I have the desire to write every day but as this isn't a personal blog [well it is a little bit]

it makes it harder, I can't write about the daily things that happen and are very important in my life as I had wanted to keep the blog restricted to the gallery.

I am aware that many galleries now keep "blogs", or as far as I'm concerned they are just advertisements as they are only posted about six times a year and might consist of

"Please come on Wednesday when we will be showing new paintings by Doris Day",

of course the same people are putting the same heartfelt message on 'twitter', f'acebook',

and anything else you can think of.

Maybe I should be doing that.

But for me the height of technology and interest is 'blogging'.

I once mentioned a long while ago I was urged to do this by an artist who told me

"we want to know what happens behind the scenes,

come on give us the dirt on everybody, tell us what it is like everyday".

If only she knew how many times her words run through my mind, and how much I would love

to give the details of what goes on.

But, alas I am unable to tell everything, instead I have to "skirt" around it and maybe just hint

about what happens, and the various egos involved.

So the prolonged gap in posting is because lots has happened.

So, lots happened so why not write about it?

Because for every artist that gives me great pleasure to deal with there is at least one other

who is shallow and really disrupts the peace and pleasure of having a gallery.

So I try to give a "thumbnail" of how it is to run a gallery, but I would never be able to do what I was encouraged to do at the start and "tell all".

However, of course the good times outweigh the bad and most people/artists are lovely, and have become my best friends and enriched my life more than I could ever explain.

Today being one example.

I had the unexpected but delightful visit from two sculptors who work together,

Paul Priest and Gaynor Ostinelli.

We are fortunate that our relationship with them works well, although it's not too surprising as they are totally easy going, I don't think that they have even worked out how many letters are in the word ego, plus they always travel a long distance to bring me new work, without any complaint, and that is a very generous thing.

It is a strange that every time I think "what I need now is something by Paul and Gay"

a day or two later they turn up with something new.

As far as they are concerned their work is never " perfect", there is always something that troubles them about it, but at the end of each visit Paul will say,

"well my friend, you just wait and see what we are working on now, you will love it".

I do, but every time they feel that they can "do better for next time.

I think they passed being "very good a long while ago.

I must confess that Paul does get my own 'award' for being the most appreciative artist.

He once told me, "if anyone ever says to me again what does a gallery do other than take your money? Then I'm going to send them here, you work your socks off for us".

It is easy to see why I like them.

So today started with one of their visits, which was brilliant but immediately left me in the dilemma of "what shall I put where, and who should I be showcasing".

I say this because I have recently been sent work by various artist/sculptors that I like and admire and the desire is to put them all in the main window, but that is impossible without making it look silly, so instead I will rotate them around.

In truth I don't want to part with any of their work, I do want to sell it but I hate the thought of parting with it.

Above are a few of the different works that I have received recently.

Of course there are todays arrivals by the "Ostinelli/Priest" collaboration, which are the Hounds and the magnificent Bull.

Another is the bronze "puppet" by my hero Emma Rodgers.

The unusual and beautiful "Head"is by the lovely and incredibly shy but very talented

Helen Nottage.

It is a real treat to show her work.

We have shown her since she was at art collage, now she sells through auction rooms,

and of course still us.

It is so nice to have that continuity and to be involved in an artists progression.

It is what having a gallery is all about.

So how could I not mention the artist whose painting is at the bottom

[only on the list of pictures not in my mind]?

Lindsey Carr.

In fact the same person who urged me to start a blog.

Today is a very important day for her, she has the opening of her first

Solo exhibition in America.

Her first solo exhibition ever was here, and is something I will always be proud and grateful for, this young woman is destined for very great things.

So if you are anywhere near Culver City in California then go and see her exhibition.

The work shown above does vary a little,

the only common link is that I love it all and the artists have given me great pleasure.

What shall I photograph next? I have been thinking.

A job I really hate. I want to show the varied works that we have but I really dislike the process of taking pictures and preparing them for show on the Internet.

