I have lost count of the number of different artworks and events that I have intended to write about.

Something new would happen and I would decide "I must write about this"

Then I would remember "But, I haven't written about that yet".

So another day will pass with the promise to myself that I must write about something,

Anything, even if it is about the weather.

Or just the prospect of the UK leaving Europe.

Now, that I could write about for hours, it wouldn't make me popular

But I would certainly have a lot to say.

"A train crash waiting to happen"?

Apart from the politics that we are all immersed in at the moment there have been many

things that have been of interest to me that I would have liked to have shared

But it all gets buried under the mountain of daily office work.

However, here at last is a little post.

I have recently thought that I should post about new art that would be arriving here soon.

Then decided "No wait until it is here, I might be tempting fate" especially as it takes a few months

from "shaking hands" to becoming a reality.

But, now at last I can show some eagerly anticipated paintings because they are actually here

In the gallery and on display, they are by the artist

Jean-Francois Segura

His name is so beautiful perhaps you don't need to see the paintings

No, on reflection I think you do.

They really are different, beautiful but different.

After they had been delivered by our English/French "Transporter" [that's what they call him].

I left it for about three hours before I unwrapped them.

I could only do it once and I really wanted to savour the moment.

It had been a long wait as they hadn't been created when I first approached the artist.

They were everything that I had hoped for and more.

I love it when paintings have a narrative, you can make up your own story to go with the painting.

With the paintings by Jean-Francois I could imagine many different stories.

I loved the fact that when the image was "cropped" it told and gave the impression of a totally

different scene.

So this is what I have done for you, I have tried to give you an understanding of how they appeared to me.

I suppose for me it was a little like watching a movie when suddenly the camera pans out

and the whole scene is revealed for the first time.

It changes your thoughts and perspective about what you expected.

I am sure that Tom Cruise understands what I am saying.

Bloody pity he doesn't read the Blog, I'm sure we could be best mates.

I suppose that really I have nothing left to say on the subject of these paintings,

I will leave it to you to make your own interpretation of them

All I will say is that I am so very happy and proud to have them on display here in my shop.

Sometimes the waiting is all worth while.

I have waited for months to show you these paintings, now I have.

Unfortunately, they will never be mine but I will enjoy every day that they are hanging on my walls.

Not for long I think.

Au revoir pour maintenant mes amis blogueur

There is an unusual artist who brings us paintings from time to time

Or did I mean an artist who brings us unusual paintings?

Actually it's both.

Will Teather is the artist.

Everything that he creates is very different and each piece has its own unique history with many stories attached.

They are set in worlds of his vivid imagination which he makes a reality.

In the past he has created so convincing a fictitious history around the subject in one painting that it became believed that the woman portrayed actually existed.

I suppose this was helped by the fact that he had preserved her clothing in museum style cases.

I had not intended to start talking about

"Maudeline Spacks", the vanishing artist.

As I don't have that many hours spare to devote to that creation.

Suffice to say this not existing person now has her own tribute band.

To describe him as a "larger than life" character would be very apt.

For one reason he is large and very tall, but more to the point he has a personality

That dominates whatever space he occupies

In this instance it was in my gallery. 

He was here drawing me into his own world.

The reason for his visit was because I had pestered him for one of his "new" works

A series that he has titled

Infinite Perspectives

These really have to be seen to be believed, neither I or anyone else has seen anything like them before.

These are scenes which are painted onto giant globes which are suspended from a ceiling.

The amazing thing is that whatever area you view is perfect yet when you look to the sides the perspective changes as the painting diminishes into the distance.

Turning the globe then brings those area's into perfect size yet what you had been looking at now becomes smaller and slightly distorted.

They are difficult to describe.

Above is a portion of one such painting.

The picture below of Will in his studio is not an attempt to show how they look as it just

shows the artist with paper "mock ups" and small "keep sake" recreations of the real thing.

You have to imagine BIG and perfect.

Knowing that he works on a very large scale I had been "playing safe and had requested

A "half sphere" painting that I loved.

I understood that it attached to a wall like any "normal" painting so I knew

that it couldn't be too large.

Wrong!

It is concave and measures 40 inches in diameter and protrudes 20 inches from the wall.

Why had I expected anything different from this gentle giant?

It is an amazing piece of art.

It is almost interactive, as when you hold your face close you have a sensation of being a

part of the painting.

Birds are flying above, below and around you.

Along with this masterpiece he also left me with some of his "normal" art.

Yet, of course these have a story to tell

Will just doesn't do ordinary

Open at Last

Open.

At last the exhibition of art by George Underwood is open to the public.

