As a total departure from the last post I thought that I would show something totally different.

Me.

Well not actually me but some of the things that I do.

For a very long time I have felt very frustrated that I am not creating anything , or contributing anything of my own to the gallery [although in the next few weeks I do intend to play once again with clay].

But this isn't totally true as occasionally I do take photographs, most of the time it is to capture

pictures of different art that is shown in the gallery.

Lots of the time artists supply their own images which makes it a lot easier but every now and again I am told "you're a photographer, can you take pictures for me".

Once a potter even came in with three boxes of pots and said "I want you to photograph these for me as I need good pictures as I am applying to enter the C.P.A.

Why would I want to do that?

They weren't even going to come here to the gallery, plus I hated them.

Finding it hard to say no [don't ask me why] I spent a long time on taking pictures then about two weeks later called the potter to tell her that I had something ready.

Two days later she arrived, looked at them and told me that they weren't good enough.

I politely pointed out that I didn't need to be doing this and had other things that I would

be spending my time on rather [so far I had spent two whole days on these pictures].

" I want them done again", she told me.

I pointed out to her that firstly I wasn't a photographer and secondly she was wasn't paying for them.

"but I thought that this is what you do".

Suffice to say both she and her rubbish pots left the gallery very swiftly.

However she was accepted as a member at the C.P.A. [Crafts person Potters Association].

But as I was told by a "famous" potter.

"They accept anyone now, once it used to mean something".

Anyway, getting back to my photographs and talking about me

[what could be more interesting]?

I do take photograph's and always have done since my childhood.

In fact I remember as a sixteen year old being questioned by my headmaster when I left school,

"tell me Foley what are you going to do with your life"?

"I'm going to be a photographer, Sir".

I'm not and never will be but sometimes I still enjoy taking photographs.

They give me pleasure and I do it "because they make me feel good".

Which is a line made famous by John Voight in one of my favourite films "Midnight Cowboy".

I seem to be getting "off track" a little, but I am enjoying thinking about the past.

So, yes I do take pictures and on occasions I hang one on the wall here.

To my surprise every now and again they sell, which makes me tempted to show more but that would defeat the whole purpose of having a gallery, so maybe about four pictures appear here each year.

I really hope not for ego purposes [but it is hard to be sure] but because I think they might be good enough for inclusion. It is hard to be objective when it is something of your own, but I ask myself the same question I ask others who approach me.

"Do you think that it will work alongside the other work on show"?

Some of my pictures do some don't, but as they were just taken for "me" it doesn't matter when I reject myself.

However, lots of my pictures get used as book covers.

There is absolutely no money in it but it is fun when I visit a supermarket and look through the book section to every now and again see one of my pictures on a cover.

I feel like saying to other shoppers "see that book? I did that".

How shallow can I get? But sometimes it is fun.

So recently I had a call asking

"could you do a cover of a book about Anne Boleyn, if you can could it be quick as there is no time available"?

They mailed me a picture of an old painting with the brief:

to look like this painting, but we want her with lots of pearls, it is to have a dark background including a sinister looking man".

Considering that I was leaving to travel across the country 24 hours later I should have said no,

but ego is a funny old thing [or big thing] so I said yes.

The next day had me dressing up my long suffering daughter in different wigs and costumes,

driving around different locations [churches and Tudor houses] and getting different people to be involved.

Many hours and late at night [four hours before I was due to travel] I had a completed picture.

it wasn't perfect but it fitted the description, so I sent it off.

Next day [and three hundred miles away] I received a mail telling me it was "fantastic".

Now I could look forward to seeing it in a few months time on a bookshelf somewhere.

"That was Fun", were my thoughts.

Wrong!

On returning home I had a call telling me that the publisher now had more time and wanted the picture taken again.

This time could I have a "glamorous" female, after all Anne was beautiful [what about that painting], and this time showing more cleavage, more make up, and forget the dark background lighten it up more cheerful and lose that strange man in the background.

"Duh".

After a long conversation which basically amounted to me saying

"I don't do tits"

the agent and I parted company.

