The entrance to College Green, an area behind Durham Cathedral mostly overlooked by tourists. The ancient medieval arched entrance to the College an area behind the Cathedral which is the home of the clergy and the Chorister School. The staircase to the Cathedral Chapter Office can just be made out in the shadows of the passage in the centre of view which also leads to the Cathedral workshops. Part of the 2014 Durham Cathedral Exhibition. One of the jewels of Oxford, the Clarendon was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and built between 1711 and 1713 to house the Oxford University Press. The building lies adjacent the Sheldonian Theatre which was designed by Hawkmoor's mentor and tutor Sir Christopher Wren. 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.
The medieval Elvet bridge built in 1160 by Bishop Hugh de Puiset. The ancient medieval arched entrance to the College an area behind the Cathedral which is the home of the clergy and the Chorister School. Part of the 2014 Durham Cathedral Exhibition. The entrance to the castle on a bright autumn afternoon. 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. Used primarily as a venue for special occassions associated with Durham University and as student accommodation, it is known to students simply as Castle.
The medieval Elvet bridge built in 1160 by Bishop Hugh de Puiset. The centerpiece of this beautiful square is this fountain built in 1368 by Cansigorio della Scala, which is surmounted by a statue called Madonna Verona. The statue is in fact Roman dating to 380 AD. I wanted to paint this and the view of Elvet bridge from Prince Bishop's Car Park for ages and only their complexity put me off, though eventually I couldn't resist the challenge. The view of the Cathedral most often overlooked by tourists and visitors. I remember as a small child seeing young calves with noses pressed hard against the red painted slats and my dad demonstrating how they would suckle if offered fingers instead of teats. I can't remember if I was brave enough to take up the challenge, but the event stuck in my mind. This Venetian church which lies in the cestiere Cannaregio was founded in the 10th century. Part of the 2014 Durham Cathedral exhibition. Founded by Elizabeth the First in 1571 for the education of the clergy, the College alumni include T E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and twice British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson .

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

Durham Cathedral from the River Wear
Watercolour.
Size: 305 x 325 mm
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Stunning baroque architecture meets the eye around every corner in the beautiful city of Verona.

Verona, The Searchers.
Watercolour
Size: size 480 x 320mm
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