Happy New Year!

Let me start the first blog of 2013 by wishing you all a Happy New Year and sending a big THANK YOU for your continued support. 2012 was a year of discovery for the Acorn, looking at what we do and how we do it and what you like and whether we tick your boxes... thankyou for your votes of confidence :)

Last year we introduced even more independant artists including Sarah Louise Ewing, Louise Rawlings and Kerry Darlington. We held the UK's first ever one man exhibition by Andrei Protsouk who is widely regarded as a genius in the making!

'Olympic Tango' by Andrei Protsouk

A celebration of 2012

We also showcased work by Louise Rawlings who works with household emulsion! Her beautiful pieces are perfect for kitchens and landings and all rooms Farrow and Ball!

'Alfie on the Beach' by Louise Rawlings

Another of our new names is artist Sarah Louise Ewing whose jewel colours and gold leaf artistry has caught many an eye! Each new colour has found new appeal and you seem to like buying them in pairs!

'New Beginnings' by Sarah Louise Ewing

Kerry Darlington joined us here at The Acorn in August and her stunning original work has found new homes all across England! Kerry has just launched an amazing series of limited edition prints, of breathtaking quality, all of which have been very well received! 'Ophelia' is our favourite - we have sold three in a month!

'Ophelia' by Kerry Darlington

One of the highlights of our year was being asked to be the EXCLUSIVE stockist of limited edition prints by the fabulous Toni Hargreaves. Toni is renowned for her cow paintings, usually working on commissions of individual animals. Now, Toni has responded to requests for prints by producing three beautiful pieces available on boxed canvas or on paper.

'Broad Maud' by Toni Hargreaves

We are also pleased to be working with the very talented Paul Oz, explosive portrait artist of household celebrities and favourite characters. Pauls work spans many subjects but closely follows the world of sport and especially Formula 1. His amazing work hangs on many famous walls and his recent portrait of Bradley Wiggins was also bought by the man himself!

'Bradley Wiggins' by Paul Oz 

(Commissions Available)

Diane and I are currently planning the year ahead and hope to build on 2012 and bring you even more of what you love :) If there is anything you would love to see here at The Acorn then comment below or email us... We'd love to hear from you :)

An Art Explosion!

Last night we hot-footed it over to Manchester at the personal invitation of explosive portrait artist Paul Oz.

Paul was holding his latest exhibition at Generation Gallery and as we are hoping to have some of Paul's work here at The Acorn he issued an invitation to join him!

When you see his work up close you realise why he styles himself as 'explosive'.

'Mr Bean'

The Paul Oz style involves massive quantities of paint on impressive sized canvases applied in such a carefully thought out slapdash manner that upon close inspection you would wonder how anything could take shape... however when you take a step back the colours and the shapes meld together to reveal some of the strongest portrait work you will ever see!

Paul specialises in celebrity, people whose characters have become an iconic part of our world, interwoven with our memories. People of sport, of music and of television. People who, without trying, have become a part of our lives.

Of the 18 canvases that were displayed last night there were characters as wide-ranging as Ed Sheeran, Spock and Captain Kirk, Luke Skywalker, Lewis Hamilton, the legendary Muhammad Ali and long-time childrens favourite Miss Chatterbox!

'Spock' 

As a massive Formula 1 fan, Paul finds that these personalities feature regularly and indeed one piece which caused alot of attention last night featured Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna capturing the moment when Mansell picked up Senna at the side of the track and carried him on the wings of his car back to the pit at the end of the race. An iconic moment which many fans will remember...

'Senna and Mansell'

Whenever possible Paul likes to gain the approval of the celebrities he paints and will usually make a point of contacting them for signature or other endorsement. The painting of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was autographed with 'Big Love' and Paul explained that he had recently donated a painting to one of Jamie's favourite charities.

We would like to thank Paul Oz and the staff of the Generation Gallery for their warm welcome and thank you for hosting such an entertaining evening!

We are very excited and look forward to seeing some Paul Oz work here at the Acorn Gallery soon!

'Lewis Hamilton'