Two days later I received a call from a publisher asking "have you any pictures that we could use for a historical non fiction book about Anne Boleyn"?

Yes! [punching a fist in the air] a result.

One of the "out takes" of Rebecca is now going to be appearing shortly in a shopping mall near you.

If you see it don't bother buying it as we get no money, but it was fun all the same.

So I thought that I would show you a few of my pictures that have created a little interest in the past.

The rejected "unglamorous picture" and the cover that is coming out.

Shown at the bottom.

I'm sorry about this little diversion I will return to the gallery tomorrow.

We have had the opening of an exhibition since I last wrote, a lot of other things also have happened some good some bad, I think its called life.

As more time passed the less inclined I felt to write,

the more that happened the more I appreciated that I should have written about events,

so I took the easy option and "buried my head in the sand" and pretended that I didn't keep a blog, it certainly gave me more time to concentrate on other things.

However, I have carried on as usual, reading and being hooked to other peoples blogs and I really look forward to reading how my 'unknowing' friends are getting on with there lives.

I find it so easy [because they write so well] to get caught up in their daily events, it all seems so much more fascinating and interesting than what I do.

Let's face it, I am a shopkeeper and we all know that 'must' be boring, it's just that the things in my shop are interesting that gives me anything to write about at all.

I would love to be out and about having adventures or creating like so many other people, but my life is here in the gallery and most of my venturing out happens between my ears, and as visitors know I am deaf in one so where does that leave me?

But a few days ago a friend [artist] called to ask if I was OK?

"You don't write anymore and I was worried about you".

The sort of comment that makes you appreciate that the person is a friend and not

just a working partner.

I explained that I had "been hiding" and felt that I had nothing of interest to tell.

"Don't be daft, of course you have".

She then explained that when she felt down or negative she would just 'post' pictures until

she felt like writing about life again.

"So do that, just put pictures on your blog when you don't want to write".

I tried but I couldn't so here I am writing.

The exhibition that opened and is still running is a group show, which although that may not be as important to the artists involved as a solo show it certainly adds for more interest from the public.

Lets face it if we had a Picasso exhibition [we are not I might add] the only people who would attend would be lovers of his work [and investors], but with a mixed show more people will visit in the anticipation of discovering the unknown. They did.

'Hare of the Dog'

is the title of the exhibition, and before you ask,

Yes, we are showing Hare's and Dogs.

All of them sculptural, by twelve different artists, some very well known and one totally unknown, in fact it was the first show she has done.

So there was a lot of exciting and very varied work to see, and perhaps the most exciting was by the "unknown" sculptor.

Well, she may have been unknown a few weeks ago but I think that she is now definitely on the 'map' as far as collectors are concerned.

There is a new charity in England called 'Adopt a Potter'.

It was set up to fund and find work placements for aspiring ceramists, as of course in these

hard economic times less artists are able to find the time or finance to employ and train the

future generation of craftsmen

[sorry, that should be 'craftspeople', but "what the heck", I'm an old fashioned guy],

so the charity funds the training of people who have the determination and enthusiasm to

enter the crazy world that uses 'mud' to create a living.

Michelle Cox

was our "unknown" sculptor, and she is an apprentice within the scheme.

We were only looking for about 2 to 4 pieces of work per artist.

Michelle must have created about fourteen, not that she expected them all to be included,

she was just that excited and thrilled to be showing alongside

"so many important people".

She travelled from Liverpool to be here at the opening, which was a great success as well as being a helluva lot of fun.

Having someone that enthusiastic and excited here became contagious and I honestly can't remember when we had such a nice warm atmosphere at an opening, everyone enjoyed it.

Her work sold, and importantly has continued to do so even without her personality to promote it. That has been important to us and it will be nice to look back one day and reflect

with pride that her first show was with us.

I know that she is going to make a name for herself and she will certainly be back here with us

in the future.

She has got to because she promised to buy me a 'pint' at my favourite pub.