Why? It is simple many of you must think, and I do admire the people who can just "snap away"

and show their wares. But when what you are displaying is created by someone else it is a lot harder.

I would rather show nothing [and I often do] than present someones art in a manner that doesn't do full justice to the work, so because of this I take less pictures than I should.

So back to my original thoughts of what I should show next.

Of course new arrivals are always in my mind because they have been the cause of my latest excitement and because they are fresh to me I want to show the world what I have found.

So this afternoon I had a look around, made a mental list of what to photograph, then looked again. I was amazed to see how many beautiful things that we are showing that I have never

mentioned, so instead of what I was going to photograph and show I decided to concentrate on

other pieces of work that I love equally as much but have never got around to presenting.

Of course they [or similar pieces] are always on show here but I have never shown them to a wider audience, so I will try to start rectifying that now.

So today I am showing the dramatic, yet very gentle and very emotive ceramics of

Anja Lubach.

We have shown Anja work for as long as I can remember, and I find it as beautiful and moving today as the first time I ever held a piece in my hands.

It is made from porcelain,

and more than any work I have known it relies upon light.

The same piece will take on so many different characteristics depending on how it is illuminated.

Many people have purchased her work and told me

"I am going to put candles in it".

Having heard the same statement many times

I still manage to express surprise at such a good idea.

But then it is a good idea.

Other people have told me "oh! these are really creepy".

On those occasions much as I have wanted to I have so far managed to hold back from saying

"see that door? Get out of it you ******* idiot".

Yes you can tell that I really am a people person.

Anja's work is incredible, well crafted and it is a constant delight and surprise to me that there

is not a lot of it offered for sale elsewhere.

Her small beakers are a delight and really affordable and intended to be used, but I will admit that it would take a stronger spirit than mine to pour coffee/tea or wine into one.

Which is a great shame because they are intended for daily use and I'm sure the pleasure of the piece could only be heightened by constant handling.

What's more unusual is you could even afford to break one and then only mourn the loss of the object rather than the "financial disaster" that has just occurred.

Now that is a rare thing.

I have tried without success to give a feeling of how her work looks but it really does depend upon the lighting, so here is a very small mixture, I hope it just gives a small understanding of what these beautiful ceramics are like.

I have known for a long time that she is going to be "great" but I very much doubt that a thought like that has ever gone though her mind.

I am VERY proud that her work is always here on show and feel a little shamed that I haven't talked about her in the past.

Better late than never.

Thank you Anja.

Many people know of the artist that I will now talk of, indeed I have talked about her before, Rima Staines.

Not only is she an incredible artist but she also has perhaps one of the

Worlds most followed blogs.

Rima is not only an extraordinary artist but also a person who has had an extra-ordinary life,

after all not many of us have spent a year of our life living in a travelling horsebox.

She is a constant source of delight and interest to me, and fortunately for me her work isn't just something that I have to view online as we are the only gallery that shows her work,

and as a result I can have a "quick fix" now and again by looking at her original art.

I know I mentioned Rima before when we collaborated to publish a selection of her paintings as 'Fine Art' prints exclusive to Imagine Gallery.

I was reminded of this today when I went to have a peek at her blog.

Wow! She had taken the most beautiful photographs of her prints as she was signing them,

the prints arrived on her doorstep rolled up in a tube, but only Rima could have turned this into a wonderful "photo" opportunity.

The pictures she has taken of the prints and her autograph are nothing short of art,

mind you her signature alone is a work of art.

Not only had she placed these pictures on her blog but she had also published some beautiful photographs of an original artwork that we have here on display.

This was her contribution to our 'Ancient Mariner' exhibition, it is an original painting on a piece of wood.

Not any piece of wood, but a piece especially chosen for the painting,

as nothing about Rima could ever be random or by chance.

While many of us would have just seen a flaw in the wood Rima could see only an arrow,

so her arrow became the starting point of the painting.

An arrow piecing the heart of the Albatross which was being held by the suffering Mariner.

