What Elephant?

After nearly two weeks our elephant in the room is nearly finished. We will be sad to see not only our elephant leave but also Jeff Rowland whom has been our artist in residence. Jeff is one of a small number of Washington Green artists whom have been asked to paint an elephant for the 2010 Elephant Parade.

We will miss Jeff and his shoes (must be seen to be believed). Why not pop in over the next week to see our Elephant before she leaves us for London.

Introducing Louise Dear

Louise Dear

Here at Castle Galleries Newcastle we are very excited to introduce to you a fantastic new artist - Louise Dear! Her paintings are very much a celebration of the female form. Her pictures are about women feeling lush and gorgeous and free and she hopes that every woman who views her work can relate to that. Louise initially embarked on a career within the fashion industry having studied fashion design at Medway College of Art & Design which brought her into contact with the burgeoning Young British Artists. It was here that her passion for art came into blossom. At the age of 21 she purchased a 1963 Bedford Ambulance with her partner, painted it honey pink and then set off travelling around the world!

'Yum Yum'
Signed Limited edition by Louise Dear

Throughout her travelling she soaked up inspiration from all corners of the globe travelling around Europe, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, North Africa and South East Asia. She eventually arrived in Australia, took root and became an exhibition designer. In 1993 she came back to England and gave birth to her daughter - Lama - on whom alot of her creations are based (see the image below)

'Crush II'
Limited Edition of 150

Louise is very passionate about colour which is apparent to anyone viewing her work. She uses it in a very vibrant and intense way and is continually exploring the power it has to invade people's senses and influence their emotions.

Here at Castle Galleries Newcastle we are very excited about these new releases, so much so that we have decided to dedicated our front window to her work. We have had two girls here at the gallery this week, Lauren and Caitlin, and they have been learning the in's and out's of gallery life. They have created between them a fantastic display in our window as shown in the photographs below.

Lauren said this about the window: " I helped to paint the lips and the writing in the window. I feel that the window has worked very well. I really like Louise's work, it is extremely colourful and I think that it can change the atmosphere of a room.

This week has been very eventful and exhausting with an addition of coming home with aching feet. I have mastered the skill of using the tape gun and how to source items to use for the window display.

Caitlin had this to say: " I thoroughly enjoyed painting the lips. First we painted the outline of the lips and then Lauren painted the white detailing. We then both contributed to painting the pink section. The stripes were created in the window by masking off certain sections with tape and then painting in between the gaps.

This week has been exhausting with alot of being on your feet and heavy lifting, but we have learned alot like how to wrap a painting, how to approach a customer and how to send a selling email.

Lauren and Caitlin have been a welcome addition to the gallery and we are very proud of the window display they have created. It has attracted alot of attention and is bringing alot of people into the gallery.

New Sarah Graham Releases (Anth's Thoughts)

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'Pick n' Mix'

Edition of 95

£450

Spring is here (at last). Not only is it brighter outside but it is now a lot more colourful in the gallery as the latest releases by Sarah Graham are now in. I love Sarah's work not only for her use of colour and amazing detail but also because they remind me of things from my childhood. I used to love getting a penny mix up from the much missed Woolies 'Pick n' Mix', planning how many cola bottles, white mice and blackjacks i could get with my pocket money. Choosing your 'Kets' (sweets) as they are known in Newcastle was a complex matter in the same way that picking your marbles from Fenwick toy department was tricky. I liked the glass marbles better than the 'steelies' but i never wanted to use them as they looked too precious. Well thanks to Sarah i am now considering buying 'Found My Marbles' as it is tempting me more and more by the hour.

'Found My Marbles'

Edition of 95

£499

'Lollipop Carousel'

Edition of 95

£599

Why not pop into the gallery now and check out these fantastic images.

For further information please contact the gallery on

tel: 0191 2332200

email: newcastle@castlegalleries.com

An Elephant in the Room????????

Keith Proctor Exhibition and Appearance

Castle Galleries Newcastle hosted the first exhibition and appearance by local artist Keith Proctor on Saturday. We were delighted to tell Keith that all of his original artwork had sold prior to the show and that his debut collection of limited editions is receiving a great response.

The gallery had been inundated before the show with emails, phone calls and visitors all talking about Keith's wonderful paintings of 'Jack', his youngest son, with orders coming in from all over the UK and even as far afield as the US.

It is clear from the early response to Keith's work that big things are going to happen for the artist and his family this year. I would personally like to thank the entire Proctor family for making our exhibition a warm and friendly one. A special thanks to little Jack who proved to be a little star, co-dedicating a few pieces with his dad and bringing a smile to the faces of those present.

Please contact us here at the gallery by phone, email or by popping in to see us with any enquiries about Keith's debut limited edition collection 'Jack the Lad' or to register interest in future available originals.

Kind regards,

Anthony, Rachael, Sarah and Bethan

tel:0191 233 2200

email: newcastle@castlegalleries.com

Keith Proctor Exhibition a Huge Success

The Whole team at Castle Galleries Newcastle would like to thank Keith, Jack and family for making our exhibition on Saturday a huge success. Photographs will be posted later today.