A Celebrated Opening at 108 Fine Art

Well there we have it. June 21st 2025, after a year long residency at Thorp Perrow Arboretum, the forty finished works are now hung on the eclectic walls of 108 Fine Art gallery, Harrogate. A sense of celebration builds as my family and friends gather to join me to attend the preview.

Weeks before, I had helped the lovely driver form Aardvark art transportation services, load the whole collection into his van, ready for delivery to 108. Saying a fond "see you soon" to my beloved creations, I am ready for some serious rest, after the weeks of varnishing, finishing, framing and wrapping. Now the works are lost in layers of bubble wrap and nestled tightly in, for safety, it's hard to imagine all the energy, love and effort that lies within. The next time we meet  will be at the exhibition preview and it's a moment I very much look forward to. 

Gillian, Scarlett and India have done the most wonderful job of hanging the work. The gallery looks positively glowing with blooms, and i'm happy and proud and thankful for this moment. The opening was met with great enthusiasm, with collectors, press, and supporters, flocking to the gallery to view the work. Among the guests were Sir Henry, Lady Natasha and son James Ropner,  who are the current custodians of Thorp Perrow Arboretum. We enjoyed a lively conversation about the families favourite places and vistas they all fondly recognised, in the works. Meeting my paintings again in a new context, is always interesting. We are not quite strangers but certainly departed enough, for me to appreciate them with fresh eyes. 

I am glad to say the exhibition has already received much thoughtful press coverage. The Yorkshire Post published an excellent article at the start of the residency last year. Just this month Yorkshire Living Magazine published a fantastic feature article written by editor Catherine Turnbull, after our in-depth interview about my process and practice. Local media in Harrogate, have also embraced the show whole-heartedly, including, Graham Chalmers of the Harrogate Advertiser, calling it “the gallery’s most beautiful exhibition,” Wow what a compliment Mr Chalmers, you may never know how great that feels. 

With Seven weeks left for the exhibition to run, who knows where else it may feature, but ,for now I am back in my Lincolnshire studio gathering my thoughts for my next project, rested now,  happy in the knowledge that I did it !!