Catching up...

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since we blogged! Did you miss us? Lol :)

We've had a busy few weeks and it's a shame we haven't found time to tell you about them... until now! Gosh, where do we start?

Following the success of the exclusive 'Icon Collection' from Paul Horton we are surprised and delighted to tell you that there is still some availability on three of the images! I know, we can't believe it either! It seems the summer holidays have got the better of you and maybe you think that the collection had sold out before you could bagsy a piece for yourself? Well although the collection has sold out from the publisher we at The Acorn still have three pieces so get in quick and secure your favourite... :)

'Love Shines Down' by Paul Horton (Icon Collection)

Hamish Blakely has seen some action these past few months too with some sales from the Muse Collection and a fabulous original piece which has now found a new home in Guernsey!

Some of you may be envious to know that Caroline Shotton's gorgeous original 'I Can See Moo' is also now sold, much to the delight of its new owner who had almost given up hope of ever owning one of Carolines originals!

In fact original art is really coming into its own and several other stunning original pieces have also found their way onto walls up and down the country, including work by Peter Smith, Kevin Day, Mike Jackson, Doreen Greenshields, Maureen Crofts and Harry Brioche.

I know some of you will be keen to learn who is topping the charts in the art world so just for you here are the TOP SELLERS for the last few months:

May: Bob Dylan, Alexander Millar, Drew Darcy (Originals by Kevin Day, Mike Jackson, Maureen Crofts)

June: Caroline Shotton, Paul Horton, Peter Smith (Originals by Mike Jackson, Peter Smith, Harry Brioche)

July: Bob Dylan, James Milroy, James Blinkhorn (Originals by Doreen Greenshields, Caroline Shotton, Hamish Blakely)

So, what is new and coming up at The Acorn?

Well the next big thing is happening this Bank Holiday Saturday when we are inviting anyone and everyone to come along dressed up as a character from Batman and Robin... we are expecting a good spattering of each and if we're lucky, perhaps even a Poison Ivy... There will be a prize for everyone who dresses up :)

Holy Dash Batman by Craig Davison

And the occasion? Well we have four brilliant new pieces from Craig Davison who loves to draw from childhood make-believe for his work... Of course if any grown-ups fancy getting dressed up too then there will be a special prize for you ;)

Are you game for a laugh? Fancy dressing up? Go on... We Dare You!

Elephant Parade London 2010

At The Acorn Gallery we have been following this fantastic cause on Facebook and took a keener interest when we found out that Alexander Millar, Jeff Rowland, John D Wilson, Louise Dear, Paul Kenton and Peter Smith had been asked to take part.

WHAT?
The Elephant Parade was the largest outdoor art exhibition, displaying 258 life sized baby elephant sculptures, in locations all over the city of London. Created to support leading charity Elephant Family, each elephant is a unique piece of art hand painted by renowned artists and designers.

WHY?
With an estimated audience of 25 million, the campaign aimed to raise over £1 million for the endangered Asian elephant. It was an innovative fundraising and awareness campaign that shone a multi-coloured spotlight on the urgent crisis faced by the endangered Asian elephant. Elephant Parade’s mission is to become the world’s largest financial support organisation for elephants saving the Asian elephant from extinction in the wild.

AUCTION
After going on display in London, a select number of elephants were auctioned by Sothebys at a glittering event on Wednesday 30 June. The remainder were auctioned online and in a public event on Saturday 3rd July in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

We can now update you as to the amounts raised by our own Washington Green artists:-

Lover by Jeff Rowland £26,000

Iconic London by Paul Kenton £21,000

Tinkle by Louise Dear £18,000

Impossiphant by Peter Smith £13,001

Young At Art by John D Wilson £12,250

Nana by Alexander Millar £5,530

So, the 6 pieces donated by our artists raised an amazing total of £95,781 for a very worthwhile cause.

Congratulations to all the artists from Washington Green and we would just like to say WOW to the fantastic price paid for Jeff Rowlands elephant!!

Lover by Jeff Rowland

We are pleased to advise you that the sale of all the elephants at auction raised a total of £4,148,675 which far surpassed the target of £1 million which they were hoping to raise!

Long live the Asian elephant!

Its June!!!

Wow, its June already, what a busy month this is going to be!!

Diane sets off on Friday 11th June from York to cycle 250 miles to Amsterdam and back for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

She is hoping to help raise £30,000! Diane is not cycling this distance on her own, she is cycling with another 59 ladies and will be back in York on Tuesday 15th June, very tired but very pleased with herself.

If you would like to make a donation to her charity ride then you can pop in to the gallery and leave a contribution, every little helps :-). Alternatively you can donate online using this link to their just giving page http://www.justgiving.com/amsterdame10 please quote Acorn Gallery in the message box! The gallery will be late opening on Friday as I will be waving her off :-(

The town of Pocklington is awash with Red and White flags and bunting in the shop windows ready for the start of the World Cup!!

COME ON ENGLAND!!

In keeping with the spirit of the game we have a few specially selected pieces in our NEW World Cup Gallery on line at http://www.theacorngallery.co.uk/

Also this month there is Fathers Day on Sunday 20th June and we have some fabulous gifts starting at just £35.00! Excellant value on superb business card holder, cufflinks and bottle stopper! Order online for fast delivery!

The latest release of work from Bob Dylan was held on Saturday 22nd May and was very well received with almost half the collection selling on the first day!! We do still have some pieces left but for how long who knows!!

Our top sellers for May are as follows:-

1. Bob Dylan
2. Keith Proctor
3. Drew Darcy

As you can see Keith has been knocked off top spot however without Dylan he would have been the top seller for the 4th month in a row - a first for us!!

We have just started a very special event for gallery visitors only... a few specially chosen items are available at a very special price but only for customers who purchase in store :-)

So, come along to Pocklington this weekend and BAG YOURSELF A BARGAIN!

I Want to Ride my Bicycle...

Diane and I spent Sunday on our bikes taking part in the Great Selby Bike ride, cycling a total of 50.4 miles!!

Great Selby Bike Ride - Over 1000 people took part this year!

It was a brilliant day and good training for Dianes charity cycle ride next month to Amsterdam! If you would like to sponsor Diane then please contact us with your pledge or pop in and leave her a donation. Or you can click on the title of this entry to donate through JustGiving!

Diane's enthusiasm for this fantastic event is such that she even has me considering signing up for next year - it'll have to be the guys ride though - I don't think they'd let me ride with the ladies ;-)

Stopping halfway for a well earned break :-)

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???