It has been much anticipated by us and many others, especially once the media had become involved.

For myself it now feels almost as if I am on holiday as the pressures have eased slightly

Although there is still a lot to do, especially considering I ran out of time with making frames.

There are still some to be made and new works to display.

It has been difficult trying to juggle and prioritise the different things that need to be done on a daily basis, because unlike what people think running a gallery is not all romance and pleasure.

Of course there is a lot of pleasure but that is only because of the work done each day.

But, at last after all of the preparartion

George's art is on display and to prove it here is a picture of him outside the gallery

Posing [by request] beside the exhibition banner.

George himself has worked perhaps harder than anybody.

Not only did he produce an exhibition within a short time frame he has also been very busy

behind the scenes.

Or perhaps I should say in front of the scenes as he seems to have spent more time on television 

and radio than doing anything else over the past week.

Which explains some of the other photographs.

A couple of days before the opening we received a another call asking if the ITV news

could be allowed to film the opening of the exhibition?

Well let's be honest, I was never going to say no.

So a few hours before the opening the film crew and George had the gallery for themselves

[and me of course], and they were able to hold an interview focused upon his paintings

And as expected his relationship with David Bowie.

To say I found it all very interesting would be a slight understatement.

Of course there was lots that never made it through the editing process so I felt privileged to hear many stories

that are perhaps unknown.

The filming continued for hours and even included an interview with myself.

They didn't actually say it but I am sure that now they must be very tempted to offer me

my own TV series.

Perhaps not.

Before the camera's left we had the arrival of George's old mate friend.

Steve Harley

The man who is the driving force behind Cockney Rebel.

At one time his song "Make Me Smile" was the most played record on the radio, it is one of those songs you can never forget and whenever I hear it I have to sing along.

He is a real fan of George Underwood's paintings and he spent a long time

viewing painting on display.

What was really nice is that he didn't just talk with George, he had time for everyone who recognised and wanted to speak with him.

He was interesting, charming and polite.

I only managed to have a brief chat with him as I had about five different conversations

on the go at any one time, but it seems that Irene and Rebecca managed to have much longer chat with both him and his lovely wife.

Although in truth "Bec" rarly moved from the desk and without her we would have struggled.

She was able to entertain, hold conversations, pour wine and handle the sales without

wandering off around the gallery.

I think it's called multi-tasking, women are good at that.

 

  

So above are pictures of them having a good time while I was busy elsewhere.

And there was a lot to be doing as the gallery was full of visitors all day

However, I did manage to get "snapped" having a cuddle with George as the evening approached.

I had been caught in the middle of my own multi-tasking

Talking and drinking wine.

The person I most wanted to talk with was George the artist and star of the show

But as is the norm at any opening it doesn't often happen.

The artist's time belongs to the public on that day and he didn't have many moments to himself.

This was one, it was the "lull before the storm".

I wanted to show a little of the diverse artworks on show,

There are many and although very different they are equal with their haunting beauty.

However, there was one in particular that interested and fascinated everyone.

'The Man Who Fell to Earth'.

My own feet haven't touched earth since the opening,

Because of the camera's and the crowds of visitors it all seemed slightly unreal.

The morning after as I unlocked the doors I was surprised by the silence.

For a little while I was alone with my own private collection.

This didn't last for long, and today it is the same there are a constant stream of visitors who just don't seem to understand that I am trying to do something important.

I am writing my Blog.

We have never had an exhibition that has generated as much media attention as the forthcoming one.

The artist involved is George Underwood.

Always in the gallery there is a selection of his art on display, paintings and prints.

The prints are Limited Editions but we only show the 'Artist Proofs' which are more rare.

Over the period of a few years he has become one of our most collected artists.

For this reason only we have never held an exhibition of his work.

My feelings have been that the public would not notice the difference between

an exhibition and a normal display.

I have often been urged by people " you should hold a solo exhibition by George ".

Now we are.

The decision to do this came by chance and circumstance.

Just a few months ago a famous musician visited the gallery, he was fascinated by one large painting,

Of course the painting was by George Underwood.

 On that day I was not at the gallery, my daughter was in charge of my little empire for the day.

In conversation with her the musician explained that he and George were very old friends

In fact his best selling album featured Mrs. Underwood on the Cover. 

Of course I was greatly disappointed that I was not present that day as I had missed the opportunity to meet a hero. 

However, I did have A vinyl copy the album featuring George's wife and as I was anticipating them both to visit the gallery sometime soon I took the record to the gallery with the intention of getting her to sign it when they visited.

