Imagine Gallery

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind".

Was a quote I read earlier today, and as a result I thought that I would say what I felt.

But on consideration decided [unusual for me] that this wasn't a good thing.

So instead I am showing just a tip of an ice cube.

Back in time.

When I had a proper job that paid "real" money I was rarely at home

[not a lot of changes there]

and had very little sleep.

For the last 10 years of employment I worked a night shift in London, which was never very easy considering that we have always lived in the remote countryside.

Most days I would arrive home at about 10.am, after breakfast [dinner] I would get to bed at

about 11.am and would have my alarm set for 2.30pm as I had to be on a train back to London

at 4.45 pm.

This didn't result in having much of a family life, or in fact any life, but it paid the bills.

Now, in the present.

I find my sleeping patterns are very in tune with nature, although they are still odd.

I awake with the sunlight whatever time of the year, or more to the point I arise with the sunlight, which at this time of the year is late but I find it hard to stir from bed until the light

comes through the window.

This doesn't mean I sleep all night, far from it.

After the first two hours or so of snoring my head off my body clock returns to its old pattern,

I am awake.

Awake at night, with nothing to dwell upon but the gallery.

And so it was last night.

It is good and bad, many problems are resolved in my mind which is good, but worse all the

things that trouble me are analysed, which is also good but doesn't lead to a sense of well being.

I think about various artists, and the way they have enriched or worsened my life.

As I mentioned the other day, I understand fully now that they are "just" people.

Some who enrich my life and others who have the capability to cause a lot of unhappiness.

These are the people I think about during the dark hours.

It is the quote by Dr Seuss that refers to those people.

I had intended to illustrate a series of incidents for you to judge, but on consideration that is unfair as it is just my own take on various events.

So, instead I will just say that it is a small hardcore of nice people [who are artists] that make

this change of life worthwhile. It certainly isn't the money, or even increased sleep

[although the pattern has changed].

It is down to people like the painter Jacki Morris [who tells people to "get lost" when they approach her privately about something we are selling], and sculptors Karen and Colin who send work whenever we need it [even when it means holding up large orders], and Nichola Theakston ["because she feels we are worth supporting"], potters like Stephen Parry and Anja Lubach who have been with us from the early days. Emma Rodgers, who is sought after by every major gallery, but who always thanks me for taking her sculptures.

It is people like these and many others whose work makes my heart sing and enrich my days and it is just the "few" that keep me awake at nights.

I have been urged many times "not to voice my thoughts, just say good things" on the blog.

But this is not an advertisement, it is a small diary of my [unusual] life.

But above is an advertisement, both for me and two of my friends.

There are a few of the beautiful yet slightly disturbing pots by Anja followed by one of Karen's latest creations, well part of it.

The whole consists of five babies and the Mother complete with mouse in beak.

She left it for me to display. But I can't.

Artists! What are they like?