In the January 2014 issue of Tony Nero's art newsletter, he reflects on a successful year for local art in Peterborough, highlighting events such as the John Clare Festival and the Overground Arts Jam. He pays tribute to Nelson Mandela, shares the impact of his art on others, and announces upcoming exhibitions and fundraising events. The newsletter showcases community involvement and the growing interest in the arts within the region.

1. Tony Nero’s Art
NEWS
The really random newsletter all about my art.
Tribute to
Nelson
Mandela
‘I will fight for fredom
until the end of my days’
Nelson Mandela
In this issue:
John Clare Festival
Overground Arts Jam
Celebrating Diversity
www.tonynerobrushworks.com
January 2014
ISSUE 10

2. Welcome to issue 10
of my newsletter
2013 has been a super year, not
just for me but for the local art
scene in general. I have had such
a busy year basking in the joys of
creating new work and also being
a part of various groups proactivly
promoting local art.
Ever more so, art is making it’s
mark here in Peterborough. The
Arts Festival and the Lantern
Festival was such a smash, and
lit up the city, all thanks to Vivacity
and Metal. We had the exciting
‘Fresh Take’ exhibition in the
amazing rooms of Burghley House
and a follow up photographic
exhibition at the City Gallery for
‘Find Me Keep Me’. You can
read my review in Issue 8 of my
newsletter. In October the
zombies came to town and I
finished up with two events for
Black History Month, ‘Celebrating
Diversity in Peterborough’.
I am chuffed and pleased to say
that the last newsletter, issue 9
has reached over 4000 views. The
first newsletter, issue 1 had just
over 200 views, so this is exciting
to see that not only the quality
has grown but
also grown in
the number of
people seeing it.
Much thanks to
everyone for the
quick read, the
comments, feed
backs and your
support.
John Clare Festival
For a few years now I have been
taking part in the John Clare festival
with artist and photographer Shaun
Pitchers. Since being invited by
Richard Astle to show our work
in the open fields of Helpston, it
has been some enjoyable times.
In 2012 the event was cancelled
due to the terrible weather we were
having, but last year, just at the
right time the weather was superb,
and totally made up for it.
The whole event was contained
in a much smaller area of the field
than usual, but this created a much
better athomasphere for the event.
It was great to see some new faces
and hear excellent poetry, and
theatrical improvisation from Tom
Fox and his colleague. Topped with
some super cool folk music from
Pennyless.
It was ever so sad to see that the
tree in the middle of the field was
no longer there. The large elm was
totally destroyed by the heavy
winds from the previous year.
Above is a pastel drawing of which
I did before it got destroyed.

3. Overground Arts Jam
Stuart & Luke
Thanks to Melanie Williams fot this super cool pic of me
Well if you missed the Overground
Arts Jam, which took place at The
Green Backyard back in August,
then you really missed out on a
super cool event. This arts jam has
been going for a few years now
and was started by brothers Luke
and Stuart Payn, to create some
artistic vibes in the city.
I was so pleased to take part in the
event, mixing it up with a whole
bunch of street artists and making
some cool friends on the way. The
rain thretened to spoil play. but
music, food and art ruled the day.
On the day I worked on this urban
style piece of which the title
‘Emma’s kiss’ was inspired by a
young lady I met on the day who
took a liking to the piece. Here are
a couple of pictures to give you a
flavour of the kind of day we had.
Artists doing what they do best
The unmistakable art of Parlee

4. Tony’s shout out!
Most recent painting
In this issue, my shout goes
out to a beautiful young lady,
and I mean beautiful inside
and out, with a massive heart.
Harley Carrington may only be a
smidgen of a little girl at age 11
but she has a huge heart, bigger
than some adults.
Harley spends the majority of her
spare time fundraising for Help
for Heroes. With a constant flow
of ideas for events and new ways
for raising funds, she has now
embarked on setting up her own
charity to help others. Tussling
between her school work and her
own daily difficulties she never
stops. There’s sterling help and
support from her family, but even
they have a hard time keeping up
with her. Harley Carrington is a
true Champion.
Tony Nero, Harley Carrington & Cllr Julia
Davidson at BHM celebrations
If you wish to support her cause
you can find her on facebook at:
Harley Helps the Heroes.
Well here it is, my most recent
painting, and it’s already had a
few nice coments on facebook.
Some time in the summer of last
year my good friend Harley
Carrington asked me if I would
do a painting for her and donate
it to a fundraising event she was
planning. Well of course I said
yes... after I said, ‘what are you
getting me into now’.
We had a chat about what she
wanted and she clearly wanted
to portray a soilder and his dog.
I wanted to do something she
would be pleased with and this
is the result of what I came up
with. Painted in oils on canvas
and entitled ‘Ok dude i’ve got
your back’. I really enjoyed
working on this and love the
mood of the finished piece.
If you fancy tickets for the
Masquerade Ball and Auction,
Saturday 15th Feb. Email:
harleyhelpstheheroes@hotmail.co.uk

