One of the jewels of Oxford, the Clarendon was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and built between 1711 and 1713 to house the Oxford University Press. The building lies adjacent the Sheldonian Theatre which was designed by Hawkmoor's mentor and tutor Sir Christopher Wren. This beautifully lit jug of sunflowers was sitting on the metal table depicted in a recent Owengate cafe painting. Although a departure from my normal subject material, the painting process gave great pleasure. And despite the obvious allure of the flowers themselves, my favourite passages are the rusty ends to the metalwork of the garden chairs. Sadly this delightful 18th Century church is set to be converted into a private dwelling house. I vividly remember childhood expeditions to surreptitiously collect shiny new conkers in the church yard. The church is near to where a claw style green glass beaker dated to the 5th century AD and of Frankish origin, was unearthed from under a hedge in 1775. The area at the time was being worked upon by local landowner Rowland Burdon. The church had been built only a few years earlier and The Beaker as it became to be known, was found with it's base sticking out of the ground by an estate worker. It is held in The British Museum and is evidently the only one of it's kind to be found in England. This Venetian church which lies in the cestiere Cannaregio was founded in the 10th century. Part of the 2014 Durham Cathedral exhibition. This distressed facade adds to the charm of one of the many palazzios to be found on the back waters of Venice. The north facing Cathedral door features an exact replica of the bronze Sanctuary Knocker. The original is normally part of the Cathedral Treasures display but was part of the Royal Academy's 'Bronze' exhibition during 2012. This commissioned painting was produced to commemorate the passing of a Durham man who's ashes were deposited in the river in 2019. The magnificent castle and Cathedral dominate the skyline above the river on a bitterly cold winters day. Bow Lane is reputed to be the route that William the Conqueror took when leaving the city after visiting the coffin of Saint Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral. At that time it lead down to a ford across the River Wear, but now leads to Kingsgate Bridge, a superbly elegant concrete structure designed by Ove Arup and completed in 1963. 16thc Horden Hall looms over the once thriving farm buildings. Short summary of Oxford Opened in 1966 the Grade 1 listed structure designed by Sir Ove Arup, links the historic peninsular to Dunelm House on Old Elvet. The Cathedral Central Tower can be seen behind the Church of St Mary's The Less which was founded in 1140 and was principally for the soldiers of the garrison which manned the city walls. This the Second of the Villa Cimbrone paintings depicts the Temple of Ceres leading to the Belvedere or so called Terrace of Infinity which has magnificent views of the Amalfi coast. I wanted to paint this view of Elvet bridge from Prince Bishop's Car Park for ages and only it's complexity put me off, though eventually I couldn't resist the challenge.

Stuart Fisher Watercolours

Artist and award winning designer Stuart Fisher has exhibited his watercolour paintings across the region and as far south as Bath’s prestigious Rooksmoor Gallery. Shortly after his birth in Nuneaton Warwickshire in 1954, Stuart's parents moved to Peterlee New Town where he still lives today with his wife Anne.

Stuart believes that a large section of the art buying public are poorly served by the art market and are hungry for the return of traditional painting. He therefore specialises in the production of architectural watercolours within which he aims to imbue the atmospheric ambiance typical of Turner with the technical brilliance of his artistic hero, Sir William Russell Flint.

A career in architecture spanning almost 34 years culminated with his multi award winning design for Durham City's Science Learning Centre North East. This was followed in 2005 by what he terms 'an escape from the tyranny of the right angle' and the subsequent launch of his professional artistic career early in 2010





Original Watercolours for Sale

The River Wear slides slowly bye rowing club pontoons whilst wood smoke curls upwards from burning logs.

The Slipway, Durham Riverside
watercolour
Size:
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Looking up as I always do when walking around a great city, this otherwise ignored facade captured my imagination and became one of two shortlisted in the 2016 Sunday Times Watercolour Competition.

Facade on Wenceslas Square Prague.
Watercolour
Size: 300 x 400mm.
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