Oh Deer!!!

Oh deer!! This is what I said when a 'DEER' ran into the front of my car this morning causing a fair bit of damage.



As you can see from this photo they know how to cause damage!! I blame the parents! They should teach their offspring the 'Green Cross Code' then they wouldn't charge headlong into oncoming traffic!!

Good job I've got protected 'No Claims' on my policy!

By the way - yes I'm fine, thanks for asking :-) but unfortunately I have had to close the gallery for the rest of today. Sorry for any inconvenience.

We will be open as usual tomorrow :-)

Sad New Year!

GOVINDER NAZRAN 1964-2008
It is with great sadness that we must announce the death of Govinder Nazran who died suddenly on 30th December following an accident on Christmas Day. He leaves a wife and daughter. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.

Washington Green have described him as '...one of the most talented, gentle and innovative artists...'.

Happy New Year!!

It's the start of a new year for the gallery and we are kick starting it with our January Sale! We have over 30 framed pieces with a temporarily reduced price so this is your chance to aquire a stunning piece of art for less than you would expect!

December was a good month and the top sellers are as follows:

1. Peter Smith
2. Caroline Shotton
3. Alexander Millar
4. Mike Jackson

'Peter Smith Mania' is still in evidence as he beat his fellow artists with ease!! Well done Peter!

I can also reveal the overall top sellers for the gallery in 2008 are as follows:

1. Peter Smith
2. Bob Dylan
3. Alexander Millar

It was a close fought run between Peter & Bob but Peter clinched top spot by just 1 sale!! Congratulations to Peter - you really hit the spot when it comes to 'feel good' work - people just can't help but smile!

Alexander Millar also has a consistent record, remaining in the top 3 for much of the year! Well Done Alex!

Diane and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our customers a very Happy New Year and we hope to see you in the gallery soon!

On Line!!!

I am pleased to report that we now have our 'On-Line' ordering facility on the website!! It has taken longer than expected but we hope it will help you to be sure of getting the piece you want - when you see it!

This is especially useful on items which are marked as 'last one' or 'sold out from publisher' :-)

You can reserve an item using the 'Add to Basket' button and entering your details. You then have a choice of ways to pay:

1) Pay by debit/credit card over the phone (you call us or we'll ring you)
2) Send a payment through Paypal to info@theacorngallery.co.uk
3) Call into the gallery and pay in person when you collect the item.

We are delighted to announce the arrival of three STUNNING NEW IMAGES from TODD WHITE. They are from a very EXCLUSIVE COLLECTION and for this reason they cannot be shown on the website but do please ring or email us if you would like further details. We have only one copy of each image so if you are interested then act fast! These images are not widely available...

As I write this entry I have to say that the on-line facility works!!! We have already received an order and the transaction was nice and smooth with no hiccups!!!

The Christmas holidays are almost here and so we would remind you of our opening times during this festive period which are as follows:-

24th December 2008 9.30am-4pm
25th December 2008 CLOSED
26th December 2008 CLOSED
27th December 2008 9.30am-4pm
29th December 2008 9.30am-5.30pm
30th December 2008 9.30am-5.30pm
31st December 2008 9.30am-4pm
1st January 2009 CLOSED

From 2nd January 2009 we will be open as usual (9.30am-5.30pm Monday-Saturday).

Finally, Diane & I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.

What A Night!!

Thursday 4th December - Pocklingtons Dickensian Late Night Shopping Event.

I was duly forced into wearing my costume (and I have to say I thought I looked rather good in it!!) See photo below - all comments welcome!!



Considering the number of things that got cancelled on the day, most people I have spoken to since Thursday have said what a great event it was and they thought the snow machines were great... at this point Scrooge will rear his head and say ... I have to disagree as the gallery was covered in fake snow as the machines were blowing it straight in the door and making the floor very wet!! Bah Humbug!!

People also liked the idea of having no fair rides in the town but did comment that more lighting was needed on the stalls... all these comments will be taken into account ready for next year.

Diane and I agree that we had easily over 200 people through the door and we both noticed lots of new faces as well as many regular faces too :-) The gallery was very busy from about 5.30pm and didn't empty until almost 9pm!!

We must apologise to those people who had travelled a distance to be with us and didn't get as much of our time as they deserve. We would have liked to have spent more time with you but with the sheer number of people and a constant demand for bubbly and home made truffles meant that I was busy serving drinks and at one point in the evening I had to dash down to Threshers and ask Neil for yet more glasses!!

Diane was kept busy doing sales and running up and down the stairs for more glasses and her home made truffles. Orders now being taken for Christmas!!

Next year we must arrange for our daughter to help out - this will hopefully free up Diane & I to spend more time with people!!!

For us it was a great evening and we would like to say thankyou to everyone who came in and said hello. We would also like to say a big THANK YOU to Sara at Simply Books whose idea it was for the Dickensian evening and thanks also for her huge contribution to the evenings planning.

We hope this event has shown the people of Pocklington and surrounding villages just what the town has to offer and hopefully they will think local and shop local.

Thanks to everyone for your hard work bringing it together and thanks to everyone who came!

All I can say is 'What a night'

Wow Peter Smith Mania!!

Well November is over and all I can say is Peter Smith!!

Peter has stormed to the top of the leader board for November with a staggering 27 sales. You have heard of 'Beatle' mania well here we have 'Peter Smith' mania!!

