighton for lunch at 12.30pm, had a tea break at 3.30pm at Brantingham and arrived on the outskirts of Hull at 5.30pm. They eventually arrived at the ferry terminal around 6.30pm



They boarded the ferry around 7.15pm and set sail at 9pm. Diane did say that the ride was hard due to a few hills and the pace was quicker than they were expecting but she is feeling good, she has no aches and no sore bits!!

Diane and all the ladies are feeling good and relaxed and they are even collecting donations on the way!!

Please sponsor them at www.justgiving.com/amsterdame09. The total needed is £30,000 and it currently stands at £21,500. This is a massive task and it will spur the ladies on if I can say the total has gone up again!!

More uodates to follow but in the mean time please sponsor the ladies :-)

New Arrivals...

We love it when we get a delivery but today was especially nice as we have been waiting for this little guy for months!

Peter Smiths latest sculpture 'My First Love' was released in February but has only just started to arrive in galleries - but he was well worth waiting for!

He sits perfectly with any of Peters prints and with the edition being limited to only 150 worldwide - well you can guess he won't be around for long!

Come in and say hello next time you're passing!

Amsterdame 09!!

Well May has been a funny old month! The odd day has been busy but mostly its been very quiet! Have you all been on holiday?

Having some quiet time has given us chance to plan some exciting events for the summer - make sure you get your name on the database so you can find out what's happening!

I know you like to know who's hot right now and so here are the top sellers for this month:-

1. Alexander Millar
2. Paul Kenton
3. Paul Horton

Congratulations Alex, top spot for the third month in a row. Well done!!

Well June is here and Dianes 250 mile bike ride is only 5 sleeps away. Diane, Lisa, Lianne and Jayne leave on Friday 12th and return Tuesday 16th. In total there will be nearly 60 of them going and it will be a sight to see them on their way!

I will apologise in advance as the gallery will be a little late opening on the morning of the 12th as I will be there to wave them off!! On Tuesday 16th the gallery will close a little earlier than usual as I want to be there to see them cross the finishing line!!

Don't worry - I'll get photos for the blog so you can see for yourselves!

To sponsor Diane please go to http://www.justgiving.com/amsterdame09 or call in to the gallery and make a pledge on her sponsor form. It is in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care and they are trying to raise £30,000!! They are already over the £10k mark so they are well on the way!!

Don't forget the PRIZE DRAW - If you haven't bought a raffle ticket yet then you still have time as the draw is not till the 19th June. The prize is a superb signed limited edition print by Paul Kenton (this months second top seller!) All proceeds from the sale of tickets are also going to Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Well that's it for now - more entires will surely follow as I hear from Diane on her travels. Check back soon :-)

Competition

On 12th June Diane is setting off on a bike ride to Amsterdam with 53 other ladies to raise much needed funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care! They are hoping to raise £30,000!!

The Acorn Gallery are pleased to announce a competition in support of their efforts and the prize is a signed limited edition print by Paul Kenton called Early Light Amsterdam - see picture below:-



This superb print will be framed and is valued at £199.00. All proceeds from the sale of the tickets will be going to Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Raffle tickets are £1 each and are available from the gallery. Whether you want to buy 1 or 100 pop in and gets yours now and help Marie Curie reach their total of £30,000. Remember tickets are only £1 :-)

Diane will be setting off from McArthur Glen Designer Outlet in York at 9am on Friday 12th June and is due back at about 6pm on Tuesday 16th June.

The raffle will be drawn on Friday 19th June 2009 and the winner will be notified accordingly.

If you wish to sponsor Diane then you can do so on-line at www.justgiving.com/amsterdame09 Please mention her name in your message!

We will let you know how she gets on so watch this space for news...