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David Jackson Open Studio - 99 The High Street Blakeney

An insider's guide to the county's best kept secrets

David Jackson Open Studio

99 The High Street
Blakeney
NR25 7PS
Text: 07779 069542
Email: 99thehighstreet@gmail.com

Hugely talented flamboyant artist full of charisma and enthusiasm producing impressive seascapes from his ramshackle hut – visit a true artist in the making!

Where to find it
David Jackson’s open studio is a delightful little shack situated in the car park down the main tourist street in Blakeney; just walk directly up from the quay. Blakeney can be found by taking the main coastal A149 road, situated eight miles from Wells-next-the-Sea and thirteen miles from Cromer. It is also only five miles from beautiful Holt where you can find an abundance of gift shops and galleries. Blakeney is a smaller affair but has a beautiful quayside setting with boat rides available and where families enjoy the Norfolk pastime of gillying – catching crabs from the quay. The village has several gift shops and galleries and is becoming an ideal place to discover quality art.

What to expect
Set back from the road but with a sign to direct you in, cast your eyes to a quirky pebbled hobbit house with fisherman’s netting and what appears to be a dinosaur’s egg nesting on the roof. Sound wacky? It simply reflects the wonder that is the artist, David Jackson. With string holding his trousers up and a straw hat complete with rain water hole, meet the most eccentric and refreshingly humble character you’re ever likely to encounter. David is a free spirit and his artwork reflects this. He lives on a campsite by night and adores his tiny bolt hole by day; a place he feels he can be unpretentiously himself. He’s clearly a very talented and established artist but chooses this wayward lifestyle as it brings out the raw gift within.

With empty coloured paint tubes scattered all around and an overwhelming smell of fresh linseed oil, you’ll find David busy doing what he loves best. No big show, no audience, just his personality, a paint brush and any panel he can get his hands on. An eighty year old table top or a new canvas; he’s not fussed. He paints with haste wrapped up in his own little world, but enter his cabin and he springs into life giving the warmest welcome and the greatest banter to all that pass by. He loves people, loves life, and loves painting. And without a doubt you’ll love him.

His work
Studying at Art College, mixed with anatomy classes in London, he paints nudes from life with varying styles and techniques but his Blakeney abode is all about his seascapes. Reflecting a two sided personality, his pieces are usually bright and bold, full of vivid strokes and movement, but you can also spot a deeper more melancholy feel in works subdued in colour and tone. Ranging in size from A4 to A1, and price from £395 to £2500, there’s something for all homes and all pockets.

Gaining reputation far and wide, these oil paintings are a great investment to take home from a Norfolk holiday. They reflect our beautiful coastline and a sense of the old school simplistic life that still reigns in Norfolk. Artists like David are few and far between now – it’s all about gallery space and exhibitions - and for me this will always be a shame, but how joyous to discover such creative gems still exist. True painters consumed entirely in the art itself. Pop along and show your support please. David deserves recognition for his talent alone, but also for his infectious personality and his desire to keep it real and paint, paint, paint.

The details
Open daily throughout the year. David’s work can also be seen at various places in Holt including Uniquely Eclectic and the hair dressers in Apple Yard. More of his work can be viewed on his facebook page: 99 The High Street Blakeney.

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