A George Street Inspired Christmas

When I set out to find all the quirky, little stories that lie just under the radar of Perth ‘news’ I knew I was going to be in for a few unexpected treats.   And this gorgeous Christmas Card that brings the people and shops of George Street to life has turned out to be exactly that!  Whilst I was in buying my loose leaf tea (Assam, love it!) from The Bean Shop, Lorna showed me this beautiful card and told me the story of a regular customer who lives in the street painting the scene and having it reproduced.

I loved it immediately – a proper #PerthLoveFest! Lorna promised to pass on my details and just a few days later an email dropped into my inbox from Sarah Halliday. Now, my brain was a wee bit scrambled here because Sarah Halliday is my Talented Athlete Scheme contact at Live Active Leisure. Well, it turns out this is only a part time role as she’s also an amazing artist who lives on George Street and drinks coffee from The Bean Shop!

We catch up for scones and tea at Reids Café and she tells me she has been living on George Street with her husband for the past three years. They moved to Scotland from the very chic South of France and yet, Sarah tells me, that out of all the wonderful places she’s lived, Perth is her favourite. Specifically George Street.

“It has the best people, shops, restaurants and then you turn a corner and you’re in the countryside. I love it so much. Our flat is directly above Next Home and when they had their fire earlier in the year it was actually me that called it in.  We were all evacuated and suddenly this little community kicked into life to help all the residents standing out on the street.

Mario from Grande Italia arrived with pizza for us, Eddie at The George Hotel let us bring Charlie, our border collie, in for some warmth and when it was obvious we were all going to be out for the night the guys at The Post Box let us all camp out in their bar and brought us drinks and pots of tea.  Everyone was just amazing and I wanted to do something lovely for the street – that’s when I decided to paint it!”

In her everyday artist’s life, Sarah paints Cycling Art and does commissions for paintings of pets. A few years ago, though, she painted the village of Culross while she was staying there and a local gallery asked her to reproduce it into cards. She knew she could bring the characters, buildings and shop fronts of George Street to life in the same way and decided that a large oil painting was the only way to do it justice.

She set about sketching, then doing her under painting in black and white and then her oils.  When she had it scanned for print she added in the Merry Christmas text on a few of the cards. I’m no art critic, but against the snowy sky, I think it’s one of the best festive impressions I’ve ever seen of our small city.

“I just think George Street is wonderful.  When I take Charlie for a walk down to the North Inch he always wants to stop at The Bean Shop to see John.  His tail wags like crazy and the girls call down to the roasting room ‘Your friend’s here!’. It’s hilarious, its heartwarming and for me it sums up George Street perfectly.  So, if you look closely at the card, just outside The Bean Shop you’ll see me, Charlie and John chatting in the street.”

You really can - have a close look! For me, this is what Small City, Big Personality is all about. These little stories that make a painting with its snowy night sky and soft, muted colours sing with life. Because when you hear about the warmth, kindness and quirky friendships that are all painted into this wonderful scene you can’t help but fall in love with it a little bit more. 

I was curious as to what she was doing with the original now that her cards were printed? The answer is, it’s up for sale!  At 80cm by 50cm it is a big oil painting and for only £500 I’m thinking it would be the most AMAZING Christmas Gift for someone connected to the street or the city.  So, if any of you are lucky enough to wake up on Christmas Day to find this under your tree then, please, please let me know!  

If you’re not the lucky person who ends up with the original, you can still buy the gorgeous cards from Sarah at £1.20 each. All profits after her print costs go to PADS as she’s a big animal lover. 

Get in touch with Sarah here:

SARAH HALLIDAY | Email | Website | Twitter