After 33 years in Hexham we are moving to a beautiful Scottish island!

The Background

As many of you will know, we spend a lot of our down time in Scotland. My sister and brother-in-law live in Edinburgh; our son went to film school in Glasgow; we’ve had many a family holiday on one of the many Inner and Outer Hebridean Islands over the years. Most recently I participated in a Sail Britain artist residency off the west coast of the Small Isles.

Thirty three years ago when Chris and I first came to live in the UK from Cape Town, our hope and intention was to live either in Scotland, or in the Republic of Ireland. Ireland proved to be a non-starter, it was pre Celtic Tiger days so finding employment proved impossible.

Our attempts to find work in Scotland actually resulted in job offers in Newcastle and Gateshead. Long story short, that’s how we came to live in Hexham.

Hexham has been a great place to raise our family. Now that they are adults with lives of their own, we began to think about what we want to do with our lives in the coming years and where we wanted to live. We feel we had at least one more big adventure left in us.

The Impact of the Covid Years

Covid lockdowns were a time of reflection - was Hexham where we wanted to spend the rest of our lives? We mulled over the pros and cons of uprooting ourselves after thirty three years in one place - the longest either of us have lived anywhere. We considered our options, move back to my roots in Ireland, or move to Scotland.

Whilst we thought about it, we began to systematically declutter the house and get rid of stuff so if we did decide to go for it, the house would be sale ready. By April this year, just before our daughter’s wedding, the house was in pretty good shape. We decided to use our trip to Sicily to have one last think about whether we would take the plunge.

Shell Shocked!

And we did. We came back convinced that it was now or never and put the house on the market to see what would happen. Well … we had several serious offers and if I’m brutally honest, we were a bit shell shocked. We were then in a position where we could begin to look at houses in Scotland.

A few weeks later, we found a house that ticked most of our boxes. Our offer has been accepted and so far, everything appears to be going through smoothly. Fingers crossed! Provided it all carries on in that vein we hope to be moving by the end of October, or early November.

The new house is, as they say, a blank canvas. There is a garage that I will convert into my own studio, a lovely garden with a sea view, all within walking distance of the local town centre. There is an active artist community on the island, that holds an artists trail across the island in July and another one on the west coast mainland, the Cowal Peninsula Open Studios in September that I hope to join next year.

Sail Britain

The recent artist residency I participated in sailing off the west coast of Scotland in the company of six other Scottish artists has only confirmed that we have made the right decision. I am looking forward to island life within closer proximity to so much inspiration and with the sea on my doorstep.

Some Things will Change But Much will Stay The Same

I’ve been a professional artist in the north east of England for twenty years. Many of my customers joined my mailing list right at the start of my professional artist journey, some were regular participants in my printmaking workshops, many have continued to come to my open studios since the days when I took part in The Northumberland Art Tours and my very first PrintFest in Ulverston. It is with their support (you know who you are) that my business has grown and expanded to reach beyond the borders of the North East, support for which I am truly grateful.

Yes, I shall be a bit further away but not that far. It’s a short ferry crossing from mainland Scotland. The island will make a great venue for printmaking summer schools, or long weekend workshops … or a short holiday! I shall be making trips back to the North East too.

Farewell Open Studio

I’m planning a farewell open studio on Sunday October 9th before I pack up the studio for the move. I want to say ‘Au revoir’ to all my local customers in person and share the specifics of where we are going to live. (More on that here later.)

We’ll be sharing a glass of fizz to celebrate (non-alcoholic will also be available for the drivers), a fundraiser for a new studio roof - the current one is asbestos - and a ‘Help Me Clear The Studio’ sale.