Amble artist’s lost paintings to be displayed for first time in 25 years

Arthur was a renowned watercolour artist, who lived in the town from 1972 until his death in 1994.

He was a prolific artist who specialised in painting views of the Northumberland coast, and particularly of Amble.

He always painted his scenes outside on location, becoming a familiar sight to locals as he set out his paints and captured an image in usually two or three hours.

The exhibition includes several views of Amble’s harbour and river where he spent a great deal of his time.

He originally moved from Newcastle to Amble having developed a love for the sea, and he moored his yacht on the local river there.

There are also paintings on show of locations along the Northumberland coast, including Bamburgh and Holy Island, as Arthur often sailed up the coast from Amble and painted numerous views of the coastline on his travels.

The slides were uncovered earlier this year in the attic of Arthur’s daughter, Katherine Renton, at her home in Hipsburn.

“I struggled to see the images on the many small slides that I found, so I had them transferred onto disc,” said Katherine, who unearthed the slides three months ago.

“I brought up the first image on my computer screen and was astounded to see a wonderful watercolour painting with the title ‘Completing Amble Marina 1987’ written in pencil by my father.”

The painting shows the West Jetty as viewed from Harrisons Boatyard, with a dredger in the marina to the left. The images have since been reproduced as high quality giclee prints.

The exhibition will be the first in the micropub The Cock & Bull.

The exhibition will run throughout August, and prints will be available for sale, with profits going to the RNLI.