Two days later a gentleman came into the gallery who was interested in only one painting.

A George Underwood painting.

I said "hello" to him then I did a "double take".

"Hey, it's you! 

Don't you go anywhere before you sign this".

As you can tell I have a way with words and famous people.

He ignored my rudeness and we had a long conversation [plus he did sign the album cover].

He explained that he hadn't seen George and his wife for many years, but now he was

determined to make contact with them again.

Two days later I had a call from George. 

"I understand you had a visit from an old mate of mine".

The musician had contacted George and had invited him and his wife to come to see him

on his latest tour.

Joking with George I said "we should have a solo exhibition of your art and get him to come and open it, and maybe sing a song".

We laughed about it, then on the spur of the moment I said 

"shall we do it"?

"Are you serious" he said?

As a result on April 3rd. That is just what we are doing.

We have both been looking forward to the event and George has been [and still is] busy

creating new paintings, it seems that there will be a lot of previously unseen artwork on display here.

Things then became very serious. 

George Underwood has a great many famous friends in the music industry,

One of these was his best friend, David Bowie.

People worldwide had been shocked to learn of the death of this iconic figure.

None more so than George.

This was his mate who had passed away, the boy that he had grown up with, the boy he had fought with over the attentions of a girl, the boy who he formed a group with.

The boy who became the man who then became 'Ziggy Stardust' and who he later toured America with.

The person he stayed friends with until the end. 

Although David Bowie owned a large collection of his paintings

George Underwood had never used his best friends fame to further his own career.

In fact he would rarely speak about their relationship they were just mates.

With our coming exhibition this has presented the media with the ideal opportunity to interview

Bowie's oldest friend.

 The first of these interview's will be published

This Sunday in one of the country's most important newspapers

THE OBSERVER

After that in the week building up to the opening there will be many other interviews.

Newspapers, magazines, radio, television and social media.

Yes, they will be asking for stories about David but the emphasis will be on the paintings by

George Underwood.

 

I think you can see why that should be.

 

Sometimes it is nice to be taken by surprise.

Not always, but sometimes. This is about one of those occasions.

There is an international art magazine titled 'MIROIR'.

They have a reputation of  showcasing some of the worlds best artwork.

                     

I was told by a friend that I would really appreciate the latest issue as it featured somebody I know.

The magazine can be viewed online so of course that's what I did first before buying one.

It might not be as enjoyable but sometimes the immediacy of viewing online

can be irresistible [especially when it's free].

I wasn't sure what I was expecting to find but I knew that it would be good.

It is always nice to read about people that you know.

On this occasion I was even more pleased and excited as the magazine had a very large article

 featuring one of Imagine Gallery's very best artists 

Anne Bachelier

For the very first time I learnt things about Anne that I had no knowledge of. 

My only excuse for not having asked her the same questions as the magazine is,

I feel art is a very personal thing and sometimes it is best not to know too much.
The magic might vanish.

I have thought that it is good to weave your own story around an artwork.

Now I understand that I am an idiot.

I learned so much from the article and it gave me a greater understanding of her inspirations.

As a result I love her paintings more.

I am only showing a fraction of the interview and the pages published,

I would urge everyone to purchase a copy or at least like me read the magazine online.

What made the feature really special for me was that on the last double page spread 

they featured a painting that I see each day here in the gallery.

"Wow" that's our painting.

It was so strange to see something that I look at, touch and admire each day

now being shared with the world.

It is a wonderful painting, the longer you view it the more detail you find. 

Like much of the art we show I will miss it when it sells

So while it is still "mine" I thought I would show how it looks in our setting.

It is a strange painting which seems to change.

Wherever I place it in the gallery the light seems to change the colouring.

I look at the image in the magazine and think "yes that is just what it looks like" then I think

"No, it is much softer, more gentle".

Moving it again into a different room it then becomes darker and more menacing

The story changes

Whatever,

It is a stunning painting and for a little time it is mine

That makes me feel proud.

I have just returned home from Paris and here is my photograph of the Tower as proof of my visit.

More snapshots will follow in another post.

However, the purpose of my visit was to meet artists and visit certain galleries,

It was not intended to be a holiday, although I do feel refreshed for a short break, and it has certainly filled me with enthusiasm and idea's for the future.

I think that I was becoming a little "desk bound" and it has been good to remind myself

What I am working towards and trying to achieve.

My main objective and priority of the visit was to meet one artist

Gerard Daran

Nowadays

It seems I am just not very good at getting out of bed early in the mornings,

But for this trip I drove away from home at 3.30 .a.m. and to my body it felt like I was still asleep.

