Northlight Winter Fair :-)

Northlight Winter Fair

It’s our annual Winter Fair event!


Our fabulous studio holders* will be hosting stalls to showcase their artistic goodies and gifts 🙂


You all get to come and visit, eat mince pies, buy locally made Christmas presents direct from the makers, win a raffle prize perhaps, drink some mulled wine, make a crafty something and enjoy a little festive feeling!


Saturday 7th December 11am-5pm
& Sunday 8th December 11am-5pm

stallholders including:

Roo Waterhouse Art (that’s me!)

Rach Red Designs

Red Mouse Design

Katch Skinner Ceramics

Jane Revitt Mapworks

Don Myers Painting

Toby Cotterill Jewellery

Annie Harrison ceramics & textiles

and more….
Yay!!

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#hebdenmakeschristmas Open Studios!

 

On Saturday 30th November and Sunday 1st December I will be joining other artists all around Hebden Bridge and my fellow artists here at Northlight Studios by taking part in the #hebdenmakeschristmas Open Studios weekend 🙂

I’m looking forward to chatting all things bookish and artish with anyone who cares to pop in to my studio 🙂

I’ll be there from 10.30 until 4pm on the Saturday and Sunday

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Roo’s Bookshelf Art Calendar 2025 is Here!!

Roo’s Bookshelf Art Calendar 2025 has Arrived!!

Hooray!
My Bookshelf Art Calendar for 2025 has arrived – and I’m so pleased with it 🙂

Twelve colourful Bookshelf Art prints spread over the twelve months of 2025.

 It’s going to be a great bookish year!

There are a limited number of calendars available, so get your order in early to avoid disappointment 🙂

Order your Bookshelf Art Calendar Here

Ooooops!
You may have noticed, if you clicked on the 
Derby Book Fair link in the last two newsletters, that I got the date wrong !!
You will find me at the Book Fair in The 
The Museum of Making
on Saturday 23rd November!

 

I will have some calendars with me 🙂

and also at….
#hebdenmakeschristmas  Open Studios Weekend:
Sat 30th Nov & Sun 1st Dec in my studio

Northlight Winter Fair:
Sat 7th & Sun 8th Dec downstairs at Northlight Art Space

Best Wishes for a blazing Bonfire Night!
Roo

Currently Reading: ‘The Buddha of Suburbia’ by Hanif Kureishi 

Roo’s Shop Here 🙂
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O is for Outdoors

‘Pathways’ A4 Fine Art Print now available

It was so wonderful to see the sunshine on the yellow, gold and copper leaves in my local beech woods last weekend. There is such a brief window into this colourful world of change before all the leaves have turned and fallen.

I believe that spending more time outdoors can help combat those clock-changing blues (I’ve been really discombobulatedthese last couple of days!), so let’s get out into the woods and enjoy the display!

‘Pathways’ A4 Fine Art Print
P is for Pathways

To inspire you and yours to get out into the fresh air and  immerse yourselves in the joys of nature, my Shelf Portrait image ‘Pathways’ is now available as an A4 Fine Art print 🙂

‘Pathways’ Shelf Portrait is full of tales of inspiring journeys, both on and off the path, from the likes of Robert MacFarlane; Raynor Wynn; Nick Hayes; Roger Deakin; Laurie Lee and Nan Shepherd.

Whether winding through the woods or striding across the moors; following a trail of breadcrumbs or a trail of thoughts, pathways can help us find our way through life. They can lead us to forge our own paths and teach us to tread lightly on the earth, one step at a time…

Pathways A4 Fine Art Print
Trying something different…

After gathering some leaves on my wanderings, I spent a happy couple of hours on my garden bench, experimenting with using a leaf stalk to draw the leaves and attempting to capture their autumn glow with watercolours. It was so absorbing and mindful to focus on a different experience. I’m going to do my best to try something different every weekend 🙂
Have you had a go at something different lately?

Watch out for the Roo Waterhouse Bookshelf Art Calendar 2025… Coming soon!!

Available at:

Derby Book Fair:
Sat 23rd Nov at The Museum of Making

#hebdenmakeschristmas  Open Studios Weekend:
Sat 30th Nov & Sun 1st Dec in my studio

Northlight Winter Fair:
Sat 7th & Sun 8th Dec downstairs at Northlight Art Space

Best Autumnal Wishes,
Roo

Currently Reading: ‘The Bay of Angels’ by Anita Brooker 

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A is for Antarctica

This morning I happened to read that on this day in 1959, a final conference on the Antarctic Treaty convened in Washington, D.C. After six weeks of negotiations the treaty was signed by 12 countries, demilitarising the continent and preserving it for free scientific study.

Hannah Lawson: Wildlife of Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctica, Illustrated seachart.