So to update you on the top sellers for November:-

1. Peter Smith
2. Jeff Rowland
3. Alexander Millar/Caroline Shotton

Well done Peter truly fantastic achievement. Your work has hit a chord with people!!

November has been an amazing month for us and has only been beaten by Dylan in June. We have sold three fantastic originals and an amazing number of Limited Edition Prints giving us an incredible buzz!!

I would just like to say a massive THANKYOU to everyone who has bought from us! Diane & I do appreciate your loyalty and support for us in our first year.

It has been a truly amazing first year and we would like to extend our thanks to each and every person who has called in and either bought or browsed.

We are looking forward to 2009 with hope that we can continue to build the business and hopefully have a new gallery space open upstairs soon!!!

We have started planning our events diary for next year and all I can say is that The Acorn Gallery is the place to be!!

Pocklington is gearing up for the Dickensian Late Night Shopping Event and so are we. Our Dickensian costumes are ready - yes I have been brow-beaten by Diane and others (mentioning no names 'Sara of Simply Books'!!) and so I will be dressed up after all!!

Diane has made a huge quantity of homemade chocolate truffles to go with the bubbly and so if you fancy Champagne & Truffles then pop down to the gallery tonight between 6-9pm !! Why not enjoy the towns evening of entertainment too!!

Dickensian Late Night Shopping Event

The Pocklington Chamber Of Trade have organised a Dickensian Late Night Shopping Event from 6-9pm on 4th December 2008.

There is all sorts of entertainment planned including:-

LIVE REINDEER!!
Snow!!!
Santa's Parade & Grotto
Brass Bands & Carol Singers
Donkey Rides
Tombola
Stalls
Traditional Hand Cranked Rides
Fair Rides on West Green

Many shops in the town will be offering free drinks and nibbles!

The REINDEER will be located in a pen in Market Place for people to see. After all - how often do you ever get a chance to see real live reindeer?

The Chamber have also managed to get the local councillors to go in the STOCKS for you to throw wet sponges (no rotten fruit though - sorry!) with the MAYOR being the first up. Very good of you to be first Jeff!!

We hope to see you all at this magical event and if you fancy joining us in Victorian costume that would be fantastic! Just think of characters from 'Oliver' and you can't go wrong! You can even enter the Fancy Dress Competition on the night!

The Acorn Gallery will open late until 8pm every Thursday from 27th November until 18th December 2008 - why not come along and browse at your leisure!

If you can manage to join us for the Dickensian celebrations then come in and say hello - join us for a glass of champagne with home-made chocolate truffles!

Tired But Happy :-)

Today I feel tired! Why? I hear you ask? Well the answer is that yesterday I spent a total of 11 hours in the car driving up to Glasgow and back!!

The reason for the trip was to deliver an original Alexander Millar oil for a potential customer to view and hopefully buy!!

I was very pleased with myself as I managed to navigate my way through Glasgow and to the gentlemans house without the aid of a Tom Tom (or a Mum Mum!!).

This is the piece in question:-



This fantastic piece now has a superb new home and I hope that Graig, will take great pleasure from it.

So this is why today I am tired but also happy that The Acorn Gallery, in these difficult times, is still trading well and showing that the art market still has wide appeal!

As we keep saying 'Art is the new FTSE' :-)

Peter Smith Gallery Appearance 1st November 2008

'May Contain Nuts' and more...

The First One!!

'What was I nervous about?' all the sleepless nights, pacing the floor and biting my finger nails all for nothing!!

Peter & Jayne arrived early and commented on how good the gallery was looking! They also needed to know where was the best place to get some breakfast!! We pointed them in the direction of some local eateries and off they went (which gave me chance to finish my sausage buttie)!!

By 11.15am Peter & Jayne were back and by 11.30am the gallery started to fill up with people and it stayed like that for the next 5 hours!

It was very busy, what a good job we had hired help in the form of our daughter Emily, who did a magnificient job in topping up glasses and taking photos!

Diane & I were busy introducing Peter to the collectors and looking after customers who had decided to buy - we even had a queue at one point!!

Peter was amazing to listen to, he has a story for every piece! His paintings are based on people he knows and the ups and downs of life. The secrets within the new 'May Contain Nuts' images are amazing and when they are revealed to you it makes you appreciate the talent that Peter has. Some extreme planning and forethought has gone into his work - much of which is only just becoming apparent with this latest tour!

Peter spent time with each collector dedicating their purchases with a fantastic sketch!

As a special thank you for those people who bought a print or an original piece on the day he gave a FREE limited edition print entitled 'Pick Me'! He titled and signed it in the presence of the buyer AND as an added bonus he did a tiny remarque! What a great thank you!!

For those people who didn't come to the gallery to meet Peter you missed out on a great day but don't dispair - availability of his latest work is still good - for the time being at least!

It's Thankyou time ...

Diane & I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all those people who came and enjoyed the day...

...and a huge THANK YOU to Peter and Jayne for giving up their day and making it a great success!

A special THANK YOU to the couple who travelled from Lancashire to be with us - we hope that your 'Notorious' new friend will be much admired!!

By 4.30pm we had chance to chat with Peter. He revealed that The Acorn Gallery is "The First One" to sell an original oil on his new tour!! What an honour!! Yippee!!!

Thank you Peter & Jayne, everyone we have spoken to today has asked us to pass on their thanks for such a great day! They have all said the same, that you are a great couple and it was a pleasure to meet you both!

Roll on 2009 when we will be asking you back for yet more stories and the latest installments on your wonderful impossimals!!