5. Vigil for Nelson Mandela
On December 15th, the Deputy
Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire,
Cliff Walker led a candle lit vigil for
Nelson Mandela. The Revd Canon
Ian Black said a prayer and we had
a variety of speakers say a few
words. Bumped into Mr walker the
day before and he said he may call
on me to say a few words. Well
i’m not ashamed to say I got real
nervous. Honored, yes of course
but in no way qualified to speak on
such a man.
But still I wrote a few words in
preperation and this is what I said:
‘Just a
few weeks
ago we
celebrated
Black history
Month
here in the
square and
I displayed
my painting
of Nelson
Mandela. It’s a gift and a great
honor to be able to create such
a piece of work. The world was
given a gift in the form of Nelson
mandela, and today we light a
candle to help him on his journey.
It is said that you judge a man by
what he does and not by what he
says he can do. Nelson said, I will
fight for freedom until the end of
my days, and he sure did that. How
can we not celebrate a man who
has given so much of himself to
us. The world will not forget you
Nelson Mandela’.
I went and wrote my bit in the book of
condolences at the Town Hall

6. Celebrating Diversity
in Peterborough
Part of Black History Month
In October last year, as part of
Black History Month we held two
events ‘Celebrating Diversity in
Peterborough.’ Although the events
were put together in a short time,
it was exciting to see the public’s
response and the efforts from the
performers, who give up their time
freely to be a part of such an event.
The first event was held at the
Millennium Centre on 19th and the
second event on the 26th, held
jointly at the Town Hall and in
Cathedral Square. At both events
we were honored to have the
presence of the Mayor Cllr June
Stokes and a variety of councullors
which included Cllr Julia Davidson,
Cllr Lisa Forbes, Cllr Darren Fower
and Cllr Asif Shaheed.
You really had to be there to fully
experience the event. Different
sectors of the community were
involved in live performances,
creating a real diverse and
interesting atmosphere. Along
with my Black Heroes collection of
portraits we had a fusion of culture,
art, music, poetry, dance and
crafts.
At the Millennium Centre, the
Peterborough Community Gospel
Choir, poet Sonya King, Brillo &
Brandon and The Latino Sounds
raised the roof. Followed by live
performances by the likes of King
Don, African Heritage Centre,
Tallawah Roots Reggae Band, Full
Dimension, Octavious, Latvian
dancers and even Belly Dancers,
we rocked the square.
To sum it up, Chelsey Rambler
posted on my page on facebook. ‘I
only wanted to watch Tallawah on
my way through town and I ended
up staying on the square all day.’

7. Members of the Black History Month
Committee with Cllr Julia Davidson
and the Mayor Cllr June Stokes
Tallawah
African Heritage Centre, hypnotic drums
Full Dimension keeping things sweet
Brillo & Brandon, the Huskisson brothers
getting their groove on in the square
Peterborough Community Gospel Choir,
really raised the roof at the Millennium
More photos from this & other exhibitions on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonynerotheartist/

8. Birthday joy
for Lee
It’s that icing on the cake time,
when you hear that your work has
really made someone smile.
I met Nicola by chance while
showing my work on the square
in October at the Celebrating
Diversity in Peterborough event.
Even though she was rushing
off on a mission. she stopped
by long enough to have a look
at my work and even order a
print of Muhammad Ali. The
picture below shows the happy
birthday boy, Lee with a big smile
on his face after recieving and
opening his surprise pressie. So,
another bit of art making another
someone’s day.
Exhibition dates for your diary
28 & 29 June
5 & 6 July
12 & 13 July
Inspirational art in homes
and studios throughout
the city of Peterborough
and surrounding villages
www.paos.org.uk
Gallery
art and Shop
in the
heart
fine and decorative art paintings
sculpture photography printmaking
ceramics glass textiles
jewellery handcrafted gifts
prints cards picture framing
47 Bridge Street, Peterborough, PE1 1HA
www.artintheheart.co.uk
info@artintheheart.co.uk
Tel: 07910 118148

