The Enigma of Edward Street

Work enabled by Durham County Council on the Dene Bank Housing Regeneration Art Project 2021-22. Currently on long term loan to Ferryhill Town Hall and displayed in the Council Chamber.

The painting is a direct reference to the celebrated art of Norman Cornish who was a miner at the local colliery. He painted many scenes around the Dene and Chapter Colliery based on his walk to work from nearby Spennymoor. In this painting I have copied one of his figures (the one on the right) and placed him next to a friend of mine, Adrian, as if they were walking side by side deep in conversation. The path was once a road from Dene Bank housing estate where many of the miners lived. The estate has been partially demolished and the remaining houses renovated to 21st century standards, but you can still see lines of terraced houses at the top of the bank which feature in many of Cornish’s paintings. Large scale prints of details of this painting and two others were displayed in windows and doorways of terraced houses awaiting renovation in 2022, an outdoor exhibition of my work.

If you would like to purchase this or any of the other paintings and drawings from the project please contact me via email on lionel.playford@gmail.com.