To talk of Michelle is almost unfair because we had some beautiful work by some some

fantastic sculptors, some we have shown before and some who are new to us.

The result was an exciting exhibition that has been shown in a lot of the local press and has

people coming in daily, some "just to look" but many to purchase, and with everyone asking

"when will you do it again"?

I will show some pictures here, I still have many more to take but here is a sample for now.

As you can see they go from wild to domestic, fun to serious.

All of them beautiful, and there are still a few more to come from my best mate Sharon

who had to run a "little" late so she could give birth to a little boy.

On this occasion I will overlook the "late arrival".

The return journey.

Or 'There and back again' would sound better if J.R.R. Tolkien hadn't used it for "The Hobbit".

Really this is just a follow up to the last 'post' that I was too tired to do last night.

So if you were anticipating fights with Dragons and Goblins you have come to the wrong place,

although I did visit "Barrow Hill" which is a very bad place, unless you love Cider.

Anyway, leaving the town of 'Saint Ives' on a wet misty morning, I was undecided about where I should visit on my journey home.

There are so many really exciting artists working in this corner of England that I really didn't know where to head for.

I sat in the car tapping different addresses into my 'SatNav' trying to work out what [Or who] I could fit in on my return journey.

I knew that I would not be this far south for some time so I wanted to make the most of the trip.

It was impossible to decide, I have so many old friends in that area I didn't know where to go.

The decision was made for me by John Bedding.

Well not really him just his advice, because of an exhibition that I have planned for June of this year.

RELIQUARY

It has been in my thoughts for many months, it has been something that has fascinated me

for a long time and I admit that I have been greatly influenced by another blogger,

Margaret Brampton.

Not only does her own work intrigue me but she has lead me down the path of history.

So for some time I have had the thoughts "let's do Reliquary as an exhibition",

then recently I decided to stop pondering and to actually do it.

As a result I feel very contented and excited and I have a feeling that I will tell more about

who is involved in the near future.

One person who has confirmed "just one piece" is John Bedding,

the man who instigated.

He suggested that I look at the work of 'Sim Taylor'.

"His thoughts are there already", he told me.

So I did look at his work, and also where he worked.

"I can do that on the way home".

As a result my route back to Suffolk was dictated by the need to visit this man,

which was made harder because he was lecturing at a University in North Somerset and his time was restricted.

I spoke with him, we fixed a time to meet and then the rest of my journey was based around our meeting.

Hhhhmmmmmm, who to visit?

There were two people that I would like to visit but only the time to see one.

Decision made, I set off to see John Leach the potter.

I had last seen him maybe 29 years ago! Little wonder that I look old [but only 18 inside].

John not only happens to be the grandson of the famous Bernard Leach but more importantly he lives only 5 miles from 'Barrow Hill Cider Press'. How convenient.

So after our different "lunch breaks" I parked my car outside his pottery/gallery just as he was

opening after his lunch.

Although we had met many times in the past I wasn't silly or vain enough to think that he would remember me, and he didn't.

That made no difference, he welcomed me inside and said

"quick come and look at these before they all go".

He was talking about an exhibition of prints that had been on show for two months in his gallery by the artist Julia Manning.

" Ooohh it was so good", he said.

"It was embarrassing as we sold so many.

Hhmmm, no, no it wasn't embarrassing at all it was good".

What a lovely man to assume that I had come to see the art of someone else.

However, I was excited as for a long time I had been trying to contact Julia, and here she was

in front of me packing up her few unsold prints.

I will cut a very long story short,

which I don't really want to as John and I talked of many events, potters, artists and friends,

and I know we both enjoyed the reminiscence, except for the mention of the death of the potter

Ray Finch.

His smile vanished from his beard covered face.

"Oh that man was my mentor, I will miss him so much. We are going there tomorrow".

Apart from that the chat was fun and enjoyable.

Eventually he said, "I must go, I lost the key to the kiln shed two days ago and the blacksmith has called to say he has made a replacement, but it needs 'tweaking'.

Where in the world would you use a blacksmith to get a new key?

Only in deep Somerset.