For some stupid reason I thought that it would be good to catch the first train of the day.

My thoughts had been that I could make use of a few more hours in Paris.

Bad idea.

Nearly two hours later I was not only regretting the early train but also the fact that I had not

departed at least a half hour earlier to catch it in time.

Who expects a busy road that early in the day?

[anyone who thinks]

I had forgotten that is when most trucks and container lorries travel

But despite the panic [and taking the wrong road] I was on the train and asleep as it left for France.

 It seemed almost minutes later that I was then getting lost on the Paris metro.

This should be impossible as it has always seemed so much easier than the London Underground.

I put it down to the panic of trying to arrive for my 11. a.m. meeting.

I know that I was being timed or judged but I had given the time of my arrival and I wanted to

make an impression.

After [eventually] leaving the metro

Walking towards the home of Daran I couldn't help but have a feeling of 'Deja Vu'

Despite the fact I had never been to this part of the city before it all seemed a little familiar to me.

The reason for this was explained to me later

It was the location of the most recent Paris terrorist attacks, I was looking at shops, buildings and

restaurants that I had watched on TV at home just a few months earlier.

The difference is that then guns were firing

 

Today the sun was shining and this small part of the world was at peace.

The most dangerous thing for me was to remember that everyone here drives on the wrong side,

so I had to look right not left as I stepped out to cross roads.

 

I made it, and almost on time. 

A short time later I was relaxed and enjoying a breakfast/brunch of Champagne and various

culinary delights that had been prepared for my visit.

Or maybe perhaps this is how the Parisians eat every day. 

I was greeted on my arrival by a friend of Gerard's

He is Pierre Herman a man that I have come to know from many telephone conversations.

Fortunately he has been acting as our 'go-between' interpreter,

Because for some reason Gerard has never bothered to learn the English language

[something unheard of for a French person]

He obviously believed my lies of being multi-lingual

With my French and his English

I don't think that we would ever arrived at this day without help from Pierre.

Someone who is not French and has a very mixed heritage, ["I was born from Saturday Night Fever"]

As a result he can speak many languages.

His life story would make a very good book, but as I struggle writing a blog I best continue

with my own short tale.

 

I was visiting with a purpose. 

We were to be finalizing plans for Daran's solo exhibition at Imagine Gallery.

It is set for the middle of May and there was a lot for us to discuss,

Also, Gerard wanted me to make a choice of his paintings that "I liked" and which I felt would

fit in with our gallery.

This was a good idea as I hadn't fully appreciated the scale of his different artworks but now I can

make plans in advance of what paintings can be displayed in different area's.

But before that I have to decide which artworks I would like to have on display.

This was going to be a long job as the quantity and variety was too much to absorb in a few hours.

 I made the decision that the best thing to do was to photograph every

Painting, drawing and lithograph I was offered

Doing this I would be able to study them at length when I returned home and with the bonus of

having the sizes plus memories of my first impression.

Prior my visit I had certain preconceived ideas of how the exhibition should look.

I was going to choose only the figurative work, male and female.

Because some of his figures have wings I think that in my mind it was going to be an exhibition of

Angels & Demons

I certainly had absolutely no intention of choosing Landscapes.

But walking through the entrance of his studio the first image I focused upon was a Landscape.

A Landscape with a difference, then my eyes turned to a second.

"I like those", I surprised myself by thinking.

From that moment my thoughts were no longer closed, I decided to "go with the flow"

Or where my heart took me and which Gerard would allow me. 

When I had taken all of my photographs and as we sat and talked together

My eyes kept returning to one painting.

I had liked it from the first viewing, now I noticed as the light altered the picture changed.

It is beautiful but it seemed so strange that as the outside light varied so to did the painting,

it altered dramatically.

I loved it.

My first choice was made, I have to have it in the exhibition.

There is not enough time for me to recount the full details of this delightful visit. 

It was great fun.

Meeting with both Pierre and Gerard's partners.

The wonderful food provided, the interesting stories told, were all a feast.

I can not explain and it is hard to describe how it feels to be sitting relaxed, talking, laughing and Enjoying the company of

Friends, friends that you have never met before.

Yet, people who are not strangers.

Before my departure Pierre insisted that we had a photograph of the occasion. 

Having a dread of being photographed I resisted.

So here it is.

This is my first choice of the paintings.

The others I must decide upon tomorrow as I had promised I would do it today.

But I still can't make a decision.

At the moment I have a list of 20 but I will refine this a little[or add to it].

Decisions, decisions!

I will show them to you in a couple of months.

Promise.