Fine Art Meets Fine Food
Two of life's finest luxuries Fine Art and Fine Food came together on the 1st of May at the Michelin-starred pub, The Pipe and Glass Inn.
The Artmarket Gallery commissioned Bob Barker to create a piece of art inspired by the Pipe and Glass in February this year. Clients of the Artmarket Gallery were invited to come and enjoy a dinner party with Bob at The Pipe and Glass, where the stunning original would be unveiled for the very first time.
We had been planning this occasion for over 5 months, so it was sure to be an evening to remember! The evening started with canapés and drinks whilst our guests viewed a selection of Bob’s existing collection whilst Bob mingled with his fans and spoke about his techniques and inspiration.
After sitting down for dinner Robert Power, Gallery Director, Ian Whetherby-Blythe, Managing Director of Washington Green, and Bob Barker, unveiled the original to rapturous applause. James Mackenzie (owner and head chef of The Pipe and Glass) was rather overwhelmed, saying he felt rather emotional that Bob Barker had dedicated his time to painting his pub, with such breath-taking results. Bob then proceeded to talk about his painting techniques, ‘scumbling’ was of particular interest, a process in which he apples thin layers of opaque or semi-opaque colour in order to soften the colours or outlines of an area of the painting. This particular technique results in the colours in the piece changing with the dimming and brightening of light, a sight which has to be seen to be believed!
Michelin-starred head chef James Mackenzie designed a menu especially for the evening, linking all courses to the title of Bob Barker's paintings:-
‘‘Perfect Match’’ 2013 Salmon three ways – tartar, hot smoked salmon scotch egg, cold smoked salmon with fennel seed grissini and compressed cucumber
‘‘Nice Weather For Ducks’’ 2014 Roast duck breast with crispy confit duck pasty, savoy cabbage and ‘‘Chips and Gravy’’ 2009
‘‘We Go Together Like A Wish And A Smile’’ 2013 Pistachio and cherry bakewell tart with dark chocolate sorbet
‘‘The Passion’’ 2013 A selection of Yorkshire cheese
‘Spread A Little Happiness’ 2013 Coffee and treats
It was delicious!
Now many of you will have heard about poor Bob’s ‘falling of a ladder’ accident so unfortunately he was unable to partake in our planned ‘live sketch’, so luckily for our fabulous guests we passed the pencils and paper on to them! We gave our guests 15 minutes to sketch Bob’s famous Umbrella Couple and asked Bob to judge the top three! Third prize, 2 bottles of The Pipe and Glass Inn’s new in-house wine, went to Sharon Heron. Second prize, a signed copy of James Mackenzie's cook book ‘On The Menu’, went to Stacey Garner. The first prize, gift vouchers for The Pipe and Glass and The Artmarket Gallery, went to Bill Jubb, with Bob Barker saying he better ‘watch out’ as he has seen his up and coming competition!
We held an auction of a sketch that Bob Barker kindly donated, raising £650 for the Cancer Unit at our local Castle Hill Hospital.
Sadly the evening couldn't last forever, our carriages were here before we knew it, we left with a return invite to The Pipe and Glass and a keen artist hoping we will have him back at an Artmarket event soon saying; "it was one of the most enjoyable events" he has ever done.
Following the response to the original The Artmarket Gallery is releasing a small number of highly collectable boutique limited edition giclée prints of the original ‘Table for Two’, uniquely signed by both Bob Barker and James Mackenzie. This piece is exclusive to Artmarket and cannot be purchased anywhere else. This piece is a must for your art collection!
It was an absolute pleasure to spend an evening in such a wonderful venue, with passionate guests and the talented Mr Barker. A big thank you to James and his team at The Pipe and Glass, Bob Barker, Ian Whetherby-Blythe from our publishers, Washington Green. We are so thrilled all our guests had such a wonderful time - here's to the next one, we hope you can join us!