Dickie Valentine was not only a very popular singer in the 50\'s and 60\'s but a personal family friend. His tragic death, at the age of only 42, on May 6th 1971 left a lot of people shocked and stunned. His death was a great loss to the entertainment industry.
I am happy to report that his smooth, silky, sexy voice can still be enjoyed today as his records still sell. He is remembered with great fondness. We miss him.
' //---------GENERAL---------- var romancenturion = 'This piece is from my own reference. I really enjoyed doing this work as I love doing detailed work.
Bolton Abbey is a beautiful 12th century ruin that sits peacfully in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales in England.
The reference photograph was taken by my friend, Mr D Elliot.
This gentleman was photographed at a local reinactment society day by G.Hodgson who kindly gave me full permission to use it.
' var ironmaiden = 'The reference photograph was taken by R Dixon at Corbridge North East England.
This wonderful Traction Engine was once named \"The Crawley Kitchener\", but after it became the star of the film \"The Iron Maiden\" it then took on that name. It can now be seen at traction Engine rallies up and down the length of England.
' var stagshaw = 'The reference photograph was taken by the artist and shows this lovely old train at Tanfield Railway Museum Co.Durham England where she now resides.
' var gibsidechapel = 'Gibside Chapel lies in the North East of England some nine miles from Gateshead, home of the Angel of the North. It was built by coal baron George Bowes around 1729-1760 and is now his burial place.
Gibside, to this day, still has Royal connections. Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, the late Queen Mother, was a descendant of the Bowes and last visited Gibside in 1968 while her grandson, Prince Charles, visited in the late 1990’s. It was at this time that I had the great pleasure of painting Gibside Chapel as a miniature watercolour, which was later presented to Prince Charles; I still have his letter of thanks posted from St. James Palace. Gibside is now in the capable hands of the National Trust and is a wonderfully beautiful place to visit.
The support is Mellotex and is 17¾ × 12½.
Skipton Castle lies in North Yorkshire England.
The famous Yew tree, seen here, was planted in 1659 by Ann Clifford after she restored the castle after the Cival War. Ann was the great-great-granddaughter of John Clifford nicknamed \'The Butcher.\', who was 9th Lord of Skipton. The castle itself is 900 years old and still has its original Norman archways.
The reference photo was taken by the artist while visiting friends in beautiful North Yorkshire.
The herdsmen, I am told are three brothers and were just strolling as they herded their cattle.
North Yorkshire is a wonderful place to visit and I hope to return soon. If you get the chance to visit Yorkshire you won\'t be disappointed.
I saw this beautiful bust displayed at Chatsworth House along with his partner, which I may do in graphite on another occassion, when i visited there last year. I fell in love with him as he has such a presence about him.
I really wanted the challenge of doing black marble in graphite with the reflections of the window on his face.
The reference photograph was taken by Caren Edl of New York at the New York State Fair.
I was also asked if I would allow this portrait to be displayed on the Cayuga official site and was proud to do so.
' //---------ANIMAL---------- var watchfulkitty = 'My thanks to Linda Diso for kind permission to use her lovely reference photograph.
I took the reference photo for this artwork at a local open air museum where this dog lives on a working farm.
After watching him for some time I began to photograph him and liked the reference photo used so just had to transcribe it. I hope you like it.
I did this from two photos sent to me by a friend.
Tess is now 16 years old and very white. I had the basics done but felt she wasn\'t showing up as I would like her due to old age, so I asked if there was another younger photo of her, which I got and have attached with the painting shown below, so you can see what I worked from.
It is 9x7 inches on HP paper and is watercolour with watercolour pencil used for the fur texture.
I was lucky enough to meet Baloo at the Beamish Open Air Museum, Co Durham recently and fell in love with her. Baloo, as her parents told me, is a Newfoundland of mature age but who still very much loves to take a ride in the (her) car which is her favourite pasttime.
Baloo enjoys being out and visiting many local areas. She is an independent girl who has been photographed many times by her many admirers - including me. I am sure we will meet again and I look forward to that very much.
'
var donkey = 'I photographed this young donkey in the city of Durham near Christmas 2009. I just had to photograph him along with his companions.
I loved the sparkle and interest in his eye as he watched all the people surrounding him.'
