Artist David Renshaw and the further (Northern) adventures of Ted and Doris

David Renshaw is known to his many fans from his sweet-natured Northern Romance series, featuring the travels of flat-capped Ted and his woolly-hatted other half, Doris.

In Follow Your Heart, the happy couple have taken their camper van to visit the Humber Bridge, a structure recently described as ‘sublime’ by Historic England, which last year gave the bridge its highest accolade – a Grade I listing, a status given only to buildings of the most exceptional architectural and historic interest.

“It really took me out of my comfort zone,” admits David, who was asked to create the painting by Artmarket director Robert Power. “I’m more used to painting landscapes, or ancient architecture like castles – not something modern and minimalist like the Humber Bridge!

“But I really enjoyed doing it – and I’d like to think that having Ted and Doris standing there on the shore gazing across the river adds a sense of wonder to it all.”

David started adding his loving couple to his paintings 10 years ago – until then, they’d been simple landscapes.

“They were inspired by my grandmother, who was a prominent and influential figure in my childhood,” he says. “She adored my grandfather, who had died when they were quite young. She never remarried, and she always used to tell me stories about him.

“Around 2008 I was looking for a new direction in my painting, and my grandmother’s stories sparked the idea of Ted and Doris – I wanted something that people could connect to on an emotional level.

“So now there’s always the couple, always a heart, and love is always the theme. But geographically, they can go anywhere. And they’ve evolved over the years. At first they were always quite Lowry-esque cityscapes – my parents are from Manchester and Leeds. But I was born and brought up in Southport, and I love the countryside, so now they’re often in more natural environments, reflecting my own experiences more.”

So where now for Ted and Doris?

“So long as people still want them hanging on their walls, I’ll keep painting them!” David laughs. “I’ve started occasionally adding more family members – a couple of children, a dog – and I might add more, we’ll see.”

The Artmarket is offering the original artwork of Follow Your Heart, but also available will be 25 limited edition prints uniquely embellished by David himself, who will sign each one in oils, individually number the print in the registration plate of the camper van, and add a few extra hearts.

“Each one will be unique in itself,” he says. “I’d like that if I couldn’t afford the original – to know that I’m buying something that the artist has had his hands on.”

To reserve your unique piece of Renshaw artwork which goes live this Sunday 10th June click here.