Changeover Day!

We like to keep things looking fresh in The Acorn Gallery and today was Changeover Day! No - this doesn't mean that we got to the end of our holiday and went home - it means that we take down some pieces and put up some new work and generally have a change around!

We had a chat yesterday and wrote a plan - very organised for us - so that we knew which pieces were coming down and which were going up. It made things so much easier!

...and so it began... the original ribbons were lined up on the desk ready to adorn their next masterpiece, the ladders were brought downstairs ready to hang the higher pieces, and eventually the kettle went on too :-)

It didn't take long, about 3 hours in all, it went really smoothly - and according to plan too! (Good job we made that plan!).

The NEW Paul Kentons are the first to greet you as you walk in and they look simply stunning - especially 'City of Romance' with its gold highlights!

Caroline Shottons new piece 'It Must be Love' has been hung too along with her other latest releases, making for a very eyecatching panel!

We also have some beautiful original oils by Toni Hargreaves and these make a gorgeous display by the window wall!



The Acorn Gallery is on FaceBook now too!! You can become a fan and keep abreast of things with our regular updates! Click on the title of this entry and check us out today :-)

An Unexpected Visitor!!

I was sitting in the gallery on Friday, busy updating the website when I received an unexpected visitor!! Bob Barker was in the area and couldn't resist popping in to say hello!

We spent the next two hours chatting about his new releases and his techniques. I asked Bob whether he would be happy to come along to the gallery and paint live for us - he said he would be delighted! I will approach Washington Green on Monday about getting him booked in - watch this space for more details - hopefully another champagne event for your diary...

The rest of Saturday was spent finalising the updating of the website with all the images from the ICC event - we are sooo excited about them and can't wait to take delivery!

The pieces that stand out the most (although it is VERY hard to choose!) are the new releases by Peter Smith, Alexander Millar, Caroline Shotton and Jeff Rowland - there are so many great pieces but I know you like me to name names :-)

ON the website homepage any artist whose name has NEW beside it means that they have NEW images released and you should check out their gallery - I would urge you to contact us as soon as possible if there is anything that takes your fancy as the images are strong and we are expecting some images to sell out quickly!

Whilst I write this I can now reveal the top seller for January. Our congratulations go to Alexander Millar. Well done Alex!! Yey!

1. Alexander Millar
2. Govinder Nazran/Peter Smith
3. A J Callan/Paul Kenton

One of the final pieces Govinder worked on before his death was a sculpture called 'Lean on Me'. This is a beautiful two-piece design and has been produced in stunning stainless steel! It is AMAZING!

It is sooo beautiful that they are having trouble photographing it as the curves and the steel reflect everything around - simply stunning and a VERY LOW EDITION so it is imperative if you want this piece to get in early - simply leave us a deposit to secure your sculpture!

As always the new releases will start to arrive in the gallery over the next few weeks so do pop in when you're passing to see what's new - don't be afraid to ask us - we are always happy to answer questions - or simply chat about the new work! We're equally happy to leave you in peace if you prefer :-)

We look forward to seeing you 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!!

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!!