Hello February!!

Its February and we can finally waive goodbye to the January blues!! We even had sunshine this week already!

January was a fairly quiet month but we can still let you know the top artists were:-

1. Alexander Millar/Govinder Nazran/Paul Horton
2. Peter Smith/Caroline Shotton
3. Mike Jackson

A three way tie for first spot and a two way tie for the second spot!! Congratulations to all the artists!!

We have alot to fit into February - it's going to be a busy month!! Starting with our sons birthday on Friday - he will be 14!!! (I think he sleeps in a growbag as I swear he is getting bigger every day!!)

Its is also the Spring Fair event held by Washington Green to launch the latest work by all of their top artists! This is the first chance for us to see what they have been up to since their last release in September. We'll be able to chat to them first hand and get the run down on the background ideas for their new work.

We are hoping to be good on Sunday and not spend to much but we say this at every one of these events and end up buying lots of great pieces to display in the gallery.

Diane and I are very excited to see that an artist who we have had our eye on for a while will be launched at this event! When we approached him about taking his work at The Acorn he advised us that he had just signed with a major art publishers! Fortunately for us Washington Green have snapped him up - and we think you will too!! Look out for news of a LAUNCH EXHIBITION to be held here soon!!

Of course February is the month of St. Valentine and The Acorn Gallery has prepared a few suggestions in our 'Valentine's Day' Gallery (14th February just in case you couldn't remember the date!!) AND we are offering a FREE box of chocolates when you spend £100 or more in store with one lucky customer winning a bottle of bubbly too!!

As if all of that isn't enough... we are also really pleased to be showcasing the work of new artist Phil George, a North East painter who's characters, Norman and Reggie, reflect the ups and downs of post recession Britain. We are sure you'll be enchanted with this charming new work - we think he is one to watch!

It's all going on at The Acorn! More news coming soon!

A Strange Few Days!!

Over the weekend I decided to give another coat of oil to the gallery floor and with the help of my brother in law this was achieved! And if I say so myself I think we did a good job!!

Monday came and the gallery was closed as we were due to go to Birmingham to the ICC to view the new releases by this seasons top artists, including Peter Smith, Alexander Millar, Caroline Shotton, Paul Horton and Bob Barker to name but a few.

Unfortunately we awoke Monday morning to 4 inches of snow and warnings not to travel if your journey wasn't essential! Although the trip was important we weighed up the odds and having looked at all available forecasts Diane decided that our trip to the ICC could wait until Tuesday in the hope of better weather.

Instead I decided to open the gallery and turned up to find myself sticking to the floor which hadn't dried as well as expected due to the very low temperatures!

As the schools were also closed I spent Monday with Diane and the kids! (When I was at school we were there in all weathers and all temperatures - in fact the teachers would make every effort to get there just to make us work!!)

Anyway, Tuesday arrived and surprisingly we awoke to find that the snow had pretty much gone and so off we went to Birmingham, before the weather changed its mind!

We arrived in good time to find the ICC beautifully laid out with all the new work - wow it looked stunning! Usually the place is packed out with artists and fellow gallery owners, however many had not been able to make it or had left early due to the weather! This meant that we almost had the place to ourselves!!

The new work is fantastic (but then we would say that wouldn't we?) but we are sure that when you see it for yourselves you will be impressed! Images have not yet been released for the website to be updated but I am itching to get going with it and you will know as soon as I have done it!

If you are not sure if we have your email address for updates then do please send a quick message asking us to include you - we'd rather have you twice than not at all!

Anyway, today we opened up and found the floor had dried beautifully - it looks as good as new! The smell of oil still lingers a little but it's too cold to have the door open for long to clear it so I am feeling a little light headed!!

As I say it has been a stange few days!!

Oh What A Month!!

What a month! January blues have not surfaced this year and it has been a cracking month for sales. Many of you are finding the on-line ordering very useful so my thanks go to Jim for all his work on getting it up and running.

And so to February - with new Valentines releases due out soon there will be plenty to see and plenty of reasons for you to feel inspired to purchase a fabulous and unique gift for your loved one, whether it be your wife/husband, girlfriend/boyfriend or even for yourself!!

More and more people are coming to the conclusion that money looks much better on your wall in the form of a piece of art, rather than just as numbers on your bank statement!

This is borne out by the fact that we have sold work by 15 different artists this month - so far! The lead is currently held by Alexander Millar with Govinder Nazran coming a close second. The sad death of Govinder last month has left several of you looking for a souvenir of his work.

With the new season comes the Spring Fair which is the trade show where the we get to go and see the new images due to be released over the coming months. It is a great day out and a chance for us to chat with the artists and get first hand information as to their inspiration for painting a particular piece.

The gallery will therefore be closed on Monday 2nd Feburary but we are open as usual from 9.30am on Tuesday 3rd.

I promise to update you all with the new pieces and as soon as I have the images then the website will be updated too!

Watch this space!!

Exciting Times Ahead!!

Monday 8th September was the day we arrived at the ICC in Birmingham all charged up ready to see the new images from all your favourite Washington Green artists.

However we nearly didn't make it pass the armed police and security staff due to the Cabinet having a meeting in the same building (the first time they have met outside of London in nearly 100 years)!!!

Eventually after scouring many lists access was granted and all I can say is we were NOT disappointed!

The work on display was staggering - so many fabulous pieces and some really stunning collections!

Peter Smith & Jeff Rowland both deserve a huge pat on the back for they each had a large selection of work (8 images and 7 images respectively) and the collections are so strong that they are sure to be incredibly popular! This will be supported by appearances by Peter and Jeff at galleries stocking their work - more exciting news to follow on this front very soon!!

You will all remember the incredible sell-out popularity of Peter Smiths 'Naughty Step' - well we are deligted to announce that there is a follow-up! It is simply fantastic and will pull at your heart strings for sure!

If you are lucky enough to have the 'Naughty Step' then you will certainly want this to complement it ... but if you missed out on 'Naughty Step' then you will want to get in early and avoid disappointment for this piece! It is called 'Do You Come Here Often' and it is a box canvas. It is priced at £575.00 and images will be available very soon - let us know if you are interested, early reservation of this piece is highly reccommended!!

I have to say that all the artists have stepped up their game and the new releases are truly outstanding and I can see no weak pieces at all.

We were also shown new work by Scott Carruthers and Mark Edwards both very interesting.

Mark Edwards is already a well established artist and has had many solo exhibitions. Mark was the illustrator for the Chronicles Of Narnia and helped on the set of the films!!

Exciting times are ahead and we will update the website as soon as we can. If you are interested in any pieces then please contact us at the gallery sooner rather than later!!