Imagine Gallery

At last I am now getting back to normal [whatever that is] and my thoughts are returning to different things and art that has me excited.

The last few days have all been spent finishing pictures for the magazine article,

as a result other things have been neglected. I shouldn't complain though, I was told yesterday that the article is going to be five pages long and because of this another day was spent 

sorting out new photographs. At last it is behind me [I hope] and I can get back to 'real' work.

By real work I mean thing like spending hours on the telephone talking [to artists], writing emails [to artists] and searching web-sites for artists. Now, that's my kind of hard work.

"Phew! What a day I've had love", I almost find myself saying when I get home.

So, the better part of today has been spent

pushing the 'ALICE' exhibition a little further down the road

to becoming a reality.

I like these sort of exhibitions, one reason being that it is good to have a varied

selection of art and artists, and another because I find myself juggling

so many different balls in the air that it seems things

are getting out of control. It gives me a sense of "what will happen next", or who will

or won't become involved.

It gets very exciting and when the exhibition finally opens it all seems as 

fresh and unusual to me as to other people who come.

So, who has become involved today?

Well a lovely little Welsh potter 'Margaret Brampton' has agreed to make 

some of her unusual bowls.

These will be decorated with scenes from the book and will have lettering running

around the rims. Margaret does make beautiful pots,

they seem so 'old fashioned', they are beautifully illustrated earthenware

and are all meant to be used.

This is what brings the real pleasure from her work, the fact that you

know you are meant to use them and it is the constant handling

of them that makes you appreciate the work 

that goes into their creation.

Somehow, no matter how many times you have eaten from her bowls and dishes

you are able to find another piece of decoration, an animal, bird or insect

that seems to have been put there for your discovery.

Also, she is such a nice modest woman whenever

I talk with her she tells me how clever

another potter is, "you must look at his work" she will say.

Most of the time I prefer hers.

After having a little flush of excitement about Margaret's involvement

I then had a call from Louise Richardson.

I have mentioned Louise several times before and no doubt will many times in

the future.

Louise makes.................

well really I don't know what she makes or creates, because every time we have something

new from her it is totally different, different in style, design and the medium

used. She is just so clever, I could only describe her as a true artist.

Like Margaret she is also very modest and seems to take

pleasure in other peoples love of her work.

One day  [I tell myself] when I have some money I will buy something

of her work to keep, forever.

Until that day I just have the pleasure of looking at it each day

and telling customers "I will miss that" when they walk out with a piece.

Louise is on the way all ready, but soon she will be "very big", too big for us that is,

but then I think she is a person who doesn't forget, so perhaps she 

will still let us delight in having the odd [very odd] piece

of her work.

She is making 'I don't know what' for the ALICE exhibition, and if possible seems almost

as excited about it as I am.

Well,

she called to tell me to check out a web-site where there was a very unusual 

Alice in Wonderland photograph.

"You will love it", I was promised. She was right.

I was a man on a mission, half an hour later I was on the site of an incredible 

Russian photographer, Vladimir Clavijo-Telepnev.

I can only describe his photographs as phenomenal. I tell myself from time to time

that I'm not bad at taking pictures but now I realize how much I don't

understand and how much there is for me to learn.

Cutting a long story short I ended up writing to him asking if he would let us show

some of his pictures at the exhibition.

Well I think I did.

It is the first time I have had to fill in boxes which are in Russian,

if he ever gets the mail it is most likely the first time he 

has had to answer some idiot in English.

We will see what happens, I know I should hold out no hope but stranger things have happened. In fact in the gallery today I have a sculpture that comes from an artist who

lives in the mountain region in Kazakhstan.

I must show some of the unusual things we have one day.

That was the days second exciting episode.

The third was when I had a mail from 

Karen Fawcett.

Karen is the wildlife sculptor whose animals are on constant display in the gallery,

in fact anytime I think of an exhibition I wonder "could I include Karen"?

Usually I do.

She explained that she had a "stupid idea, but sometimes good comes from stupid", and

that she wanted to make the 'Cheshire Cat' from the story.

Made from clay, with bulging glass eyes and covered in fur [synthetic].

I was really excited.

I have seen some of the sculptures that she has done for museums, not only are they

incredible, but they appear totally real and life like, taking into account

that most of these creatures are extinct, that's some achievement.

So if in April you want to come and see the most real,

unreal grinning Cheshire Cat, then you will

find it on the table at the 

Tea Party.

Here.

The pictures are by Vladimir with one exception,

the bottom one will be my own contribution

to the show.

Like I said,"I have a lot to learn".