Agatha Christie: Limited Edition Book Art

This image is a detail of one of my original Shelf-Portrait oil paintings ‘Partners In Crime’, showing a shelf crammed with colourful, iconic Agatha Christie Pan paperbacks. Available here as a Fine Art print in a Limited Edition of 100.

  • Limited Edition Fine Art print on 280g Fine Art paper
  • Numbered out of an edition of 100
  • Signed and numbered under the image by the artist
  • with a certificate of authentication on the back
  • Backed and Mounted
  • If in stock: shipped in 2 to 3 working days
  • On back order: shipped in 10-14 working days

The printed image measures 30 x 60 cm.
Total size including window mount approx 35 x 70 cm
Frame not included

I love painting the details of the scuffed corners and worn edges – the evidence that these books have been well loved, playing their parts in peoples life stories….

I feel privileged to be able to do what I love for a living, and to have others appreciate it. My book art work brings together my loves of painting, typography and books. I love to paint Bespoke Shelf Portrait paintings: clients gather their favourite editions together for me to paint. As I paint, a picture of their lives and loves grows across the canvas, across the shelf. Which books would you choose for your Shelf Portrait?

Find out more about my bespoke paintings here

Read More

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 🙂

Agatha Christie Book Art Print

An A4 fine art print from an Original shelf portrait painting ‘Partners In Crime’ of a shelf crammed full with Agatha Christie’s iconic whodunnit paperbacks. Time to get sleuthing!

  • Fine Art print on archival paper
  • signed by the artist
  • image size 6″x9″ plus border
  • with backing board
  • ready to pop in an A4 size frame (frame not included)
  • Shipped in 2-3 days

This print is also available as a Limited Edition print and a greeting card!

I feel privileged to be able to do what I love for a living, and to have others appreciate it. My book art work brings together my loves of painting, typography and books. I love to paint Bespoke Shelf Portrait paintings: clients gather their favourite editions together for me to paint. As I paint, a picture of their lives and loves grows across the canvas, across the shelf. Which books would you choose for your Shelf Portrait?

Find out more about my bespoke paintings here

Read More

Agatha Christie Book Art Card

This Book Art card is crammed with iconic Agatha Christie paperbacks.

From an original shelf portrait oil painting ‘Partners In Crime’.

  • Image from an original Shelf Portrait oil painting by Roo Waterhouse
  • Square greeting card (145 x 145 mm)
  • Printed on sustainable card
  • with Kraft recycled paper envelope
  • Choice of Unwrapped or in a Cellophane bag
  • Shipped in 1-2 days

Also available as a full size Limited Edition Print  and an A4 print.

Roo’s book art brings together a love of painting, typography and books with Bespoke Shelf Portrait paintings: where clients gather their favourite editions together to be painted. “As I paint, a picture of their lives and loves grows across the canvas, across the shelf. Which books would you choose for your Shelf Portrait?”

Find out more about Roo’s bespoke paintings here

 

Read More

New Book Art Notebook Range…

Notebooks are back!
(Well, you kept asking, so what could I do!!)

With three new designs:
By The RiverVintage Penguins and Agatha Christie,
alongside the ever popular Jane Austen and Science Fiction.

Shop Notebooks Here
You can take a look at the notebooks in person if you happen to be in Harrogate this weekend.
I’ll be exhibiting at the PBFA Harrogate Premier Book Fair
on Friday 15th March 12noon to 6pm
and Saturday 16th from 10am to 4pm.

You can even download a free ticket for two here 🙂
…and there’s a new Agatha Christie mug too!! The perfect vessel for a cosy cuppa with your whodunnit reading 🙂

Best Mystery Wishes

Roo

Currently Reading: ‘Lights, Planets, People’ by Molly Naylor and Lizzy Stewart

Roo’s Shop Here 🙂

A Round Up of Recent releases…

Last week I delivered my latest bespoke commission ‘Younger Next Year’ in time for the client’s husband’s big birthday – he loved it – always such a relief!!

Now that I have a couple of studio-based weeks without rushing around to events, I thought I would do a little
Round Up of some Recent Releases
as I can never be quite sure that I have told you about them all.

I really should be more organised, with proper launches etc. but, hey ho, that’s not really my style!! 😂

Firstly, two new Limited Editions prints for you:

Partners In Crime
because autumn is the perfect time of year to curl up on the sofa with a pile of classic Agatha Christie paperbacks and a mug of cocoa 🙂

Look At This
a nostalgic shelfful of Ladybird books to take you back to your early school days…

Drift away with the flow of the river and memories of summer with
‘By The River’
now available as an A4 mounted print

Two new greetings cards from my Portico Library collaboration:
Spine[Less] and Portico
are now in my online shop too 🙂

 

Getting Christmas sorted early….

I know we’re not past Hallowe’en yet, but I have been gathering gifts already, as I like to get my Christmas present buying started in October (if not before!) and well sorted by the time December gets underway.

To encourage you to do the same I am offering you an exclusive 10% off throughout my website shop from now until the 4th December 🙂

Simply add the code:

EARLYXMAS23

to your basket…

Roo’s Shop

… and the sun did eventually shine in Dumfries & Galloway!

Thank you Wigtown Book Festival people for a super weekend!

… and another thank you to all the lovely visitors at York National Book Fair, now that I have actually added you to my mailing list!

With Best Wishes
Roo

Portico Library

Last week I had a fascinating time visiting the Portico Library in Manchester.

Such a wonderful atmosphere, surrounded by walls of leather-bound volumes in varying states of wellbeing. Warm lighting from reading lamps, comfy armchairs, mugs of tea on the side tables with folk immersed in reading and research.
What a special place!

I’m very excited to tell you that I will be collaborating with this fabulous library on a project highlighting their beautiful and well-used collection, and promoting their Adopt a Book scheme to help resurrect their more crumbling editions….

I’ll be painting two Shelf Portrait oil paintings.
The first will picture a selection of the more delicate ‘spineless’ books, in need of some TLC, but so fascinating with their variety of under papers: scraps from old newspapers; sheets of hand-written accounts; pages from other books, some upside-down or sideways…
This painting is going to be quite a challenge, but fabulously fun!

The second painting will be representative of the breadth of the Portico’s collection (warts and all, history-wise), and will include some of the skilfully re-bound books, retaining the front and back covers and magically blending them into a new spine with beautifully rendered gold titles.

During September 2023, the Portico Library will be putting the paintings on display, and hosting an event for members and visitors where the conservation team will be giving a presentation about their Adopt a Book scheme, and I will be talking about the paintings. So put Thursday 14th September in your diaries!

The paintings will be for sale, with a percentage of the sale price going to the Portico’s Endangered Book List Fund.
I will also be producing greeting cards from the paintings, which will be for sale in the Portico Library Shop 🙂

So, it’s all very exciting! It was such fun to select the books for the painting and arrange them on the dark wooden shelves – a big thank you to Pat and the rest of the library collections team 🙂

In the meantime, I am immersing myself in a bundle of Pan Paperbacks by the prolific and popular author Agatha Christie. So many classic typefaces to render, and so many delightful scuffs and torn edges 🙂
You can view a little video of me at work here. (I invested in a new phone holder to make it easier to film myself painting, but it attaches to my drawing board and moves whenever I lean on the board, so apologies for the wobbles!!)
Best Wishes,
Roo