Latest news with #MsBrown
Western Telegraph
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Western Telegraph
Welsh artist to showcase new work during open studio event
Sarah Jane Brown will showcase new creations as part of an open studio event. The artist will welcome visitors into her studio for four days from Friday, May 23. The public will be able to attend at any time between 10:30am and 5.30pm from then until Monday, May 26. This will offer people the chance to get a sneak peek behind the scenes, viewing her newest artworks. Ms Brown will also be giving a free painting demonstration on Sunday, May 25, at 3pm. This will offer enthusiasts and novices alike the opportunity to learn from a professional. Original pieces, prints, and art gifts will be available for purchase during the event. Ms Brown, who resides and works in Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, draws inspiration from her surroundings to create coastal landscape oil paintings. She said: "Walking every day in this dramatic environment with its rocky shores, high cliffs, big skies and unpredictable seas, can be a truly humbling experience. "It reminds me how nature can be both diminishing, showing you how small you are in such a vast landscape, whilst also uplifting and transformative." Located at the Brawdy Business Park, just off the A487 between Penycwm and Solva, the studio is easily accessible and well signposted. Free parking and toilets are available, and the studio is fully wheelchair accessible. Those wishing to visit the studio at another time can do so by appointment, after calling 01437 623123 to arrange. A former fine art student at Carmarthen School of Art, Ms Brown graduated with first-class honours. Her achievements include a full membership of the Guild Society of Artists and exhibitions at the Royal Cambrian Academy and London's Mall Galleries. Her artwork has featured on Channel 4's TV series 'The UK's National Parks with Caroline Quentin' and BBC Radio 4's 'The Shipping Postcards.' Currently, her work is being celebrated in a group art exhibition at the West Wales Arts Centre in Fishguard, running until May 31. Ms Brown is also represented by the Etcetera Gallery in St Davids, Pembrokeshire and Art Unlimited in Bridport, Dorset. Her artwork is internationally collected and she has regular open studio events and painting workshops. For anyone interested in learning more about Sarah Jane Brown or her art, further information and online learning options are available on her website. The open studio event is an opportunity to view her latest works and see where they are created, all while soaking in the atmosphere of Pembrokeshire's scenic beauty. This event promises to be a delightful experience for art lovers, enthusiasts, and casual visitors alike.
Scotsman
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Scotland's Home of the Year: Look inside stunning New Town two-level apartment with Dean Bridge views
In the case of Rebecca Brown, applying to appear on Scotland's Home of the Year was a rather impromptu decision. IWC Media 'It was closing the next day, and they replied very quickly to ask if I'd send some photos,' says the property developer and profit coach. 'Then I got a call to say that the producer is in Edinburgh next Thursday. 'Can she come and see you?' And then the next thing, yes, I was in. It happened really quickly, and I had got a camera crew at my house before I knew it'. Ms Brown and her New Town two-level apartment will be starring on episode three, East, and will be going up against an extended bungalow in Anstruther, and a tenement flat in Stockbridge. To make the shortlist is a real thrill for Ms Brown, as she is a huge SHOTY fan. She even watches the Welsh version of the series, and her favourite judge on the Scottish round is Anna Campbell-Jones. 'I like her because she's consistent, but I think Banjo is good fun too,' says Ms Brown, who lives in her garden flat with her husband, Derek. On a superficial level, you don't see the amount of work that's gone into this couple's property. They bought it in 2021, and had to completely reconfigure the space before actually moving in. They used GLM Architects in Edinburgh to do the work, since the company are specialists in historic buildings and the flat is A-listed. In what might be considered an unusual move, they changed it from a four bedroom property, to a two bedroom, in order to get the living spaces that they wanted. 'It took us two years to get planning, to get the warrants in place and decide what we wanted to do, and then it took 12 months to actually get the work done,' she says. 'So on the ground floor, which is the floor you come in on, we basically reconfigured it to give us a bigger entrance hall, and then we reconfigured the master bedroom. Downstairs, the kitchen was a bedroom and utility room. To do the work, we took out three supporting walls, so we were propping up the whole six storey property'. Thankfully, the nearby residents aren't at home very often, so didn't complain about any noise. 'We were quite lucky in that the neighbours immediately above us don't live there very often, but I mean, we did disturb the neighbours., there's no doubt about it. It could have been worse though,' she says. As far as the interior decor goes, Ms Brown, who owns a vast back catalogue of 25 Beautiful Homes Magazine, likes to think of her style as 'understated elegance'. This is evident throughout the chic property. 'I've never been a dan of clutter and I'm not really into twee,' says Ms Brown, who has just signed up for an interior design course to develop her part-time passion. Her flat mainly features white walls, and judiciously placed artworks, including Vettriano prints. The colour palette includes just a few of Brown's favourite hues. 'Green is my favourite colour, definitely. And then in the sitting room, I've got the gold, which also appears in the bathroom,' she says. 