A CELEBRATED artist and writer who made his home in Northumberland has died aged 74.
John Cartmel-Crossley, lately of Christon Bank, near Alnwick, originally worked on Merseyside from 1955 to 1969 as a non-figurative painter and photographer.
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, since 1975 he had over sixty one-man shows throughou
t the country, mostly as a landscape artist.
In the winter of 1976 John was living on the Orkneys Islands at South Ronaldsay, where he and fellow enthusiasts laid down the foundations of Orkney Camera Club.
But as well as painting and photography, his interests grew to include poetry and he contributed to over thirty small press Poetry magazines.
On moving to the Alnwick area, he ran his own gallery in town and was instrumental in furthering the progress of many students with his History of Art course at what was Northumberland Technical College.
In 2004 John gained an MA in Creative Writing (Poetry) at the University of Northumbria, and was a winner of the Biscuit International Poetry Prize.
He was also the editor of OPENDOOR creative arts magazine.
Joan Littler, of Alnwick District Arts Association, said: "John was very well known for his watercolours of Northumberland, especially the castles, but he also painted interesting abstract works.
"He gave freely of his time and will be sadly missed."
John is survived by wife Jan and son Edwin, who are also artists, and son Tom.
His funeral will be held in private. Donations in lieu of flowers can be sent to Diabetes UK, Macleod House, 10 Parkway, London NW1 7AA.
The full article contains 270 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
