Looking up as I always do when walking around a great city, this otherwise ignored facade captured my imagination and became one of two shortlisted in the 2016 Sunday Times Watercolour Competition. This distressed facade adds to the charm of one of the many palazzios to be found on the back waters of Venice. Short summary of Durham Castle Sadly this delightful 18th Century church is set to be converted into a private dwelling house. I vividly remember childhood expeditions to surreptitiously collect shiny new conkers in the church yard. The church is near to where a claw style green glass beaker dated to the 5th century AD and of Frankish origin, was unearthed from under a hedge in 1775. The area at the time was being worked upon by local landowner Rowland Burdon. The church had been built only a few years earlier and The Beaker as it became to be known, was found with it's base sticking out of the ground by an estate worker. It is held in The British Museum and is evidently the only one of it's kind to be found in England. The Basilica of St Mary of Health (Italian: Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute), commonly known as the Salute, is a minor basilica which stands on a narrow finger of land between the Grand Canal and the Bacino di San Marco making the church visible from the Piazza San Marco.The church was designed in the then fashionable baroque style by Baldassare Longhena, and construction began in 1631.The dome of the Salute was an important addition to the Venice skyline and soon became emblematic of the city, inspiring artists like Canaletto, J. M. W. Turner and John Singer Sargent. Just around the corner from The Pantheon, people stream back to their accommodation as evening light fades. The magnificent early 18thc classical interior of the Great Hall, The Queen's College Oxford. The magnificent central tower is 218 feet in height and here set against a darkened evening winter sky. The north facing Cathedral door features an exact replica of the bronze Sanctuary Knocker. The original is normally part of the Cathedral Treasures display but was part of the Royal Academy's 'Bronze' exhibition during 2012. My wife and I celebrated a recent wedding anniversary with a river trip to see the Thames Barrier. On our way, I was fascinated by the relationship between these two iconic structures. The Cathedral Central Tower can be seen behind the Church of St Mary's The Less which was founded in 1140 and was principally for the soldiers of the garrison which manned the city walls. The Cathdral from College Green, an area behind Durham Cathedral mostly overlooked by tourists and home to the Cathedral clergy. A homàge to Pieter Bruegel the Elder's The Wedding Feast, this painting is loosely based upon the National Trust's Stourhead Estate in Wiltshire. A fisherman mending baskets watched by his young protegè on the island of Skiathos in Greece. Stuart was shortlisted in the 2013 Sunday Times Watercolour Competition for this painting depicting a violent storm breaking over Cromer pier Norfolk. During the storm 'day became night' and Stuart and his wife Anne were soaked through to the skin in the deluge of rain.

Stuart Fisher Watercolours

Artist and award winning designer Stuart Fisher has exhibited his watercolour paintings across the region and as far south as Bath’s prestigious Rooksmoor Gallery. Shortly after his birth in Nuneaton Warwickshire in 1954, Stuart's parents moved to Peterlee New Town where he still lives today with his wife Anne.

Stuart believes that a large section of the art buying public are poorly served by the art market and are hungry for the return of traditional painting. He therefore specialises in the production of architectural watercolours within which he aims to imbue the atmospheric ambiance typical of Turner with the technical brilliance of his artistic hero, Sir William Russell Flint.

A career in architecture spanning almost 34 years culminated with his multi award winning design for Durham City's Science Learning Centre North East. This was followed in 2005 by what he terms 'an escape from the tyranny of the right angle' and the subsequent launch of his professional artistic career early in 2010





Original Watercolours for Sale

The Cathedral Central Tower can be seen behind the Church of St Mary's The Less which was founded in 1140 and was principally for the soldiers of the garrison which manned the city walls.

Durham Cathedral, St Mary's The Less
watercolour
Size:
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A gift to a close friend to commemorate his 25 years service in the Anglican Church.

St Mary and All Saints Anglican Church, Walsingham, North Norfolk.
Watercolour
Size: 458 x 310mm
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