Imagine Gallery

I suppose that I should start with the news of what we are now doing.

So I will.

For a long time now we have been looking for a much larger gallery, although we like it here and many people return because they like the feel and look of the place we felt that it was inhibiting us from doing many things because of the shortage of space.

Coupled to this our lease was expiring and we had been informed that our rent was to have a "modest uplift" of 16%.

Not bad in a recession.

Add to this the slight increase of 40% in rates we started to question was it all worth it.

We are pleased that during a recession we have managed to "hang in there" but for what we are going to have to pay we were frustrated that we couldn't grow and show more, and different art.

There have been so many things that I would have liked to show but when all put together they just wouldn't have worked.

Imagine has its own feel and that we wanted to preserve.

As I explained the other day, I spend a lot of time here so it is hard for me to have much time for thoughts past what I am doing this week, this month and more importantly the next exhibition, so I have little time to plan anything else.

The result of this is that my wife Irene is going to open a small gallery in the nearby village of Lavenham [soon to be famous in the next Harry Potter film].

We have always liked it their, in fact we live just outside the village, and have often wished that we had opened a gallery there instead of Long Melford.

So my wife with the help of our children is going to have a place of her own.

A place that will be different yet similar, after all you don't live together and and have totally different tastes, but it will be a different persons view on art.

We are both nervous but excited.

Only time will tell what the future will hold, but I do know that although small it will look fantastic and will have a different feel and show different beautiful art.

After all different people will be at the helm.

As it gets closer to the opening I will tell and show a lot more.

Of course you are all invited to the opening.

The gallery [haven't got a name yet] is situated opposite the famous old Hotel 'The Swan'.

It is small but a mirror image of Imagine Gallery,

Brick floors, inglenook fireplace, lots of beams and is on two floors.

When I have more pictures I will show them, but until then here are a few.

The first shows the village and the Swan Hotel, the second the gallery and the last

the front door.

Although, if it is anything like this place you won't see the door closed very often.

Above all of these is a picture of one of the ceramic sculptures that caused me to be so upset

in my last post.

I ask you, just how could you haggle over that?

The poor boy was just begging for a new home, still I suppose he wanted a nice one.