Which neatly ties in to my next Shelf Portrait painting on an Antarctica theme. Last month I spent a lovely morning with the Antarctic expedition guide, wildlife artist and photographer, Hannah Lawson. We had fun selecting which books should be included in the composition, and looking through her map artworks to choose a possible background for the painting. I’m so looking forward to starting (though I have several bespoke paintings to finish for Christmas before that can happen!)

‘Rainbow of Reads’ Limited edition Print

Of course, I can’t mention the Antarctic without introducing some Penguins, albeit the tattered paperback variety rather than the aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae of the order Sphenisciformes. !!

The Limited Edition print of Rainbow of Reads is my absolute favourite, and also the most popular, having now sold over half the prints of it’s edition!

Some of the Penguin goodies!

There will be plenty of other Penguin goodies on sale in the run up to (dare I say it…?) the festive season.
You can find them on my website, or see me at:

Derby Book Fair:
Saturday 23rd November
at The Museum of Making

Hebden Bridge Open Studios Winter Weekend:
Saturday 30th November & Sunday 1st December
in my studio at Northlight

Northlight Winter Fair:
Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th December downstairs in the Artspace at Northlight Art Studios

Best Autumnal Wishes,
Roo

Currently Reading: ‘The Bay of Angels’ by Anita Brooker 

Roo’s Shop Here 🙂
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F is for Family Portrait

F is for Family Portrait

‘For Your Delight’ RWA2024

Last autumn I spent a lovely afternoon at the home of Russell and his family. They had each selected their favourite books, alongside books that had meaning and memories for them as a family.

It was such a pleasure to paint their Shelf Portrait, especially having got to know the stories behind the choices. The William Morris Thistle wallpaper in the background took the longest time, but was such fun!

One of the quotes I try and live by is Morris’s
“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

The finished painting was delivered last week:

“We’re loving it, thank you SO much – it is already hanging in our hall way at the bottom of the stairs.

It’s been a pleasure being part of the whole process, and the wait has been well worth it.

Rest assured our ‘family portrait’ will bring us many memories for the rest of our lives.”

Thank you Russell and family 🙂

Bespoke Shelf portraits
W is for Wanderlust

‘Pathways’ Limited edition Print

I’ve been busy wrapping more prints this week, as the ‘Pathways’ Limited Edition has been a popular one this month.
With the season turning and signs of autumn beginning to show, what better than to stride out across the moors or wander into the woods, map in hand, to explore the wonders of Autumn.

Find some outdoor inspiration in this Shelf Portrait print. Indulge your Wanderlust from Christopher Goddard’s The West Yorkshire Moors to Wainwright’s Coast to Coast, via The Old Ways and The Living Mountain….

Pathways Limited Edition

D is for Dates for your Diary

Over the next couple of months, on the rare occassions that I’m not busy painting in my studio, here’s where you’ll find me:

Derby Book Fair:
Saturday 16th November
at The Museum of Making

Hebden Bridge Open Studios Winter Weekend:
Saturday 30th November & Sunday 1st December
in my studio at Northlight

Northlight Winter Fair:
Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th December downstairs in the Artspace at Northlight Art Studios

First signs of Autumn

Best Autumnal Wishes,
Roo

Currently Reading: ’10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World’ by Elif Shafak

Roo’s Shop Here 🙂
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A is for Agatha Christie

A is for Agatha Christie
‘Agatha Christie’ A4 fine art print and art card

Newly added to my Agatha Christie Bookshelf Art range,
this A4 Fine Art Print and square Art Card
now join the Limited Edition printNotebook and Mug.

Shop Agatha Christie Book Art
The York National Book Fair
Y is For York

I’m really looking forward to returning to the
YORK NATIONAL BOOK FAIR
this
Friday 13th September 12 noon to 7pm
and
Saturday 14th September 10 am to 5pm

There will be three floors  packed full of rare books to explore, along with a little bit of Bookshelf Art, of course 🙂

A great excuse for a day out in the wonderful city of York!

Get your Complimentary Ticket for York National Book Fair Here!
Sketching the Tuscan countryside (towards Dudda)

H is for Holiday Memories

As summer draws to a close, I hope you have all had some enjoyable times, and maybe even some inspiring travels?
I’m just back from Tuscany, where I was blown away by the depth of colour, the clarity and variety of design and the shapes of the internal architecture in the Palazzos and Duomos of  San Giminiano and Siena.
It’s been 40 years since I was last wondering in the Tuscan hills and it felt like going home…

Best Wishes for a mild September,
Roo

Currently Reading: ‘The Love Object’ by Edna O’Brien

Roo’s Shop Here 🙂
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Rock and the Beat Generation

Thank you so much to Simon Warner of  ‘Rock and The Beat Generation’ for this super article on my Beatitude Shelf Portrait painting :

“Every picture tells a story

Cassadys and son all part of fine art tale

BACK IN 2022, I had the pleasure of visiting the West Yorkshire studio of English artist Roo Waterhouse and she showed me a very recent image she had completed, one that had my Beat heart racing.

