John Deathridge's Retrospective & Auction

About

We are selling John's beautiful work by hosting a silent auction with some mystery bids thrown in too. The way it works is that we have a book with numbered pages. Each painting is also numbered. People can come along to the gallery and select the work they wish to bid on, find the appropriate page and enter their bid. Bidding starts at £30 per item. We have already raised over £1,000 this way and have seen a steady flow of people visiting the gallery. There are also seven mystery bids that can be bid for by posting a bid on a piece of paper in a box. Bidding ends on 31st March.

John was a Corby based painter who sadly passed away in May 2015. His wife Josie, has collected his work together for a retrospective showcasing years of his hard work. He sketched for years and began painting in earnest after he retired. He took numerous photographs, many of them skyscapes, and worked them up into paintings from his studio at home. He used to set up his easel but was easily distracted so continued to work from home after he captured his scenes with a camera.

His work is mainly in oils and watercolours with a few works in pastel. His work is a combination of the pastoral, industrial and familiar landmarks, especially Northamptonshire village scenes, pubs and stately homes. There are scenes of Rockingham Castle's gate house, public houses such as The Cardigan Arms, The Sondes Arms, and The Spread Eagle at Corby among others. There are also some lovely still life paintings, industrial scenes from the Steel Works, canals and seascapes, and numerous landscapes which are a reminder of Turner's skies and Constable's view of the countryside.

John spread his joy of painting and drawing among local people at his art class in Weldon that he provided free of charge. He also took part in the art group at the Volunteer Centre on Elizabeth Street.