Description

Shields Road Sheila is a nostalgic Northern narrative painting inspired by Newcastle’s famous Byker Wall and the changing social landscape of working-class Britain.

Part of Sue Dewhurst’s acclaimed Owd Lasses series, the painting recalls Shields Road during the era when traditional terraced streets were demolished to make way for the ambitious Byker Wall housing project — a bold experiment in social engineering that divided opinion but became one of Britain’s most iconic urban communities.

Painted from memory of student days in Newcastle during the 1980s and 1990s, the scene looks towards the area around the legendary Thompson’s breakers yard, once a familiar landmark of East End life. Sheila walks through the landscape carrying memories of factory shifts, penny licks from the ice cream factory that once was and a Newcastle now partly vanished.

Like many of Sue Dewhurst’s female characters, Sheila combines humour, tenderness and resilience. Beneath the witty storytelling lies a portrait of women whose lives quietly carried communities through enormous social change.

Rendered in expressive brushwork and soft urban colour, this contemporary British painting blends nostalgia, architecture and Northern storytelling into a striking conversation piece for the wall.

Ideal for collectors of Newcastle art, working-class social history and contemporary British narrative painting.

Sue Dewhurst is a contemporary British artist based in West Wales whose work explores humour, memory and social history through narrative painting. Originally shaped by years living in Newcastle, Yorkshire and Wales, her paintings often reflect Northern identity, overlooked communities and everyday British life.

Her Owd Lasses series has developed a loyal following for its combination of emotional depth, sharp humour and richly observed storytelling inspired by working-class culture and regional history.

click here to view more of The Owd Lasses collection