But before I left I had hurried discussions with Julia Manning and to my great delight I walked out of the Leach Pottery with pictures to bring home.

Before I drove away I decided to take a couple of pictures of the pottery "just in case".

I took one photograph but it wasn't right so I crossed the road to take another.

"That's more like it".

Then a car pulled in front of the pottery/cottage.

"Shit".

Out of the car climbed John Leach.

"Oh, John you are still here"?

"Yes I was just taking a picture of the famous 'John Leach' pottery when some old bugger parked there car and spoilt it".

"I'm sorry about that".

"Now your here make yourself useful and pose for my Blog".

This is all true.

So there he was the world famous potter with a bag of shopping posing for you all.

"Blogs"?

"I know a potter near here you should go and see, Paul Jessop. He's blogging mad.

I don't know how he finds time to make his pots".

Of course Paul was the other potter that I would have liked to have visited.

But hey! Paul your a youngster, us old folk have to meet while we are still here.

Next time.

From the Leach pottery I drove to?

Actually I'm not sure as I just did what "SatNav" told me.

Eventually I arrived in the evening at a University where I was greeted by the incredible

Sim Taylor.

I have never seen someone so young, so handsome with such long hair since I was eighteen.

That was me looking in the mirror many years ago.

Sim is a real dynamic character, full of life and enthusiasm for his art, it is little wonder that he is so sought after as a lecturer and teacher of ceramics.

He whisked me away to his room and showed and explained to me the philosophy and techniques of his creations.

He was so humble when describing his ceramic sculptures.

" I am honoured that you have bothered to come and see me", he said many times.

I felt like saying "are you stupid? The honour and pleasure is mine".

I told him after looking at his work "you are going to be so big".

He shook his head, and that is what I liked so much.

He is striving to make beautiful things not a name for himself, that was unimportant to him.

But he will become known, just for the simple reason that he is interested in his craft.

I don't have the time to write more about Sim or his art, plus I don't want to as I intend to write an article about him.

After all if he is not interested in promoting himself so someone had better do it for him.

Most importantly he agreed to participate in the Reliquary exhibition.

Five hours after leaving him,with a head full of memories and loud music I arrived home.

To the ecstatic welcome of two beautiful dogs.

They missed me.

This is what life [or at least mine] is all about.

I had a lot to write about that I thought might be interesting, and was poised

"pen in hand"

ready to blog when I remembered that I was going on a long trip and thought that maybe I might have something of even more interest to write about on my return.

Well it probably might not be, but as it involved me going off on an adventure and meeting people I had a feeling that I would find it more interesting,

otherwise my small world exists within these walls and although a lot happens

[some good some bad] it is nice to get away,

if for no other reason than driving for hours allows me to think without interruption,

and I like that. I also enjoy playing music at full volume without worrying who I might annoy.

So, off to St. Ives in Cornwall I went.

I must admit that I wasn't looking forward to the journey as it is long and this combined with fog and heavy rain made it was worse than anticipated, but I arrived safe and with a head full

of new music, at least that was fun.

I was visiting Cornwall to see a potter called John Bedding.

I have mentioned him and shown his pots here before, but this was to be my first time

to have a "proper" conversation with him.

Before it had been restricted to emails, telephone and hurried chats at motorway service stations where we did our furtive exchanges.

Pots from him and a big smile from me.

I have long been totally fascinated and puzzled by the techniques that he uses to decorate his pots, the truth is I just didn't know how he did it.

On the frequent occasions I have been asked in the gallery "how did he do this"?

I have had to bluff and guess as I had no idea at all, all that I knew for certainty is that I loved them and coveted them however they were done.

So for the first time [of what will be many] I eased the car down a very small alleyway and

into the courtyard of the "Gaolyard Studios" in the centre of St Ives.

As the name suggests it used to be the village gaol, now it is owned by John and is home to many different and talented potters.

But it was only John that I had come to visit [or so I thought].

His studio/workshop was no different to that of many potters, in fact it is in the running for being one of the most untidy, but that would include almost every potter I know.

