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Three New Paintings…

1 May 2025
Roo Waterhouse
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Categories: Art Events, Blog, Events
Next weekend an exhibition opens at Byard Art in Cambridge: ‘The Story of Art’, exploring the power of narrative art.
The show runs from 5th May until 1st June,
and will include three new Shelf Portrait paintings of mine:-)‘Type Is Beautiful’ reflects back to my days studying Typographic Design at the London College of Printing and celebrates a love of, and fascination for, lettering.
‘Type Is Beautiful’ oil on canvas 40x40cm

‘Drama’ presents an array of much loved dramatists and their well known  plays, taken from the shelves of an actor friend.

When I was a teenager I was introduced to the likes of Bertolt Brecht and Stephen Berkoff, (both at once, with my first non-West End theatre experience being Berkoff’s adaptation of Brecht’s The Trial) and for a while  immersed in full on in-yer-face tiny theatres, where there were often not many more audience members than cast, and the actors were literally shouting in your face – I’m not sure If I’d be brave enough now!
‘Drama’ oil on canvas 30x60cm
‘Thinking To Some Purpose’ (something I’ve not yet quite got the hang of myself!) came out of a collaboration with a Pelican book collector, after a discussion about all the fascinating titles these friendly iconic paperbacks have…
‘Thinking To Some Purpose’ oil on canvas 40x60cm
Joining the new ‘Poetry Please’ Limited Edition print this week is the new ‘Poetry Please’ Book Art Card 🙂
A galaxy of poems old and new….
Poetry Please!
Last weekend I spent a lot of time enjoying the beautiful combination of bluebells and baby beech leaves. What a match made in heaven!
Best Wishes,
RooCurrently Reading (and thoroughly enjoying!): BUT – Life’s Not Like That, Is It? Stories of Disruption and Digression by Boff Whalley

Southern Lights

8 March 2025
Roo Waterhouse
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S is for Southern Lights
Hannah Lawson with ‘Southern Lights’

My latest painting was inspired by Hannah Lawson, a fabulous wildlife artist and an Antarctic expedition guide, whose shelves are full of the adventures of Ernest Shackleton, Captain Robert Scott and others in the ‘Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration‘, alongside books on Antarctic wildlife and geography. So fascinating to take a glimpse into this land of extremes and explorations…

Here is Hannah on a visit to my studio, holding the resulting painting ‘Southern Lights‘.

‘Southern Lights‘ and ‘Poetry Please‘ are off down to London to join ‘007‘, ‘Think Like A Tree‘, ‘Women In Blue‘ and ‘Every Grain of Rice‘ in Battersea Park for the Affordable Art Fair.
The Affordable Art Fair: Battersea Spring
takes place on:
Wednesday 12th March (Private View 5-9pm)
Thursday 13th & Friday 14th (11am-5pm & 5-9pm)
Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th 10am-6pm.
You’ll find my paintings at Stand A7

You can use the link below to get your exclusive complimentary tickets courtesy of Nicholas Bowlby Gallery !!
Free Tickets for AAF Battersea Here

It is 9am on this fine morning and the sun is just rising over the hill behind my house, a sure sign that Spring is most definitely starting to Spring!
Once the leaves are unfurling on the trees in the woods the sun will be once again hidden from view until late in the morning, so I do especially enjoy this in-between time of year.
The crocuses are looking so gorgeously gold in the sunshine 🙂

 

Best Wishes,
Roo

Currently Reading: Grace Paley: The Collected Stories

Waves lapping on the Shore…

27 February 2025
Roo Waterhouse
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W is for Waves gently lapping on the sand….
New A4 Art Print ‘Beside The Seaside’

Is February an appropriate time of year to start talking about the seaside?

That’s got to be a resounding YES from me after a weekend next to the beach on Anglesey!

Bracing wind, sunshine, very brief paddles in the icy water and plenty of seabirds: Redshank; Turnstone; Shag; Oystercatcher; Curlew and various Seagulls – all identified with the help of my trusty Ladybird Book of Sea and Estuary Birds

And so now seems the perfect time to release the A4 art print of ‘Beside The Seaside’, which you will now find in my online shop. Gather yourself some inspiration for your summer holiday plans 🙂 
Seaside A4 Print

You can find out a bit more about Anglesey by clicking on my holiday snaps. For my holiday reading I took ‘To The Lighthouse’ by Virginia Woolf. I never made it to the lighthouse at South Stack though, as I couldn’t quite face the climb back up, so I just enjoyed the view from a distance…
C is for Clearance Sale!

Spending time by the sea gave me pause for some reflection, both personal and business.

I have been heading towards focusing more time on my painting and less time on all the merchandise management, and with this in mind I have taken the decision to discontinue my Book Art Mugs. Apologies, but to make up for it I am having as Super almost-Spring Mug Clearance Sale!!

All remaining mugs are 20% off at just £12 each

Snap one up before they are all gone…
20% off Book Art Mugs

Happy New Year!

20 January 2025
Roo Waterhouse
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H is for Happy New Year!!
…and what about all this proper winter weather!
Beautiful, as long as you don’t need to get anywhere!!
Thank you to all you lovely readers out there for all your support and appreciation over 2024 🙂

I hope that you all had a cosy Christmastime? Mine was restful, peaceful and heart-warming – just what I needed!
Did you receive lots of books for Christmas? Best-sellers, deeply thought-provoking or old favourites?
These two Bespoke Shelf Portrait clients were certainly very happy with their Christmas presents from their partners 🙂
M is for Mutual Aid

I gave my son a copy of Petr Kropotkin’s Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution and was happy to discover that he already had a copy, so he gifted it back to me 🙂

I am finding it a fascinating read…

“Practicing mutual aid is the surest means for giving each other and to all the greatest safety, the best guarantee of existence and progress, bodily, intellectual and moral.”I can’t help but think that our world would be a better, kinder, brighter place if there was more cooperation than competition…
T is for Thank You Letters…
One of my resolutions for 2025 is to write more letters, starting with those Thank you letters that I haven’t quite got around to yet!! Have you?
How about writing them in these Bookshelf Art greeting cards?
You can get a Mix & Match set of four for just £10 (just state which cards you would like in the Order Notes on the checkout page).
Mix & Match cards

Wishing you all the best for a cooperative 2025!
Roo

Currently Reading: ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hosseini
and ‘Mutual Aid: A Factor Of Evolution’ by Petr Kropotkin
Roo’s Shop Here 🙂
Bespoke Shelf portraits

Northlight Winter Fair :-)

13 November 2024
Roo Waterhouse
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Categories: Art Events, Blog, Events

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!!

Roo’s Bookshelf Art Calendar 2025 is Here!!

5 November 2024
Roo Waterhouse
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Categories: Blog
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 🙂

O is for Outdoors

30 October 2024
Roo Waterhouse
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Categories: Blog
‘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 

A is for Antarctica

18 October 2024
Roo Waterhouse
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Categories: Blog, Events

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 🙂

F is for Family Portrait

27 September 2024
Roo Waterhouse
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Categories: Blog, Events
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 🙂

A is for Agatha Christie

16 September 2024
Roo Waterhouse
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Categories: Blog, Events
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 print, Notebook 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 🙂