Carlingford

Last weekend we went to the small coastal town of Carlingford, entering through the 14th century gate, we pottered down tiny medieval streets, past the Mint and Taaffe's Castle wending our way up through the town until we came across a wonderful old fashioned sweet shop with a dim interior all trimly painted with cream gloss, complete with lift-up counter, weighing scales and boxes and boxes of treats. Do you remember pressing your face against the glass of a sweet shop window and hoping, hoping there was something there for you?

Roland Collins

If you like the work of Eric Ravilious or John Piper there's every chance you will love the work of Roland Collins too. There's something fresh and cheerful about his paintings- you can almost smell the rain in the air gathering around that lovely grey flint house or a salty sea tang, maybe mixed with some smoke belching from that tug, or perhaps a drifted conversation with words caught by a shore breeze...