Bathurst Mansions and Hollywood Bistro, Holloway Road corner with Seven Sisters Road
Thanks to my Holloway twitter buddies, @RuthRobinsonLon, @TheHornseyRoad, @HollowayLife and in particular Mark Perronet @AtomGalleryN4, prints of some of my Holloway Road drawings are now up on display in the Atom Gallery, Stroud Green Road, London N4. It’s a five minute walk from Finsbury Park tube station.
Albermarle Mansions, Holloway Road, N7 (Limited edition print run of 50)
The exhibition opens tonight and runs until 4th April 2015. I really wish I could be there but I am grounded with three pelvic fractures, a fractured drawing arm and a chipped elbow. All my own doing as I fell on our own doorsteps, in broad daylight and stone cold sober!
Good luck to everyone showing at the Atom Gallery and thanks Mark, for this wonderful opportunity.
Our son John was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease at 14. At the time we had no real idea of what that meant other than the leaflets published by the charity now known as Crohns and Colitis UK and from support by medical staff.
John with Dad, Mum and Aunty Meggie
John had two operations during his teens to manage symptoms and it gradually dawned on us just how debilitating this illness can be. It is an ongoing condition that occurs in painful ‘flare-ups’ but in spite of this, John has dealt with it, gone on to study Architecture at UCL and has just graduated with First Class Honours. We are incredibly proud of him and wish him all the best as he embarks on his year in practice.
So, to share our delight at this news, I am donating all proceeds from the framed Bishy Road Limited Edition fine art print 2/199 to Crohn’s and Colitis UK as a small tribute to the courage of youngsters having to deal with this disease.
Blossom Street Gallery and Framing have the framed print on display. It is one of 12 large sized signed prints (1.6 m long) and is on sale at £295.
Alice Ross of the Blossom Street Gallery, York, displaying the framed Bishy Road picture.
Further limited edition fine art giclee signed prints are available to order through myself or Blossom Street Gallery and Framing, York, YO24 1A. The gallery is offering a special 10% discount on framing Bishy Road prints.
Unframed print no’s 1 – 12 are 1550mm long (£195 RRP), print no’s 13-100 are 1200mm (£119 unframed) and no’s 101-199 are 600mm (£48).
Thanks for reading!
Fundraising in aid of Crohns and Colitis UK
Crohn’s and Colitis UK is the working name of the National Association for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease (NACC) which is a registered charity – Number 1117148 (England and Wales) and SC038632 (Scotland)
There is a sense of great relief when I complete a street drawing, even more so on completion of a pair. I have spent the best part of 100 hours on each drawing from the early sketches to the drafts, the transfer and then ink then wash on the watercolour paper. With ink, there is no rubbing out mistakes so they get to stay!
Adding the lettering is the final stage
Plus we live with a nervous dog, two Burmese cats and a tortoise which combined can be quite a handful!
Paper weight cat-in-a-roll of drawing
Yes, I do shut the cats out but Norman can negotiate door handles, walls and windows with ease and he likes to help.
So the great Bishy Road is complete. It has been a joy to draw this street – the most interactive and sociable that I have done so far. My first contact with the street began last year with elevenses at the Pig and Pastry, where this drawing began. Since then, through connections on social media, I have gradually picked up the great warmth, humour, fun and sense of community spirit on this street from simple acts of kindness such as looking after a lost dog to the generous spirit in fundraising for various charitable causes. People care here. The photographer Karen Turner, has captured the energy of this street beautifully over on her blog – it’s well worth a look.
Bishy Road full of life even on a cold January mid-week morning – especially around the Pig and Pastry and Millies!
Furthermore, there is a real sense of belonging here which the Clementshall History Group demonstrates through their blog where you can see how several shops have survived with the same use for over 100 years – that is some achievement!
As my first drawing reached completion, Bishy Road greeted le Tour de France. Now, as I wrap up the second drawing, Bishy road have entered the competition for the best Great British High Street. I wish them every success – their sparkle is the result of combined hard work, vision and commitment.
The full length drawings of both sides of Bishy Road are shown on my website Drawing the Street and for detailed views of the buildings, please visit Drawing the Detail. The original drawing is just under 2 metres long and it is not easy to reduce the image down to a phone sized view unless I crop it – hence Drawing the Detail.
Limited edition (100 only) signed giclee fine art prints (unframed) will shortly be available for sale, three sizes, 60cm (£48) 1.2m (£119) and 1.5m (£195), through Blossom Street Gallery and Framing, please contact me for further information or to reserve one. Banners are also available by request – please contact me for a quote.
Drawing the Street 