Waterhouse’s remarkable hyperreal painting, which she had entitled Beatitude, followed her trademark principle of rows of book spines depicted in brilliant detail, a professional pursuit that has brought her many literary fans, numerous commissions and also avid customers.

The fact that Beatitude presented a series of titles celebrating both Beat Generation volumes and also books linked to rock artists associated with that original writing movement made it of particular interest to Rock and the Beat Generation.

Earlier this year, Waterhouse, having sold the eye-catching original through a British gallery, responded to popular demand by producing a limited edition print run of the oil painting.

When I wrote then, in these very pages, about the restricted reproduction of one hundred versions of the image, a figure at the very heart of latter day Beat culture – John Allen Cassady, son of Neal and Carolyn and friend of R&BG – expressed the hope he could obtain a copy.

The artist obliged and now Cassady Jr. has a signed print – 6/100 – in pride of place in his own home office in Eugene, Oregon. He enthuses: ‘To think that image is an oil painting and not a photograph is quite incredible.’

Pictured above: John Allen Cassady with Roo Waterhouse print and other images from the history of Beat

Beatitude sits alongside other potent Beat symbols – a postcard framing a legendary shot of his father with Jack Kerouac, a pose captured by Carolyn herself, an original certificate from Ken Kesey’s famed 1960s acid tests dedicated to John himself and an image of Dead guitar hero and Neal’s friend Jerry Garcia.

The Waterhouse print, a breathtaking example of this creative’s extraordinary brush skills, gives due space to classic Beat works – On the RoadHowl and Other PoemsNaked Lunch – but, in addition, incorporates much-loved memoirs by both Cassady parents.

Included, too, are significant books by post-Beats linked to the New Journalism, Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Wolfe, not to mention Kesey himself, observers all linked to the social revolutions of the time, plus items connected to major musicians – Bob Dylan and Tom Waits – who have aligned themselves with Beat traditions over many decades.

Pictured above: A close up of the Beatitude image. The detailing is stunning.

Roo Waterhouse is delighted with these developments. ‘As an artist specialising in painting “Shelf Portraits” of treasured and iconic books, I am always looking for new inspirations for my work. When I first came up with the idea for a Beat Generation theme, prompted by a collection on the shelves of a bespoke painting client, I never imagined that one of the limited edition prints would end up in the home of John Cassady, son of Neal and Carolyn Cassady. I’m thrilled!’

She adds: ‘I included Neal’s The First Third and Carolyn’s Off the Road in the paintingalongside something from each, or most, of the other Beat characters, to try and capture a flavour of the era and beyond. The original painting sold last year at Byard Art in Cambridge and so the limited edition print was released.’

Pictured above: Artist Waterhouse in her studio with other ‘Shelf Portraits’

‘I’ve had some fascinating correspondence with John over the last few months,’ the painter reveals, ‘with many tales from his childhood of his father’s exploits with Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg and the rest of the Beat crew. What a life!’ ”

Read more Beat articles at Rock and The Beat Generation

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Open Studios This Weekend!!

Open Studios Special: Part Two

‘Beside The Seaside’: New Release Limited Edition Print

U is for Unveil!

This weekend, especially for summer OPEN STUDIOS, I will be unveiling a new
Limited Edition Print release: ‘Beside The Seaside‘.

Let your mind drift off to the sun, sand and sea with this collection of seaside themed works of fiction, fact and adventure!

As subscribers I am releasing it to you today, with a special 10% discount through my online shop (use code SEASIDE at the checkout)
on ALL Limited Edition prints until the end of July!!

Here’s hoping for some seaside weather soon!!

Buy Beside The Seaside 🙂
Shelf Portrait in Progress Image by John Linney

N is for Northlight

I love having my studio space at Northlight Art Studios! It is so nourishing to be surrounded by a cooperative of lovely artists and makers… This weekend you can come and meet:
Martha Breeze (Kelletur); Kate Boyce (Painting); Juliet Blackman (Ceramics); Don Myers (Painting); Rach Red (Print & Design); Annie Harrison (Ceramics & Print);Toby Cotterill (Jewellery) and, of course ME!

Studios Open this weekend
10.30am – 5pm
Friday 5th, Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th July
You will find my studio on the first floor at Northlight Art Studios, and to show my appreciation for all your lovely support, you will be given a free Book Art Card of your choice! (you’ll just need to ask!)
AND there will be 10% off ALL Limited Edition prints!!
More About Open Studios
Hello! Image by John Linney

I hope to see you over the weekend 🙂

Best Welcoming Wishes,
Roo

Still Reading: ‘H is for Hawk’ by Helen MacDonald

Roo’s Shop Here 🙂
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