Joanne Wishart feature
Joanne Wishart, the artist who designed the cover for The Allotment Sisterhood
Cullercoats artist Joanne Wishart remembers the first time she painted.
It was quite dramatic. She was only four or five when, inspired by a book at nursery, she painted all the leaves on the plants and the patio at her family home. Luckily, her parents weren’t cross with her.
Joanne grew up in a rural area just outside Berwick and was encouraged by her parents to pursue what she was good at. When it came to choosing a career, her path could have taken her in one of two directions – becoming a PE teacher or going to art school.
Joanne said: “After visiting lots of open days I was mesmerised by the art college scene so I decided to study art and went to Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee. I enjoyed it and have had a really varied career since then.
“One of my first jobs was a week’s trial in London designing Christmas crackers. Then, via an agent in New York, I designed tropical flower shirt prints for Hawaiian shirt fabric. I think this is where my love for bright bold colour began.
“I decided to go freelance and it was really interesting designing greetings cards, children's furnishing fabric and Christmas gift wrapping paper, but the downside was that you only got paid when something you designed was sold at a design fair.
“During this time, I travelled to Edinburgh, creating hand printed greetings cards for a few years and using the facilities at the Edinburgh Printmakers studio. My husband Ross persuaded me to move to Newcastle and I then worked at Northern Print in Ouseburn and the Mushroom Works for about 10 years.
“From these bases, I sold my paintings and designed gifts such as cards and screen prints, selling everywhere from Tynemouth Market to national art fairs. However, when I had my twins, I decided I wanted to create a lifestyle business so I could pick the children up from school and enjoy more flexibility.”
In 2018, Joanne refurbished a former pet shop in Cullercoats and created her own gallery. She admits the learning curve was steep as she and Ross learnt how to become shopkeepers and sell their paintings and giftware online.
She said: “It was tough when we started, then Covid came and it changed things dramatically. But it wasn’t all bad for the business, as people were keen to decorate their homes in different ways because they were spending so much more time in them.
“They also had more disposable income from not going on holiday.”
The inspiration for Joanne’s paintings comes from the world around her, particularly the North East coast, although she also enjoys creating artwork inspired by places across the UK. Her designs are available as original wall art and feature on cards, lampshades and giftware.
Joanne decided to design Kay’s novel, The Allotment Sisterhood, as she felt it would be interesting to work on something outside the gallery for a change.
She said: “When I was younger, our family always had a vegetable garden as my dad worked in horticulture. This meant I could really relate to the story in Kay’s book.”
As well as running her gallery, Joanne won a commission to design a sculpture for the Peter Rabbit: Tales on the Tyne trail in aid of St Oswald’s Hospice in 2026. Her ‘Peter the Pirate’ Design is currently on display in Eldon Square, Newcastle and can be seen up until the 15th September, before being sold at the charity auction.
It is not her first involvement in a major fundraising art trail. In 2019, her Elmer-inspired design, called Elephish, raised the most money for the charity initiative.
If you’d like to meet Joanne or see more of her paintings you can visit her art gallery in Cullercoats on 6 St George's Road, just a short walk from the seafront. Open Wednesday to Saturday 10-5pm.