Painting of The Month - Checking For Sharks

Here we have a Ralph, he loves swimming in sea, eating salted caramel ice cream and he adores Fritz and Rusty, his furry friends.

He is not particularly fond of liquorice, black cats or noisy motor bikes. And strangely enough, he is quite frightful of star fish, seaweed and sharks.

Unfortunately, Ralph finds himself in a quandary. 

Each weekend, he heads out to the North Cornish coast and spends hours and hours and hours trying to decide whether to venture into the sea or not.

Ralph has found a novel way to test the water... seeing that Fritz, his trusted dachshund hound LOVES swimming, he likes CHECKING FOR SHARKS by throwing him into the sea, as suspicious Rusty watches nervously.

( please be aware, no animals were harmed during the main of this painting... Fritz and Rusty are just fine )

Painting of the Month - Family Fun in Fowey

This is the Morris-Forbes family... 

they love Fowey, they love life, love Brody their dog and they love each other. 

This is just another day in Fabulous Fowey, the sun is shining, the river is teaming with fish, the boats are out and everyone is enjoying themselves. 

Each family member enjoy doing different things : we have the sailors, the fishermen, the swimmers, the athletes, the one who is on lookout and the ones that are there to RELAX (note the bottle of wine).

This is what good old fashioned family fun is all about ! 

Painting of the Month - Hole in One... or two... or

This is Philip, he is retired policeman.
He has a lovely wife, 2 daughters, drive a jaguar XJ8, has 2 cats - Daisy and Rose and loves his brother in law, Mike. His hobbies include: coastal trail running, paintings love hearts and tinkering about in his allotment.
Life is pretty sweet for Philip, except for one teeny weeny little thing... golf. Yes, golf is his passion, if he could, he would be on the course everyday. 
He likes to play on his own, as he feels more relaxed AND because he is not a good golfer. 
He slices the ball, hooks the ball, misses the ball, gets stuck in the bunker, cannot chip the ball and cannot putt. 
However, one thing we can say about Philip, he has perseverance, he never gives up! 
Just before attempting his next shot, he will often say to himself...
"Stop saying I wish, Start saying I WILL!"

Painting of the Month - Take It Easy

Ralph is 45 years old, he is happily married to Geraldine, they have a son called Mitchell, some chickens - Daisy and Peaches , he listens to talk back radio and he works really hard all week. He builds bespoke swimming pools. 

He wakes at 5am, starts at 6am and finishes at 5pm, it is a very long day. During the summer months, when pools are in high demand, he is asked to work 7 days a week.

When he has the occasional day off, he doesn't tell the family, he grabs his favourite yellow swim suit, his pink lie low, a copy of November 1975 Squash Monthly and off he goes.

As he approaches the Great Bear Lake he reminds himself to "Take It Easy", as these times are JUST so precious... ahhhhhhhhhh finally some peace !

he has a large selection of superb, colourful speedos

what is with the big feet ?

Sculpture of the Month - Encore, Encore !

It is Saturday afternoon and Bernard is playing in the local hospice in his village. 

He plays the usual classics - Bach's Chaconne, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9, but he always likes to finish with a fun number, "All You Need Is Love" by the Beatles. 

That always gets everyone tapping their feet and singing along, the folks enjoy his finale the best.

One of Bernard's greatest fan is Beryl, and when she attends, he is sure to get a standing ovation and roses through at his feet... You will often hear Beryl call out " Encore Bernard, Encore ! ".

Painting of the Month - Just You and Me

This is Dean and Alessia, and they are in love. 

They love eating juicy mangoes, playing scrabble, their pet parrot Felix, and in particular... Sun, Sea and Sand!

Each weekend they hop into their beat up old car and escape to their secret destination. 

They then swim out to their idyllic island, it is so far away from anywhere... no one else is ever there ! 

And when they reach the beach, they lie on the warm sand and say aloud "Just you and me".

Just Dean and Alessia

Painting of the Month - Don't Look Down

Derrick is your average 20 something. He is a landscape gardener, he has a girlfriend called Becky, he loves his parents, he enjoys racing his fiber glass laser on Saturday afternoons and he adores his dog Sam. 