Or are both their hearts being pierced? I think maybe so.

There are many other unusual things in the painting that are very personal to Rima,

and although I admit that I know the full history it is perhaps not for me to tell.

She has photographed the painting against a background created by nature, it looks beautiful

and I admit I would never have thought of doing that, I wished that I had.

The painting here in the gallery looks equally as beautiful although now it is in a case.

It looks very precious [as it should].

It was the beauty of her photographs that determined me to mention her work and the limited editions that we are showing.

Rima is a real "one of a kind", a very clever woman but one who is so humble and very

ordinary, which seems such an odd thing to say.

How can such a talented person ever be ordinary?

So let me say her manner is very ordinary and very humble, yet the artist within is anything but

ordinary.

There will be more to tell of Rima, as in the future I wish to show her and her equally talented partner Tom as a collaboration.

Now that will be an unusual show.

After spending the last three weeks travelling around the country it feels nice to have my life back again. Although the various trips have been fun and as a result the gallery is full of new treasures.

Too many things have happened in a short time so there are lots of tales to tell about many artists that I have met recently, and I admit my memories and thoughts are getting muddled and are overlapping a little bit, so perhaps it is easiest for me just to mention my very last visit.

This was to Liverpool where I was going to collect work from the amazing sculptor

Emma Rodgers.

We have been privileged to have been showing Emma's work for a number of years, I can't remember when I first spoke with her but I do remember I was nervous.

Perhaps I need to explain that Emma is something of a legend in ceramic circles, and indeed if

you were to talk of sculptors with most potters you will find that most have only heard of two

and one of those will be Emma.

As first and foremost she is a ceramic sculptor.

So in a small circle she is very famous.

Moving beyond the ceramic circle you find that she has even greater worldwide recognition.

She no longer works exclusively with clay, most of her work now is cast in bronze and is in great demand with collectors around the world, but of course as everyone knows once you have touched clay then you are hooked for life, so she still does produce ceramic sculptures and these are the pieces I cherish the most.

Just imagine how it feels to hold a sculpture by such a well known person knowing that

"this is the only piece in the world", it isn't one of an edition but is truly unique.

Knowing that these are the things that I like whenever I call Emma she will ask

"tell me what sort of pieces you want".

Usually that will be "A Rook and anything else you have, like another Rook".

Of course she does send us some of these but being a little wiser than myself she will intersperse them with other lovely pieces.

I will admit her work fits into the "love it or hate it" arena and we sometimes have the occasional idiot visiting the gallery complaining that they are too disturbing, but more frequently people are overcome by the shear power and emotion in her work.

She is such a very clever and fascinating lady and I am lucky enough to know her a little.

I was travelling to see her after attending the last day of a ceramic show 'Art in Clay'.

This show is a must on my yearly calendar as I know many of the artists showing there and it is

always an opportunity to collect new work and talk with old friends.

So with the rain pouring down and the show coming to a close I packed the car with the new work I had collected, set my 'SatNav' for Liverpool and set of for what was to be a very interesting visit.

Although I have wanted to for a long while I had never visited Emma's studio before and I was both excited and slightly nervous about the prospect.

Excited because it was going to be a new experience and nervous because I was frightened of doing or saying the wrong things, and as a result scaring her away.

This sounds stupid but I find I feel like it a lot when I am visiting someone who I really admire.

Perhaps it's because you are visiting what is their most personal and private space, and that deserves a lot of respect and I don't want to spoil that for them in anyway.

I needn't have worried with Emma, firstly she is such an easy going down to earth person,

secondly, as soon as I arrived she bundled me back into the car

and took me off to another work space of hers.

A foundry.

I have only visited such a place once before and found it fascinating, this time even more so

as the whole making process was explained to me by Emma and her friend the owner.

For some time she has been working in this strange and totally non private work space, for the new sculpture that she is creating is on a very grand scale and had it been built at her studio then it couldn't have been transported.

So in this giant industrial building this small woman [not frail] has been working away in a corner, building a most beautiful sculpture from wax.