//---------MINIATURES----------
var tortoiseshellbutterfly = '
The wingspan of this little beauty is 4-5cms. Its flight period is May-September with 2-3 broods per year. This is on a 7x5 inch support and will be sold at that size with the butterfly size as shown below.
' var redadmiral = 'The wingspan of this little beauty is 5-6cms. Its flight period is from Jult-October with 2-3 broods per year. This is on a 7x5 inch support and will be sold at that size with the butterfly size as shown below.
' var peacockbutterfly = 'The wingspan of this little beauty is 5.5-6cms. Its flight period is is late June to October with only 1-2 broods per year. This is on a 7x5 inch support and will be sold at that size with the butterfly size as shown below.
' var orangetipbutterfly = 'The wingspan of this little beauty is 3.5-4.5Cms. Its flight period is from May-July with onlt 1 brood per year. This is on a 7x5 inch support and will be sold at that size with the butterfly size as shown below.
' var commonblue = 'The wingspan of this little beauty is 2.7-3.4cms. Its flight period is from April-October with 2-3 broods per year. This is on a 7x5 inch support and will be sold at that size with the butterfly size as above.
' var swallowtailbutterfly = 'The wingspan of this little beauty is 6-8cms. Its flight period is from April - October with 2-3 broods per year.
This is on a 7x5 inch support and will be sold at that size with the butterfly size as shown below.
This train was one of the first to be designed by Richard Trevethick in 1880.
THE SHEW I was able to take the reference photograph of this lovely old car while visiting Beamish Museum last year. She sat looking very sad in the back of the garage workshop where she is under restoration. This photo took some getting but it was worth the struggle. The light in the garage wasn\’t the best and she had old cloths hanging on her right-hand side so part of her was hidden. To marry up the right hand side of her with the left uncovered part I simply copied from her left side so I hope I got it right. A little research told me the SHEW is the only surviving car of this type.
It was designed by a Mr. T.H. Parker who designed cars from as early as 1897 and this car was the second prototype and has a pivoting chassis with provided four-wheel steering. It has a 14hp twin cylinder Forman engine.
It was once owned by the Marquis of Londonderry and it is thought that the letter SHEW stood for The Seaham Engine Works- which is in the North East of England. Research into the age of this car was established by the Registration Mark BR 211 being issued about May 1906. On the brass hubcaps of this car can be seen the word SEDAN which, given that the Sedan Auto-car Syndicate was not established until 1907 makes this unique little car to be approximately 103 years old. More can be read about her on the Beamish Museum site and if you get the chance to visit the museum I am sure you will love seeing her, although she is not fully restored as yet because is both expensive and time consuming.
I took the reference for this lovely old tram while at Beamisn Museum a while ago. It is so nice to be able to still see them restored and running. My mother recalls working on this tram, and others, during the war when she was in her late teens. She tells me it was a scarry job in that she had to walk a long way to the depot in the pitch black, no street lights allowed during the war, to start work. The trams started very early every morning,around 4 to 5 am to take the shift workers home, she recalls. She had to be up around 3am to get to work.
Mum remembers stories of those days but added that she later went into catering and loved making and decorating cakes which was warmer, lighter and shorter hours.
While there are several trams running at Beamish Museum this one is special being a Gateshead tram, my home town.
I photographed this lovely old Beamish Museum train while visiting and I just had to paint it.
1903 DE DION BOUTON
I took the reference photograph for this at Beamish Museum along with many other photographs that day. This was a very popular car in its day and is still popular in the London to Brighton races I am told. I understand this is a two-cylinder 1,728 cc, type S car. The model Q has been featured on the popular Top Gear TV programme.
I enjoyed painting this model and the last one of The Shew, with more vintage vehicles to follow in the near future.
I was sent the reference photograph by the owner of this beautiful car who lives in Ohio USA. I enjoyed doing this painting and was pleased when the owner sent his comments back to me after seeing his car done in watercolours. I can do no better than quote his own words.
"Oh Edith, that\'s My Stingray all right! Looks wonderful! You\'ve really done a fantastic job of it on this. I love the way you have done the landscape too. It\'s in rather a minimalistic style and adds to the image of the car perfectly.
This is a drive-up road that goes to one of the local reservoirs in our area. It supplies water to the town of Lima, Ohio. You did my car proudly and I am so very pleased and honored... Thank you! "