Celebrating Cullercoats’ Community Christmas
Proudly sponsoring the Cullercoats Community Advent Trail
Cullercoats has always held a special place in my heart, even before I opened my gallery on St George’s Road. The coastal town’s amazing bay and the thriving local community acted as inspiration for many of my coastal paintings, and I knew I wanted to call it home for my business.
It’s events like the one I’m about to discuss that make this little community so special. The Cullercoats Community Advent Trail is a fantastic event that sees a new resident displaying amazing Christmas decorations and designs each day of advent. This ‘living’ advent calendar makes wandering through the town spell-binding and also brings a sense of excitement to each new day in what can often be a dark and dreary December.
The event, organised by a local lady named Kristina Koth, challenges businesses and residents alike to launch their displays and allow visitors to come and see them. We invite explorers to use the map and tick off each other display as they pass through the festive streets. The completed advent leaflet can then be submitted for a chance to win prizes.
Image: The Boat Yard Christmas window
Image: Wansbeck Resident's Day 18 Christmas display.
It may come as no surprise that I dived into this even headfirst! As a proud sponsor of the Cullercoats Community Advent Trail, I’m also putting on a festive display for visitors, with all decorations staying up and lit until the 30th of December.
My own display is inspired by the open water swimmers who take to our bay in all weathers for a dip or a few lengths. Considering the water temperature in December is around 8oC at its best, the strength of character these swimmers have is amazing. Often they don’t even wear wetsuits!
Image: My "Festive dip" Christmas window with 2020's "A Winter Shout" (left) and 2021's "Lighting the Way" (right)
While you’ll have to come and see the display first-hand to get a glimpse of the art I’ve talked about above, I’ve also created lots of winter-themed Cullercoats paintings in the past. After all, the area is such an inspiration to me, where winter’s special lighting conditions can create spectacular scenery.
You may have spotted my 2021 Cullercoats RNLI Charity Christmas cards online or in the gallery this year, depicting a wonderful and crisp winter’s evening on the shore. For last year’s cards, I painted the piece entitled “A Winter Shout”. The original painting is currently on display in my gallery and looking for a home this winter, so if you’ve got the perfect spot above the fire or gap in the hallway, you can click and collect from my gallery or come and see it in person.
Image: "A Winter Shout"
Another piece inspired by this idyllic area is Winter Morning at Cullercoats. This piece depicts the famous bay basking in the winter sunrise. Available as a limited edition print, you can pick up your own Winter Minter via my website or pop in and visit us on St George’s Road.
Image: "Winter Morning at Cullercoats"
If you’d like to participate in the advent or you’re just visiting Cullercoats for the day, pop by my studio to see the display and to take home some Cullercoats art of your own. You can also follow the map on the Cullercoats Community trail’s Facebook page to see all of the other wonderful creations that will get even the most Scrooge-like of us excited about the festivities!
