Hawthorn Cottage Industry
Christina's paintings provide the source for our prints. We scan and print at our home in Allendale, Northumberland. We both work on producing and selling the prints through a number of shops and galleries.
Our collaboration works best when we have thought things through together properly. Business meetings take place on walks around the valley, or at places like Talkin Tarn (see below). It really helps to focus the mind.
Since the recession hit, we have diversified into other areas. Christina has given up card making Paul does a lot more printing for other artists and designing of websites. It gives Christina more time to paint, which is what she loves most.
Painting Al Fresco
Almost all of Christina's painting is completed in her studio, from life. We sometimes make multiple trips to enable her to finish a painting. For this work we have had a variety of vehicles, including a VW Caravelle, which had a fold down seat for sleeping on. With a folding table and plenty of sockets to plug in laptop and kettle, we could both work outdoors. We used this to travel all over the North of England, including Northumberland, Cumbria, Tees Valley and North Yorkshire. We have been as far as Northern France around Amiens as well as down through Southern England and up to the Scottish Borders. Now we have a much smaller VW Up!, which does not have room for Christina to work inside. Nor does it have room for sleeping in.
If the weather is fine Christina paints beside the car or in a field. If it is raining, Christina wears a hat, bur nowadays she works from her studio.
Recently, we have turned one of the bedrooms into a studio for Christina to paint in. Now she has somewhere to leave canvases to dry and to experiment with new ideas, before going out to paint. The room also has lovely views along the East Allen Valley. Sometimes it seems as if the whole house is turned over to our work. We feel very fortunate to enjoy what we have here.