So involved in her work was she that within minutes of introducing me to the casting team

she was standing at the sculpture adding and smoothing lumps of wax.

Oblivious to what was happening around her she stood in her raincoat with handbag still on her shoulder deeply engrossed with her art.

She only paused and then stopped when I asked how the finished piece will look.

How to describe it.

I think all I can really do is to show a photograph of it when it is finished and in "situ" on a small hillside in the county of Shropshire.

It is a running woman with a long trailing dress under which is sheltering and running with her

a hare. I believe her name is Melangell and she is protecting the hare from the huntsman.

Although very large in scale, even at this stage the sculpture looked light and very delicate.

I have promised myself that one day I will visit the site were it is to be installed, I can just imagine it in a winters mist, the woman running down the hill with her ten foot bronze dress flowing behind her. Still that's for another day.

So rushing on and missing out my tour of Liverpool and our conversation, I did eventually

visit Emma's own private and very intimate studio.

It was almost like a small museum, every surface and wall space was covered by the many varied objects and stuffed animals that inspire her.

I will return and tell you of one incredible sculpture that I had journeyed to collect

but rather than use more words I will just show some snapshots of her studio.

I intend to visit that place again, but next time there will be no nervousness as Emma had made me so welcome, showed me so much and given me such an incredible glimpse into her world.

Often nothing gets written simply because there is too much to tell.

On these occasions I tend to dither about what to write for so long that in the end it seems unimportant and not worth telling about which then ends my dilemma.

I think it's called being lazy.

Now it is that time of year when there is lots going on in the art world especially with ceramics,

there are shows and fairs up and down the length of our small country

and I try to visit as many as I can.

Most of the time I encounter the same people, which is strange in itself as you can start

a conversation in Oxfordshire and the following week conclude it in Scotland.

It feels almost like we are travellers on the road and only get to meet and talk in locations

far from home, but I have developed some good relationships maybe even friendships

with different artists whose studios I have never visited.

It is funny to think that at times they seem too far away to visit but I will think nothing of

driving hundreds of miles in the knowledge and anticipation of meeting them in

varied locations which are home to none of us.

I can be great fun sometimes and I suppose I regard these as my little adventures,

certainly they are the closest that I ever come to having a holiday

which is perhaps a sad reflection on my life.

So my last few weeks [and another to come] have been occupied with journeys.

On Sunday I go on another first to Hertfordshire and then from there to Liverpool.

What makes it interesting and fun for me is that I have no idea [well only a little] of what

I may return to the gallery with, the only thing that is certain is that by this time next week it will look totally different here to how it is today, but it will look beautiful of that I'm sure.

So my thoughts have been very much centered on the various new pieces of work that have

started to fill spaces in the gallery,

but what has occupied my thoughts more is the the anticipation

of what we may have here in the future.

Well isn't that human nature? We always want what we haven't got.

A lot of what I am anticipating and desire is coming from Ireland

We have different art from that island on show in the gallery at all times and the place itself is constantly in my thoughts.

The past two weeks have seen me being very fortunate as because of the fairs I have been able to collect new work from different Irish artists without the need to travel there,

although the excuse would have been welcome.

But there is still other art from that country that I desire and which may arrive very soon.

So rather than tell you about my trips [which I may do] I am just going to show you

pictures of different art I have collected and some that I will collect soon.

Of course I won't be happy until I have everything.

The various work above is by the sculptor Christy Keeney and the two painters

David Shanahan and Jimmy Lawlor.

I will admit that it is unlikely that I will have the exact paintings above by Jimmy as they

are sold, but that makes the anticipation of what I might have even more exciting,

like I was saying you want what you haven't yet got.

It is impossible to run a gallery and show the very personal work of different artists and just treat it just as a normal job.

What they are making, what they are up to in life and their well being is something that becomes very important.

Basically, I suppose what I am trying to say is that they become your friends.