What made the greatest difference to me is that out off this studio came some of the most beautiful, elegant pots I have ever come across, and I really wanted to know how they were

created as I have never seen anything like them.

Two hours later I left feeling like I was walking on a cloud.

John is one of the nicest, cleverest and most forward thinking craftsmen I have ever met.

I was staggered to find that he uses a computer to decorate his pots.

It is true, there amongst all the normal pottery clutter was a laptop computer sitting beside

clay and normal pottery tools.

Attached to the laptop was a projector, in front of that a pot.

From the computer he projects his designs onto the unfired pots.

Don't ask me how, ask him, and if he tells you how he will be mad.

Let me explain that the studio was full of pots, some in various stages of being fired but most

still damp and drying, each one decorated with patterns and images that moved the heart,

each different but in some way or another Japanese in influence.

This is no great surprise as John had not only worked for the famous potter Bernard Leach

but had also trained and worked in Japan many years ago.

I say many years ago and this is what surprises me, that a man with his background and knowledge of making real "Leach" influenced ceramics was bucking the trend.

He was taking all of his knowledge of past pottery and with modern technology using it to create the most wonderful eastern style ceramics I have ever seen.

If I had been watching and talking to a younger man I would have been thinking

"kids today, what they can do",

but this is a man who is older than me [yes, that is possible even though he looks 10 years younger] his mind and thought process was so exciting and invigorating.

He is moving forward, not trying to make copies of past masters, he is his own man

creating on his own terms and is unconcerned by criticism of others.

He is making his pots for himself and his collectors not for acclaim on the small pottery map,

and that is why he is so good.

There was no ego, no searching for approval or acknowledgment.

A man who has every right to make pots in the style of others but who is mature enough to walk his own path.

Wow! This is sounding like a one man fan club, but I think by now you understand that he

greatly impressed me.

The man and his work.

As I was about to leave he asked "have you been to my shop"?

"Yeah, about 20 years ago".

"It has changed a bit if you want to have a look".

I promised that I would, so he told me to take attention to the work of different potters he thought I would like.

I visited his shop.

The "shop" turned out to be one of the best galleries I have ever visited, it shows nothing but ceramics but is beautiful and with great attention to detail.

In fact it is more like a museum than a gallery as there was work on show by almost every

great potter of modern times, those living and those dead and every piece a collectors item.

Potters like Shoji Hamada, Bernard Leach, Colin Pearson, Mick Casson, David leach and

Michael Cardew were on show and for sale.

All shown in the most subtle surroundings, almost like a Japanese tea room.

"Less" definitely was more.

Amongst the various famous names on show there were a few, but only a few of John's own pieces, for me these stood out as being some of the best pots on show.

There were two I was smitten by, one nearly four feet tall, the other was smaller but it burnt an

equally large hole in my heart.

Showing alongside the older traditional pots were also the works of the modern studio potters,

some of the them like Ruthanne Tudball I know and am friends with, others I didn't know at all although I do now.

One in particular whose worked I really admired was a young man named Sam Hall.

"Shit", I had just met him back at the "Gaolyard" without knowing who he was or what he did, and for that I plead ignorance as I now appreciate that he is well known and very collected

but luckily I didn't know of that.

So back to the studios I returned to meet Sam.

A lovely gentle and handsome young man [if I'm allowed to notice that].

I confessed that I knew nothing of him and

"did not know of his work until today, but could I take some".

I think that the honesty paid dividends as he showed me much of his work, some I criticised

and to my surprise we both agreed in the criticism and it was an enjoyable,

"I really like that"

"So do I"

"I don't think that has worked"

"That's what I think".

Eventually he asked "would you like to take something? I don't let many galleries".

I think ignorance and honesty this time the right thing.

I was lucky as yet again there wasn't an ego, instead just a very good potter.

Of course I have since found out how well known and collected his work is, but as I have always said "the bigger the artist the smaller the ego".

Anyway, I had hoped to complete my trip on one post but I appreciate that most people will have fallen asleep by now, so my return journey and meeting with a very famous potter I will leave until next time.