Derrick has also recently discovered a new love... Funambulism! The art of walking along a thin wire or rope, you will know it as Tightrope Walking! 

His family and friends are a little perplexed, as he is quite afraid of heights, so he will often say to himself "Don't Look Down! Don't Look Down! Don't Look Down!"

  

Painting of the Month - You Cannot Be Serious

This is Jeffery, he is 50 something, works for Great Western Rail, enjoys watching SAS shows on television and he LOVES foraging for wild mushrooms. He often says "All mushrooms are edible, but some only once !"

Jeffery also plays tennis!  Everyday, at the same time, on the same court, at his local club. 

He is a keen, emotive and let us say, a passionate tennis player. He is quite a good player, fair and correct, however, he can be feisty, a little grumpy and a times a little loud. 

Please do not be too alarmed if you hear a huge "YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!", it is not the legendary John McE nearby, it is only Jeffery, he has missed yet another drop volley shot!

Painting of the Month - Love Is In The air

This is Lenny, he enjoys danish TV dramas, perfecting his dark chocolate soufflè, reading the FT weekend and playing his prized, classical Stradivari violin.  
Lenny is married to Isotta.
Isotta is a nurse, she is a great fan of all Agatha Christie novels, she listens to Steve Wright on radio 2 and she prefers Dairy Milk Chocolate. 
They are so different and yet, they are perfect together.  
When Lenny plays his violin, he pictures Isotta, his wife of 39 years, and love of his love. 
Love is ALWAYS in the Air, for these two.

Famous Fowey Regatta

It is Regatta time! Fabulous Fowey Regatta Time! And the town is BUZZING!

There are - boats races each day of the week, a pasty eating contest, a fabulous traders carnival, crabbing competitions, flora dances, swimming races, fun runs, a very interesting town band, breathtaking fireworks and much much more. 
Well worth the visit.

No prizes for Dino and his friend!

Dino's first ever Regatta race, in our wooden Fowey River Boat, called Hedgehog... We are LAST !

Place grounds are only open ONE DAY a year... So put the regatta in your diary

Each year, the traders have a theme and there are prizes for the most creative, hence, we all try to decorate our shops and ourselves...  Guess what Dino is ?

The river swim... Dino finished it, that's all that matters

Painting of the Month - Next Man In

This is Ian, he has been playing cricket ever since he can remember. He can reel off almost anything to do with cricket: the players, the history, the commentators and the various cricket grounds - his favourite, by the way, is the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antiqua. 

All members of his family play, watch, read and think cricket. Even his mother Jeanne, is involved, she is in charge of the afternoon tea, making sure that the scoring is correct and the bus schedule for the team.
During the summer, on most Saturday afternoons, you will see Ian preparing to be the "Next Man In", he will wait patiently in the clubhouse, sipping on peppermint tea, listening to his walkman, singing along to The Carpenters "On Top Of The World".

As well as cricket, Ian also enjoys his extensive model plane collection, especially the Nieuport 17 model, practicing Chinese calligraphy and fiddling with old lawn movers.

Manufactured and distributed by the Academy Plastic Model Company, headquartered in Korea, the Nieuport 17 model airplane is a historically accurate replica of a famous allied fighter in World War I. - See more at: http://model-airplane-stores-review.toptenreviews.com/academy-nieuport-17-review.html#sthash.2fHHQAfS.dpuspecially  and he is studying chinese caligraphy.

Just cannot stop running!

By now, you may be aware, that Fowey is a very social little village. 
Most days, we have friends drop into the gallery and somehow, at the end of our working day, we finish up at one of the many pubs and clubs, all walking distance from our home. 
So about 18 months ago, we decided to start early morning, coastal running in order to combat our very social evenings.

Then came parkruns, followed by short fun runs, we subsequently joined the St Austell Running Club and now HE is running night marathons and even ultras! 

nice long socks boys !

Who runs 44 miles for fun? 
Not stopping for over 10 hours? 
Wearing head lights and carrying foil blankets and glow lights?
Well, he does.

Once the bug bites, that is it! One cannot go back. 
Naturally, he HAS all the gear... all spanking new, all the right brands, and all colour coordinated.
He also has a wall of honour, yes, you got it... the MEDAL wall!
Boys and their medals, madness.