Jerry Pitchers Artwork Page 1

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Jerry Pitcher Gallery

Devonshire artist Jerry shares his artworks, commercial commissions and his journey into signwriting and illustrative arts

Page 1 of 4

Issue: 1 Dated: 29th September 2023

Jerry Pitcher at work in his Sidmouth studio (January 2014)

"Having left Grammar school in Ramsgate with a somewhat inauspicious clutch of GCE O Levels my career choices were somewhat limited, to my dismay Ordnance Survey in the Army was suggested!"

"Purely by chance I found a Margate Sign Writer was looking to take on an apprentice. During my five years with him I found I’d developed a natural aptitude for art and actually became quite proficient working on signs with a pictorial element"

Photographs of Inn Signs

"Completing the apprenticeship and gaining my indentures, like all good apprentices I left the firm deciding to strike out on my own"

"My family moved to Whitstable and me with them where I soon discovered that finding enough sign writing work to make a living wasn’t going to be easy. Producing a few sketches in and around Whitstable Harbour, I was noticed and more especially my work was seen. In a relatively short time several local hostelries were exhibiting my work, giving me confidence to take on commissions which came my way with a fairly even split between artwork and sign writing"

"Setting up shop in the basement of the Record Centre at 20a Oxford Street, Whitstable I became embroiled in the day to day operation of Radio City and found myself sweet talked into guarding the Knock John Naval Fort with Cliff Cuttelle by Station Manager Eric K Martin"

"A return to my ancestral roots in Devon came about after marriage and starting a family. Settling in Sidmouth I found myself in demand by the licenced trade designing, drawing, painting all manner of Inn signs throughout the West Country"

"I took on illustrating menus, promotional literature, press advertising, village and country scenes and Inn signs. This progressed to pictures of Churches, the Countries Great Cathedrals and Abbeys"

"My mother reminded me that as a child I was always flat on the floor drawing something or other, so I have to conclude the ability was always a part of me"

"Call it fate had the good fortune of a Sign Writers Apprenticeship not come along, I might now have been a retired Army Ordnance Man with a very acceptable pension!"

Branscombe

The Old Masons Arms, Branscombe, Devon 1900 (1977)

St Winifreds Church, Branscombe

Saint Winifred's Church, Branscombe, Devon in 1900 original (1977)

Saint Winifred's Church, Branscombe, Devon in 1900 refined (1977)

Old Masons Arms, Branscombe

The Old Masons Arms, Branscombe, Devon 1900 original (1977)

The Old Masons Arms, Branscombe, Devon 1900 colour (1977)

St Winifreds Church, Branscombe in 1900

Saint Winifred's Church, Branscombe, Devon in 1900 (1977)

Rochester Cathedral

Rochester Cathedral, Kent from the Castle (1977)

The Masons Arms, Branscombe, Devon (1979)

St Winifreds Church, Branscombe, Devon (1979)

Chapel Row, Branscombe, Devon in 1930 (1980)

Ottery Saint Marys Parish Church, Devon (1980)

The lookout, Branscombe, Devon (1980)

Branscombe, Devon in 1920 (1981)

York Minster from the City Walls York, Yorkshire (1982)

Chester Cathedral

Chester Cathedral, Cheshire from the South East (1982)

Exeter Cathedral, West Front (1982)

Pub Menu (undated)

Chichester Cathedral, West Sussex North East aspect from the Market Cross (1982)

The Fountain Head in the 1950's Branscombe, Devon (1982)

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral, Kent from Christchurch Gate (1982)

Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucestershire viewed from the North West (1983)

The Old Inn, Hawkchurch, Axminster, Devon (1983)

Wells Cathedral, Somerset from the Market Place (1983)

Tyne Class RNLI drawn for the Victoria Inn, Salcombe, Devon (1984)

Selsey Bill in 1982 vessel was put on Relief Fleet 1984-93, moved from to Walton and Frinton 1993-96, back to Relief Fleet 1996-2006 before sold to China as Huaying 389, from 2007 based in Ningbo, China