Without intention and usually with just the occasional meeting they become very important to me. In fact I admit with some it perhaps goes too far and we argue, sulk,

and sometimes even fall out for a while.

I think it is all because what they produce is so important to them and then in the same way becomes important to me.

I can't think of any other group of people or individuals [outside my family] whose lives have ever become so entwined with my own.

Many days I will have go through my mind

"I haven't heard from XXXXXXX for a while, I hope they are OK".

But as Irene has explained to me many times they have their own lives to lead, and just because

they haven't called for a recent chat doesn't mean anything.

I think that is the way it works with friendship, and I certainly know that with some artists

the fact that we don't talk often means nothing, they know I think about them and vice versa.

Perhaps this applies to one artist more than most.

He is Mark Rowney.

In fact I have a vague memory that he was the subject of my first ever post and if I had the time he would be the subject of many more, or perhaps even a book, as there is so much to tell.

The short story is that Mark was raised as the son of a cowboy

on a Ranch in North Yorkshire.

You don't see many of those nowadays [if ever].

The rest as they say is history, or a least a very long story.

After many adventures [and even more careers], in various countries he eventually

settled down to a life of being an artist back in the County where he was born.

But what an artist he had become, his unusual life has left him with a wealth of varied talents,

from his stunning paintings on wood to his equally amazing leather carvings.

We are fortunate that he allows us to show a variety of his different works and I am never sure what I love more, in fact I am not even going to try and compare them.

I love them equally

It is a little like having two or three artists who share the same name.

Towards the end of next year we are going to be holding a solo show of his work,

something that I am really looking forward to, and what is nice so is Mark, the event will be

a pleasure for us both [and a great excuse to have a pint and a good chat].

He is one of those people that when we occasionally talk the conversation will be something like

"I was thinking about what you said........................."

and this would have been something we may have been talking about months before.

So it is always a pleasure to hear from Mark, and today more than most.

Last week marked the opening of a new gallery in North Yorkshire, well not really a gallery,

a complex of artist studios plus a gallery area which caters for every kind of artist

from painters, sculptors, blacksmith's to recording artists.

The new studios were to be opened by His Royal Highness Prince Edward and it was felt that to mark the occasion he should be presented with a special gift,

something that spoke of the art of the region.

Of course the artist chosen was Mark Rowney.

His gift.

A book, carved from leather and which took a month to create.

None of this I was aware of until today when I received a "what I've been up to" mail

from Mark, written as usual in his casual unassuming way.

He included a few pictures of the book covers and himself with Prince Edward.

What struck me as really important is that the work [books] he has sent to me are equally

as beautiful and must have taken the same time to make as each was special for our gallery.

So Prince Edward is a fortunate man but I think he was aware of that as he has promised Mark that he intends to write in it regularly [it is a journal], and I am sure he will.

The one difference between "his" meeting with Mark and my own is I doubt that Mark asked

"have you got time for a swift pint before you go mate".

But knowing Mark nothing would surprise me.

Above are a picture of the front and back cover, followed by the bookends

[note the Royal Crest on the butterfly].

Then Mark with H.R.H. Prince Edward, with some of Marks incredible leather pictures

in the background.

I'm not positive but I'm pretty sure that in the last picture Mark is saying

" you sure you wont have just a quick half then, I'm buying "?

Or maybe it's only me that is lucky enough to receive those special invitations.

Well done Mark.

Should I do a short post, or none at all?

When I am in the mood and have the time I enjoy clearing my cluttered mind and writing about things, but there are times [most times] when I haven't the time as there always seems to be "just one" more important thing to get done before giving myself the luxury of writing.

Little things, like answering a telephone every five minutes.

Hey! I spoke with an artist [Jackie Morris] yesterday and she has told me that she is getting the patent on a "bouncy phone", one you can throw at the wall went it rings constantly.

She has one definite sale here.

I love the thought of throwing it out of the door and shouting after it "and don't come back".

It's nice to dream.

So I am going for the short post.

At the moment we are holding an exhibition featuring the work of four different artists.

