The Wrong Way Round #byboat is a journey of discovering the 2,000 miles of inland waterways. This of course led to Lesley & Rob taking Artistic licence to record their adventures, by drawings, maps and the written word.
Rob & Lesley Pearson have been travelling traders since 2014. Lesley is an Artist who has taken to creating drawings and maps of their journeys. Rob is a computer programmer.
Rob's claim to fame are his jottings about the beginnings of their journey on NB Hekla. They came into being initially as a short story about ‘The Long Way Round’ which was featured in Canal Boat Magazine. The success and feed back from this article prompted Rob to divulge more of the journey, as the magazine article alone didn’t seem to give enough of the essence of that journey.
Rob's book came to life in 2015 as ‘The Wrong Way Round’ which is available on Amazon.
Lesley is a member of the Guild of Waterway Artists and of the Association of Animal Artists. She describes herself as a travelling artist: "the journey is the artwork and the art work is the journey". For the last four years the Pearsons have been exploring the inland waterways, with Lesley making drawings & maps of things they have seen, and putting her art together with Rob's prose - so combining history and the things they encounter.
Lesley offers prints of her beautifully illustrated maps for sale, as well as prints of her waterways and countryside paintings. She also sells mugs with her paintings on and stunning cards for all occasions.
our journey
We have travelled almost all of the northern canals and river navigations in the UK. It has been a carry on from our genuine interest of ways to travel. It’s a way of seeing a country, people, and how people live and interact with each other. We try to embrace it as a way of life, which leads me on to ‘steampunk’, an alternative way to look at life and to what is important about how you embrace it.
steampunk
Our alter egos are Captain Pepsi and Miss Mavis Ming; which is why you will see us dressed in a peculiar way. Time travellers from the last century - with a tongue in cheek humour which we find amuses people we meet.
NB Hekla PopUp Art
It is what it is.. we PopUp in unexpected places, much to the surprise of our followers. We enjoy festivals, markets and of course we open up in places we visit - be it a town, city or just out on the towpath. There is no rhyme or reason to it - it’s what takes our fancy.
This year has been a bit strange as we were deciding to head South for the summer. However, as with most people, Corvid19 has put a halt to any plans we might have had. We just watch the tide and see where it will take us. We are currently on the Chesterfield Canal in Nottinghamshire, waiting for the news of the all clear. Then we will be off South, hopefully.
Rob and Lesley are currently open for business on the Chesterfield Canal, and of course with their on-line shop.
Check out their webpage for more of what they are and have been up to; follow NB Hekla PopUp Art on Facebook, and visit their on-line shop.
To buy a copy of The Wrong Way Round, visit Amazon.