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.

Sunday 18 September 2016



At last, although very  late in the day I am telling you about our new exhibition.
It is very late in the telling, as it opened today
Of course I have many reasons for being late, and they are totally true.
Honest!

It is a miracle that the artist Nom Kinnear has been able to produce an exhibition's worth of paintings.
This long desired exhibition was planned for earlier in the year until I received a call.
"Can we put back the exhibition for a later date, as I am having another baby"?
What could I say?




So the exhibition was set for a later date but it is still a miracle that it has happened.
With complications, Nom gave birth, and although she was told to rest she continued to paint whenever she could, which was not easy as also she has a young daughter to care for.
But, like all true artists she somehow continued to create whenever she could.
Here are a few of her creations.




As a result of her desire for perfection coupled with being a very busy Mother
I have been framing paintings whenever they were available.
Hence at 10.00pm on the night before the private view, I finished the very last.

We have been exhibiting her work for a long time now, but this is her first exhibition at our gallery.
Because of her circumstances we are now showing the best of her last years work. 

As you can see, her work is anything but normal.




She uses many different objects to be the "canvas" for her art.
For the beautiful painting above she has used the skin of on an Antique Tambourine. 

Below, the surface of a very old "Zither" harp.




Another painting is on the surface of a Mandolin.
I think it would be true to say that she is a very different artist. 

Her exhibition with us is titled 'Fallowmoor'.
Fallowmoor is a land of her imagination which is peopled by the figures in her paintings.
The paintings all link together and tell a story.




But although the images are from her imagination I have become to learn that some are based
Upon the features of very real people.
Including Nom and her own beautiful daughter.




Each time I talked with her I could see her face in a painting by her mother .




Although all very different each painting links to another.
However it has been the individual beauty of each piece that has captivated me.
I want to own them all, but of course I can't.

Because as I have been framing them they have been selling, which is the reason that I have shown nothing sooner.
I have been too busy framing them.
This is something which has been a difficult task, as I have wanted each frame to be different,
Yet, complimenting the painting.
I confess I have been dreaming about frames.
How sad can you get?










I tell myself "this must stop I have got to get a life".
Then I look at the beautiful framed paintings and realise that I do have a life.
A very fortunate life.
 What other job could give me so much pleasure? 




It has seemed that today every visitor has loved a different painting.
For many different reasons of their own
Above is my own favourite.

As with all of her paintings it has a long story to go with it, but I don't need to tell you that.
When Nom handed me the painting, saying "this is for the gallery".
My immediate response was
"This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen".
I haven't changed my mind since.