Welcome to the Gallery

Imagine is set in the Suffolk village of Long Melford.
This is an attempt to record the daily trials, tribulation and pleasure of running an art gallery.

Saturday 27 October 2012



Winter is definitely here.
Suddenly the days are shorter, darker and colder.
OK, it wasn't exactly sudden but I had been looking forward to having an Autumn.
Summer? They are so last years thing, we don't do them anymore.
Today we have had everything but snow here in the village, but I suppose we are lucky as I know that there has been snow falling nearer the coast.
Of course thinking of snow brings my thoughts back to Christmas, I don't know why it should as somehow nature usually conspires to make snow fall about a week too early or too late, in fact I suppose I really associate 'fog' with Christmas because as a child I remember going shopping for presents [with half a'crown that Mum had given me] and in my memory it was always foggy.
Even that has gone now and the only thing that is 'foggy' is my memory.

Whatever, my thoughts are on Christmas and today like any naughty child I had to open some presents.
Not exactly presents [although they might be for someone] but pieces of art that have arrived for our
festive exhibition.





I'm not sure how these should be described, are they candle holders or books?
"Candlebooks" is how I have labelled them.
Of course they do work as candle holders but both myself and their creator Chris Edwards
perceive them as sculptures.
These sculptures have been a long time in the waiting [and the creating] we discussed them many months ago, always with a Christmas showing in mind and I had thought that they would be in my hands sooner, but I have come to understand that Chis is a craftsman who will not release anything until he and I were both happy with the work.
It should come as no surprise to learn that he had worked as a designer/maker for stage, television and film as everything that he creates tells a story, or at least part of a story.





It was early in spring when we first talked about these pieces, I explained to him that I was looking for something magical, old and 'Dickension' for the window display.
" I know what you mean, "misty, Scrooge like".
We were both thinking the same way.
So many, many months later these 'Candlebooks' eventualy arrived.
They really are old copies of the works by Charles Dickens, although now they and the silver candle holder are one object, plus of course the individual silver "wax" droplets.
Absolute magic and exactly what I was after.

There is only one problem.
I couldn't help myself, today I had to put them on display to gauge the reaction.
Big mistake, I only have three left for Christmas.
Still, as they say "you can only sell them once".
Unfortunately, because now I will have gaps at the exhibition.
Luckily I have just had a late evening telephone conversation with another clever and creative person and I think that now I will have some new sculptures which will be equally as exciting and unusual.
Let's wait and see.




All of the above aside,
I will give one sneak preview by an artist I have yearned to show for a long time.
He created this famous picture [and many others] a long time ago but it is his more recent work that so excites me, and some of these I will show you in the near future.
Until then here is
"The Man Who Fell to Earth" painted by George Underwood.
Although this painting is now a piece of art history when I told George how much I had loved it he said
"I have a "cracking" print of that if you want to show it".
Yes please.

1 comment:

  1. oh my! the Candlebooks are truly magical & great photos too are you selling cards or prints of them?!

    ReplyDelete