Anthony's Doing Something Funny For Money!!

Friday the 13th March! Eek, this date strikes fear into the hearts of many but for Anthony Dorman the reason was something much less superstitious.

89 miles on an exercise bike, in our halogen lit gallery window, in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne. It would be tough, it would need determination and stamina, by the end of the day it would smell.

The only thing spurring him on was the desire to raise oodles of cash for Red Nose Day, such a worthy cause.

By the time the day came along Anthony had raised over £300 via http://www.myrednoseday.com/

His two weeks of training had consisted of evenings spent consistently glued to the exercise bike in preparation for his big day and the morning started steadily with Anthony cheerily smiling and waving at passers by. 35 miles down and the first break out of the way and the going was beginning to get a little tougher but Anthony never faltered, people came into the gallery for two reasons, to support Anthony by donating and then to poke fun at his pain.

With 20 miles to go Anthony began to smell pretty bad and his knees were taking a battering. He had been cycling solidly for approximately 5 hours and although he would only cycle for another hour or so to complete his mission each mile felt like a million. It was all the more sweeter to finish knowing that through friends of the gallery along with artists and staff from Castle Galleries and Washington Green, a whopping £554.40 was raised both through the website and on the day.

Anthony would like to thank everyone who helped him through not only the much important donations but also motivation and support.

Meet Rowley!

Rowley was born on the 4th July 2008. Her mummy was found by Jeff Rowland near his old studio, she was pregnant at the time and Jeff just couldn't see her on the streets. He took her home and a week later three little kittens were born.

Eight weeks later Rowley came to join the Dorman/Montgomery household. We decided to call her Rowley in honour of Jeff, without him there would be no Rowley!

Much to existing cat Snuggle's dismay Rowley decided to keep us and 9 months later they are co-habiting almost peacefully which is progress from the five days spent on top of the fridge in a huff when she first turned up,

Thank you Jeff. x

New Castle Galleries, July 08.

New Castle Galleries for Newcastle showcases region’s finest contemporary artists
THE UK’s most successful group of retail art galleries, Castle Galleries, has chosen Newcastle to open its flagship gallery, which will showcase the finest UK contemporary artists including the most outstanding talent in the North East.
Castle Galleries Newcastle (located in the prestigious Blackett Street side of Monument Mall, overlooking Grey’s Monument) will specialise in high quality, limited edition art and originals and will open in the heart of a city that has witnessed an arts and cultural renaissance, on Thursday 31st July.
The flagship gallery, which is the 27th in the dynamic group of Castle Galleries, will build its success on exhibiting high quality, cutting edge and regional talent, but in a trendy, accessible environment that will make art appealing to a whole new generation of the general public.
Some of the biggest regional names to provide an approachable bridge into the gallery will include celebrity artist Alexander Millar, Mark Grieves and Jeff Rowland. Alexander Millar’s famous Newcastle ‘Gadgies’ have established his reputation on the international stage and his rise from window cleaner to top artist saw him head up an ‘Apprentice-style’ search for an up-and-coming painter on BBC Look North last Autumn. Mark Grieves has created a big sensation with his highly original and brilliantly constructed, detailed studies of the piano keyboard, which dance to life with reflective light and his trademark ebony and ivory characters. Jeff Rowland, meanwhile, is the king of romance in the rain, with the meeting of a lone couple in a deserted street creating a cinematic drama to his popular work. Commenting on the opening of Castle Galleries Newcastle, gallery manager Anthony Dorman said: “With Newcastle already housing priceless art in our city centre art galleries and mass produced art and pop art in the multiple stores, Castle Galleries is filling an exciting gap in the art scene in Newcastle. A piece of research into the general public’s attitudes towards contemporary art last year, showed that over 30 per cent of people wouldn’t know where to start looking for art, with 13 per cent claiming to be ‘intimidated’ when it comes to buying art. Castle Galleries Newcastle has created a fun vibe that breaks down the traditional barriers and stigma associated with some high end galleries, whilst providing customers with a really high quality choice of contemporary, limited edition art from some of our greatest living artists.”
The owners of the successful Castle Galleries concept, Washington Green Fine Art Publishing, have chosen Newcastle to roll out its new cutting edge contemporary interior for the gallery, with stunning black and white schemes off-set by slate and oak floors.
Castle Galleries Newcastle will provide a warm welcome to its customers, with a free prize draw to win a stunning signed limited edition Alexander Millar print. All visitors have to do is pop into the gallery, fill in their contact details and post their entry into the free prize draw. The winner will be personally presented with their signed piece of art in the gallery by Alexander Millar this Autumn.

Cited from 'Whats OnNE' July 08th, 2008.