'In the sitting room, there's a bespoke rug that's pink and it was lovely to put that splash in there, and then the cushions pick up on all those colours'. There are some lovely and tactile soft furnishings around the flat, but the most sybaritic room is probably the bathroom, with its gorgeous slipper bath. The couple loved this piece so much that they bought it from The Albion Bath Company a year before the property renovation was finished, and had to move it from room to room while the work was completed. However, Brown's favourite space of all is probably the downstairs kitchen, which was inspired by a New York apartment. It contrasts against the rest of the flat, as it has an industrial feel. 'The comfortable and understated style has always been what I've wanted for sitting rooms, bedrooms and so on, but the kitchen was my chance to do something different,' she says. 'I've always wanted to go slightly more industrial, and this was a chance to do it, because we completely gutted the place'. So, there's granite and a dark floor, bare lightbulbs and a pair of glossy black tables that Brown had specially made. The look is softened with plants, and colourful prints. It's dramatic and extremely cool. 'We love entertaining friends and family there. I do love the kitchen, but then I also love my sitting room because it's cosy, and my bedroom because I can just sit and see the view to Dean Bridge,' she says. However, we're sure that many viewers of Scotland's Home of the Year will be most jealous of the couple's vast wine cellar, which is under the pavement. Let's hope the judges haven't taken a corkscrew with them. 'I think they'll like that space,' says Ms Brown. 'I don't know if many people have still got the original wine cellars and are using them for that purpose. The people we bought the property from, they just used it like a shed, as storage, with tools and stuff in there. I wanted to use it as a sort of larder, and my husband said, no, we'll start collecting wine'. The couple might have to have a little snifter before watching their episode. After all, Ms Brown has the pre-fame jitters, and the couple will be coming back from holiday that day, and are hoping to get to the flat on time. 'I'm slightly wondering what I've done,' she says, 'I wasn't even expecting to get on the show'. Episode three of Scotland's Home of the Year is on BBC One Scotland on Monday May 5 at 8.30pm-9pm, 1 . Rebecca Brown outside the property IWC Media Photo: IWC Media Photo Sales 2 . The cooking area in the kitchen and dining area, with hanging plants and marble work surfaces IWC Media Photo: IWC Media Photo Sales 3 . The man bedroom with ochre cushions IWC Media Photo: IWC Media Photo Sales 4 . The bathroom with its slipper bath and gold wallpaper IWC Media Photo: IWC Media Photo Sales
Scotsman
25-04-2025
- Scotsman
Lorry driver who killed pregnant nurse in M8 crash jailed
HGV driver veered off motorway and on to hard shoulder where motorist was stopped Sign up to the daily Crime UK newsletter. All the latest crime news and trials from across the UK. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A lorry driver who killed a heavily pregnant nurse in a crash on the M8 has been sentenced to more than two-and-a-half years in prison. Trevor Norgate was driving an HGV when it veered off the motorway just west of Hermiston Gait and into the hard shoulder where 41-year-old Evelyn Brown had stopped her car. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Brown was 34 weeks pregnant at the time of the incident, which occurred at 9.08am on December 18, 2023. After continuing in the hard shoulder for some 88 metres, the truck ploughed into Ms Brown's parked car, killing her and her unborn baby. Norgate's lawyer said his client had been 'momentarily distracted for seven or eight seconds at most' prior to the collision. The 58-year-old pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving at a hearing on March 27. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The High Court in Edinburgh | PA Sentencing Norgate at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday, judge Lord Armstrong told him that as a result of his actions, 'two lives have been lost' and the lives of Ms Brown's close relatives had been 'materially impacted in significantly detrimental ways'. He added: 'The fact remains this is a very serious matter. 'No sentence I can impose can in any sense be a measure of the value of the lives that have been lost, nor provide a comfort to the family whose own lives have been devastated as a result. 'I have read and take into account victim impact statements by Ms Brown's mother and stepsister, which are eloquent in their terms, explaining the extent of their tragic loss and their difficulties in coming to terms with it. 'As the result of your actions, their lives have been changed radically for the worse.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He acknowledged the fact Norgate had 'accepted responsibility' for his actions at an early stage, and that it was he who called 999 following the incident. However he said he had 'no alternative' but to impose a prison term, and sentenced him to two years and eight months in prison. READ MORE: United US flights from Edinburgh Airport to Washington DC increased in major new deal He also disqualified Norgate from driving for four years and eight months, and said he would have to complete an extended driving test before being allowed to drive again. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Norgate, dressed in a blue fleece and purple tracksuit bottoms, showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down. Norgate's lawyer David Nicolson KC said his client was 'utterly devastated' by what happened, and that he will 'never, ever get over what he did on this particular morning'. READ MORE: Major rally and march to be held by workers striking at prestigious Scottish university over 700 job cuts