I have already shown some of the ceramics we are showing by John Bedding

and without a doubt I will show others in another post.

They really are some of the best pots that I have seen for a very long time, pictures just don't do justice to their beauty, plus the scale that he works at is unbelievable.

From very small through to gigantic pieces and what is unusual is that he can enlarge the scale of a pot yet still keep its form and beauty, something that not too many potters are able to do nowadays, sometimes it seems to be a case of "it's big so it must be good" but for me that doesn't work, big isn't always better but in John's case it is.

They look dynamic, and I don't say that lightly, it just looks as if I am going to have to purchase one for myself.

Decisions, decisions, what a lovely dilemma to have with his work.

John's ceramics are not the only beautiful things that we are showing, there are many different

pieces of art on show.

Some by a man I have been wanting to show for a long, long time and now at last his work is here and I can really appreciate the beauty of it.

Jan Morgan is the artist, a sculptor.

What I so love about his work, apart from the skill involved is the narrative in each piece.

I love story telling, in fact I think we all do, and when I look at Jan's sculptures my mind races

off on different journeys making up different tales that end frozen at a point in time which is

what Jan has captured.

His idea of presentation is second to none and I just know that we are going to see and hear a lot more about his art in years to come.

For now they are mine to enjoy.

Apart from the exhibition which I shall return to, I have a lot on at the moment.

It is coming to that time of year when almost every artist in every genre's is showing at some

large event somewhere in the country, and of course they are usually far apart.

So I have the calendar on the desk covered in dates and locations.

Some I will make others I will regret missing so I just have to hope that I make the right choice of locations and artists to visit.

At least it will give me a legitimate excuse for a mini holiday, with time to think and plan.

Driving for hours isn't fun but at least it enables me to think over future plans and ideas.

Of future plans?

We have a massive one taking shape at the moment.

Now, that really will be a long post [or many] for the near future.

What a tease I am.

Thinking about things that I should have written about, but didn't get around to I thought that I might show you some art that has really been occupying my mind and getting me excited.

"Thaddeus Erdahl".

The wonderful thing about the Internet and blogging for me is that it opens up the whole world,

so no longer do I feel that I have to chase after the over exposed English artists, I can now look and lust after work on a worldwide scale.

Can you imagine just how frustrating that is?

There are lots of artists out there but every now and then I am able to discover

something that is to me "real gold".

As I have said many times, everything that I show is for my enjoyment and pleasure.

It is these pieces of art that sell for me, maybe it is because like minded people come into the gallery knowing that they might find something they are searching for, or maybe it is because I talk more [non stop] about the things I love.

Not to try and sell them, just so that I can try and make people appreciate them as I do.

The trouble is it that it usually works and then that particular piece disappears to a new home.

So back to my current love and obsession.

The incredible, strange, disturbing, beautiful and so well crafted sculptures by Thaddeus.

I can't remember how I discovered him [he wasn't lost, I just found him],

but I am so pleased that I have.

One day before too long some of his strange work will be here on display,

and for me that day can't be too soon.

As soon as they arrive I will show you our strange new treasures, but until then this is a sample

of what I hope will arrive one day.

It seems so odd, these works coming from a place I haven't been to and from an artist I haven't met, but it also seems so normal.

We have met, in a different way, and do know a little of each other and it is the fact that we both love the same things that makes it all seem so normal.

With such a long gap it's hard to know where to start, the longer it has become the more I have felt inclined to leave it "until another day".

The realisation that another day means "sometime never", made me decide to focus a little and at least write something, so for what it's worth here it is.

I find it hard to believe that we have gone from one exhibition to almost another and that I have written nothing about daily events.

They couldn't have been that interesting, I tell myself.

A new exhibition is almost upon us, I admit that this has caught me out a little because for some reason I thought that I had another week until I had a call from my printer asking me

"are you sure you don't need these invitations sooner".

Blimey, I did, what was I thinking of.