9. Raffle winners
Lexiana
I’m pleased to finally announce the
raffle winners from our ‘Summer
Exhibition’, which was part of the
PAOS exhibitions last June. We had
four prizes which were donated
by all the artists showing; StaceyAnn Cole, Mahemuda Arsalani,
Josephine Kelly-Gobuiwang and
myself. In total we raised £250 for
Shine charity. It took some time to
track down the winners but much
Mary Kemp
Dalia Caskey
to their joys of winning. I caught up
with Dalia Caskey in Queensgate
Shopping Centre after her hols,
and when I met Lexiana she was
delighted and said ‘I have never
won anything before.’ Mary Kemp
said ‘My prize lizzard now has pride
of place in the lounge.’ And Yas
Patel is still for the delivery of hers.
Thanks to everyone who came and
make it all happen.
Yas Patel

10. is here
to stay
In the last issue, I mentioned that
Metal Peterborough was about to
launch a website, which is totally
geared up to host local information
about any arty stuff going on in and
around town. Well true to the game,
Idea 1 website was launched
on 19th September. The launch
evening was held at Metal’s HQ at
Chaufers cottage, and at a glance
I coule see the venue littered with
artists and creative people of all
genre.
Cllr Gavin Elsey opened the
evening as the smell of BBQ filled
the air and the sound Kerry Devine
and her band echoed across the
courtyard, followed by Moony
Kerry Devine and her band
Ruth Campbell co-ordinator of Idea 1,
demonstrates the website
Opaque and his band caressing our
eardrums with their footstomping
sounds.
Meanwhile, website coordinator
Ruith Wilson was busy inside
showing how easy it is to to
upload information to the website.
Designer and artist Lee Mason,
who built the site with his team
Freethinking Design was on hand
to see it all ran smoothly.
You can visite the website here
www.idea1.org.uk
Moony Opaque and his band Opaque
This little painting I slipped in between
working on some portrait commissions.
Really just for a break to do something
different. But at the same time it’s for
someone who has been asking for it for a
while. I don’t use much acrylic but it’s
painted in acrylic on canvas and a bit of a
loose style keeping it soft with a bit of
texture

11. A puppy painting, not just for xmas
Here are a few doggy paintings I
did just before Christmas. These
were commissions and mainly for
Christmas presents. Even though it
was hectic trying to get them done
in time, it was great fun. Not just
working on the pieces but trying to
keep the project a secret. What I
mean is, one person wasn’t ment
to know what the other person
were doing and the other person
wasn’t ment to know what that
person was doing either. Let’s just
say I almost blew it a few times in
the presence of both parties.
I’ve heard there were tears also...
It’s always a joy to know that your
work had brought tears and smiles
all at the same time.

12. What’s On !
l Live
art Saturday: Art in the Heart
47 Bridge Street, Peterborough,
PE1 1HA. A different artist each
Saturday www.artintheheart.co.uk
l The
Poet Laureate of the year Pete Irving
looking real jolly as he recieves his
trophy, back in September, from
Benjamin Zephaniah and host ex
Poet Laureate Simon Bales.
Bronties of Dunwich Heath...
and Cliff
28th Jan-1st Feb 2014. Key Theatre,
Embankment Road PE1 1EF
Box Office:01733 207239
Picture of the day
Ok so this is not the most fantastic
picture but it’s not every day you
get to mix it up with the great poet
Benjamin Zephaniah. This pic was
taken in September at Bushfield
Academy, where Ben was judging
the Poet Laureate competition. This
then followed his live set ‘Too cool
for School’, which was a blast.
l Summer
Exhibition - Part of
Peterborough Artists Open Studio
(PAOS) 28 & 29 June 5 & 6, 12 & 13
All 3 weekends at Shine, 42 Park Rd,
Peterborough PE1 2UQ.
Featured artists:
Stacey-Ann Cole, Tony Nero,
Mahemuda Arsalani, Carole Boyer &
Josephine Kelly-Gobuiwang
l Peterborough
Artists Open
Studio (PAOS) 28 & 29 June. 5 & 6,
12 & 13 July 2014 www.paos.org.uk
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www.tonynerobrushworks.com
art@tonynerobrushworks.com