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 20 September 2014




So much for showing "a little but often".
It seems that Instead I am opting for "very little and certainly not often",
But I would like to think that quality is worth more than quantity, or perhaps its just called being lazy.

However at the moment I feel anything but lazy as there seems like I have so much to achieve with little time to do it.
I feel like I have done a days work just getting out of bed lately.
Of course that is meant to be my "little joke" but there are days recently when I feel tired before I even start.
Perhaps that is because I am staying here too late before going home and the fact that my "evening"
isn't starting until around 11 pm.




There is a lot to be achieved before our next event and I am only too aware from past experience
that a month suddenly seems to turn into hours with much still to do.
So, with the approach of our next really important exhibition
and the minor event called an 'Art Fair'
I felt that it would be best to put in some hours now in the hope that I will be relaxed and prepared
come the events.
Even as I wrote that I could hear 'Jiminy Cricket' on my shoulder telling me
"you gotta be joking, you relaxed"?
I tell him that there is a lot to do and little time to do it.
Which of course is yet another excuse for never writing the blog.




Although at the moment I am very focused on our next exhibition there are daily reminders that the
'Cambridge Art Fair'
is approaching at a rapid pace, and apart from the unexpected amount of paperwork
[I should have anticipated that as I have said before, having a gallery is like working in an office]
there are still many details to finalise with the different artists whose work we intend to show.

Because we don't specialise in local artists it makes things more difficult
as there are different works to be collected or sent from artists far away.

The first of these [shown above] is Rob Van Hoek the Dutch artist.
I have desired his paintings for a very long time, which is strange because his work is so unlike
that of other artists that I admire.
I find his paintings very moving and evocative of the English landscape,
It is his "grey" paintings I like the most, they really remind me of everything that I complain about
in our country, because if asked to describe England I would just answer "Grey".
Perhaps that is why I like them so much.




I have been "courting" Rob for some time now and although he had agreed to let me exhibit
a couple of his paintings I began to wonder if that day would ever come.
Simply because he has become so popular and is in very great demand and does not have enough hours
in the day to create sufficient work to appease his many clients.
But
He didn't forget me and recently contacted me saying
"I think it is time that I concentrated on your two paintings"
The two then turned into three, four and now, I think that it is six that are on their way to us to be
shown for the first time in Cambridge.
I hope that they will be the first of many to make their way to us during the coming year.




They paintings are being sent so that has made life easier for me.

Then.
There is my friend of long standing [I nearly said old friend which she wouldn't like] the sculptor
Nichola Theakston
She has shown with us on many occasions over the years and her and her equally talented husband Tony are people I regard first and foremost as friends.

What has been wonderful to observe is how her work and fame has evolved over a slow period of time.
Although she has always been highly regarded and collected I think that she has now reached
the point where she is really at the "top of her game".
Producing a collection of wildlife sculpture that now features at regular London auctions.
Although she is now becoming [dare I say it] famous, I just knew that she would create something for us to display at the Art Fair.

Still haven't worked out how they are going to get here,
I will worry about that at 3 am when I lay staring at the ceiling making a mental list of problems.
Let's face it if I didn't worry what else would I do?




The arrival of the paintings by the French artist 
Agnes Boulloche
Is still a problem I am working on, I think we have it solved but there are still a lot of "ifs and buts" to be sorted out.
I suppose I should be working on that instead of writing this, but my thoughts were
"write now while you still remember".
That is because I know that if I didn't it would be a few more days before I remembered that I was overdue to write [which I am now].

Discovering the existence of Agnes was a great and totally unexpected pleasure.
She wrote to me asking "does my work interest you"?
Four hours later we were making plans together [not marriage as I am playing hard to get].
I have yet to meet her, and I am unsure where that will happen because although she lives in the very centre of Paris [spitting distance from the Eiffel tower] she also has other homes and studios.
She is a total enigma, and I am so very happy that she [I don't know how] found me,
then recognised that I would be drawn to her art.




Art, that has somehow to be collected and delivered here very soon
If only the logistics of getting it here were easier.
Of course it would be lovely to "pop over" to Paris for the day and come home with them
but I think my fear of the French traffic is greater than my fear of the language.

Yes, my fear of the roads around Paris is definitely a lot greater.
Perhaps I am spending too much time in the gallery and not enough time travelling as now even
the thought of driving to that "strange" town London fills me with dread
So the thought of driving the wrong way down the Champs-Elysees is more than I could cope with.

Mind you I could imagine the Parisian women exclaiming
"who is that man who drives with such an independent air, he must be a millionaire,
et aussi he is so handsome".

Non!
He's just owns a gallery and worries far too much.

5 comments:

  1. Love all of the works. I just assumed it would be the artists' problem of shipping. That would be worrisome, but then, it always gets done, doesn't it. I wonder how one would ship a life-sized piece. It is one reason I quit doing them and I ran out of room to store them.

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    1. Hi Donna

      Irene would totally agree with you with regarding the shipping/transportation/collection and I starting to agree with her.
      But that is something that I could write an essay about, so I won't.

      When it comes to "life size" pieces being delivered, I have two people who instantly come to mind because they have made it so easy for me.
      One of them [Paul Harvey] will be delivering his very large work very soon. He never expects us to arrange collection but if I do he so very appreciative. It makes such a big difference.


      I hope that things are well with you.

      All the Best

      John

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  2. I like Rob Van Hoek's work very much, so thank you for the introduction. They remind me of the work of. Anne Davies and the landscape backgrounds in Dee Nickerson's work. I hope the Art Fair is a great success.

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    1. Thank you for your comments Celia

      I don't know the artists that you refer to [but I will definitely look them up in a few minutes time].

      I can't put my finger on what it is about Rob's work that appeals to me so much, but I do find that it has a sculptural feel about it.
      Some of them remind me of the work by John Maltby.
      I can't wait to see them, and I certainly hope they sell because then I can have some more.

      John

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  3. Oh my goodness John, those paintings by Agnes Boulloche are treasures!

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