So at least they have arrived in time, been sent out, and as as a result I have become a lot more focused.

For the first time ever we are going to hold a "Summer Exhibition".

I have always thought that these sort of titles were a bit of a "cop out" and I have interpreted

Summer/Autumn/Winter/Spring exhibitions as meaning

"this is all we have, we can't think of anything so come and buy it anyway".

So to think that the day would come when I would do such a thing was unbelievable.

Until.

Until that is I decided that there were a few artists whose work I was longing to show but they, or us weren't in the position to have a solo exhibition.

I struggled to find a name or a reason to hold an exhibition involving them all until in the end the answer came. "Summer Exhibition".

Well it is summer, and these are people that I really want to show, and will do again in the future with solo exhibitions of their own.

The first person whose work I am showing you is a St. Ives potter named John Bedding.

I have mentioned before that once I was a potter.

This is back in the days before potters shows and similar events existed, then the only way you could sell work was from the workshop [studio is the name now] or in a gallery.

In those days there was only one major ceramic gallery and that was called the Craftsmen Potters Association.

Since then they have gone upmarket and are now called Contemporary Ceramics.

After all how can you have the word "craftsmen" when females are involved.

I wonder how long before someone decides that there are racial issues and the name will have to change again. Sometimes, "just sometimes" changes seem so silly and seemed to be aimed at idiots and bigots, where has innocence gone?

Anyway, since I am not standing for a place in Parliament I had better move on.

Back in those days everyone was given a six month probation period in the C.P.A. in case the quality of your work dropped, or just in case the pots you were accepted by were the only six good pieces you had ever made, if on re-appraisal it was felt you weren't delivering the goods then you were out.

Of course nowadays you are in for life no matter what you go on to make afterwards.

So of course it is obvious that after being accepted I was then kicked out six months later.

Of course I would love to talk about this at great length, and would love to name the committee

members of those days.

But am I going to be childish?

No, I will leave that for another day.

The result was that my sales disappeared, and I couldn't sell enough from the pottery to support a young family.

If only those pottery shows around the country existed then my life would be different now.

Not better, just different.

Now it has all turned around and potters ask "what do galleries do"?

I have just showed at the "Potters, potters and more potters" show [or similar] last week and I made a bundle,

Who needs a gallery?

Alas, as a young man this wasn't the case and with the need to provide for a family I closed my pottery and took a job in London that paid a real wage.

But I remember my last night as a potter.

I took my dog for a walk on the Essex marshes where we lived, sitting down with him on a small hillock I looked back into the distance at the pottery.

The roof tiles glowing deep red with the setting sun, and I could see the tip of the kiln chimney.

I tiled that roof, it had been a derelict barn open to the elements before I restored it from the ground up.

It was a silly thing to do as it was rented from the local Church and would never be mine, but sometimes you do silly things if it makes you happy, and having that workshop gave me a lot of happiness. A lot of heartache, but it made me happy.

So with my arm around my dog I looked back at a dream, then took him home and turned my back on pottery.

For many years, I had no interest in pots, or potters. Indeed I wished never to see a pot again.

Until.

We had a family holiday at St Ives in Cornwall.

Every evening we would walk down to the waterfront, get bags of chips a feed seagulls,

all those usual holiday things. What wasn't usual is that each evening we had to pass the window of a pottery, of course I would stop and look and remember the past, but as the week past I realised that I really loved these pots, and one bottle in particular.

It was different to anything I had ever seen and really stirred all of the emotions that had been long buried, I really wanted to own it.

On the last day of our stay we went to have our last fish supper, this time the pottery was open.

Irene went in and purchased for me the pot I liked so much.

It was by a potter named John Bedding, an apprentice of the famous potter Bernard Leach.

This pot changed my life.

I fell back in love with ceramics, and is perhaps the reason we are here today with a gallery.

John Bedding's pots are going to form part of our Summer Exhibition.

Next year he will be back with a solo exhibition.

So it is really mixed and personal emotions that I will showing his work.

I love it.