Rowley Gallery Blog
It’s April 2023, and I will be 70 years old. What better way to mark the occasion than to plant 70 trees, not in the ground, but in the window of the Rowley Gallery. I sent out a call to 70 artists and got lots of replies. I could plant a small forest. So here’s a small celebration of trees, of their variety and complexity, their shelter and enchantment, and all their green, filtered, numinous enlightenment. Continue reading “70 Trees”
We’ve a windowful of wood engravings and linocuts from Howard Phipps. They’re all in black & white but get in close and see the detail and they’re as colourful as you could wish for. Continue reading “A March Window”
It sounds like it might be the name of a village, somewhere in Devon perhaps, deep in the countryside; but no, it’s a display of paintings by Robert Newton and ceramics by Florence St George. Neither artist is from Devon but both make work that looks like it was extracted from the countryside, evidence of the land, pieces of earth. They’re together in The Rowley Gallery window throughout March. Continue reading “Newton St George”
A bright window packed with small beauties for these dark days, a fast-moving festive feast for the eyes. As works sell they will be replaced by more in an ongoing ever-changing pageant of delights. Continue reading “In The Bleak Midwinter”
Heading South
A new painting from Robert Newton up in Northumberland sent down south to hang on the wall of The Rowley Gallery. It came in a box together with other paintings, all framed in white trays, like a collection of core samples taken directly from the northern landscape. They’re all thickly painted, fresh with the smell of oil paint when they first arrived, now just about cured. Continue reading “Heading South”
A box of paintings, newly arrived from Robert Newton, full of the smell of fresh oil paint even before the bubblewrap came off. A box of delights, each one thickly painted with quick strokes that capture the fleeting presence of the Northumberland landscape, seen in passing either by train, car or bicycle. They are tablets of immanent light held fast in Robert’s own handmade frames. Continue reading “Six From Robert Newton”
A collection of photos arrived on our desk last week with a thank you note from a valued and long-standing customer. He had rehung his collection of pictures, most of which were framed by us, so it was a rare opportunity to see the fruits of our labours displayed altogether in one place. Continue reading “Frames Of Reference”
Waiting on Holme Moss – TV helicopter just above the yellow van.
You could hear the crowd roaring as they climbed the valley from Holmfirth. Electric!
Momentum (p=mv) Newtonian Mechanics = One thing leads to another. Continue reading “Momentum”
This little oil painting, titled Passing By and roughly the size of a small paperback, is one of sixteen that Robert Newton was commissioned to paint at the end of last year. We’ve just finished framing them. They’re set in simple white trays to protect and contain their overflowing edges and, so that they don’t disappear without trace, they’re saved here in Frames Of Reference. Continue reading “16 Newtons”
“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realise how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” (Socrates?) Continue reading “On Painting”