Above the pictures explain themselves.

John Bedding's gallery [or a small portion of it].

The giant bottle that I loved, Sam Hall's pots and of course the pot that I loved so much,

which of course, John allowed me to bring back to the gallery.

This year I am behind with events that we should have planned for the future and at the moment I am playing "catch up".

I usually try to be at least one year ahead with exhibitions, firstly because it gives the artist time to plan their own year or even to try out new idea's out without added pressure, and secondly it allows me to work out how the gallery will look as the year progresses and to plan the promotion, advertising, invitations etc,etc.

But, it doesn't take a lot to throw things out, plus I find that I tend to get over excited about one

idea or another, or a particular artist whose existence I have only just discovered and start wishing I could fit another event in the calendar.

I like to leave a gap here and there in the years events just in case something like this happens

plus sometimes it is just enjoyable to have the space as it normally is without all the work and disruption that an exhibition can sometimes bring, plus I like the gallery as it is everyday.

But this year started and I was definitely behind.

I have been awaiting a couple of confirmations before I could definitely know that the year

was sorted.

Having said that, I have left the very end of the year open until I have really thought through a

particular idea that I have in mind.

Anyway, more about planned events in the next post.

Apart from thinking about who and what we shall show at exhibitions there are the constant

thoughts of who I should talk to or go to see so that we can fill the place everyday with the

unusual mixture of art we have.

Sometimes this is made easier, yet a lot harder by one particular artist,

Michael Parkes.

I almost liken him to the slogan for the film Jaws,

"just when you thought it was safe............"

or in his case

"just when you thought you had it all planned............."

The man is just so talented and prolific, he seems to work non stop, which makes it really hard

when I am trying to work out what different art I want to show.

I think I have it worked out and then the bugger creates something else, and everything seems to say "John must show this".

Trouble is, "John really wants to", as a result I become very indecisive and tend to think to myself "I will make a decision tomorrow, or next week".

Time passes, and Michael creates more, and I find it harder to make a decision.

Sometimes, just occasionally, I start to think that maybe I don't feature on his list of major priorities, or perhaps it's just a case of him trying to work out what I "really" like.

Probably.

So after not having talked about much at all I will show a few of his pieces that I have been presented with recently, then maybe you will see why I get distracted and behind on events.

Although really this post is just an excuse to show some things that I have wanted to show for

few weeks.

I didn't get around to it before because I was distracted

......................by more Michael Parkes.

Self doubt.

I'm sure that it is something that we all have from time to time, especially me.

This might come as a surprise to the people who may find me a little [or a lot] arrogant, but

usually this only comes to the surface when someone is critical of the work we show.

My own self doubt [my own photography aside] arises when I think that maybe I have made

a bad decision about how different pieces of art should be displayed, or if I think I have not

done justice to the work, as I know and understand that presentation is everything and it is very easy to undersell something with a poor display.

Sometimes I think that maybe I am showing the wrong combination of different works and so

I start again, or maybe I think that new displays need to be built for a certain piece.

I constantly worry that I haven't got the window display right, or I get indecisive about what should be in the window.

The one thing that doesn't worry me or cause doubts is the quality and variety of work we show.

So with all this in mind I found myself getting slightly concerned and later very annoyed

when the "seeds of doubt" were sown by someone this week.

I have mentioned before that I don't enjoy it when different artists come in "cold" and ask would I look at their work?

I don't dislike it and I am pleased to have the opportunity to look at something new, but I do

hate having to say "no" if I don't like the work or if I feel that it would be misplaced in our gallery.

Sometimes the art presented can be great but it just wouldn't look in place here, and it often

comes as a surprise that people don't first have a look at what we show and then think

"would my art fit in with what they show"?

But, I do look at all work presented and at times with a heavy heart have to say no.

What I have been shown may be really good but it wasn't for me.

So it was this week I had one such "cold call".

The artist in question had been inside the gallery with his partner for a while, and as is usual

we started having a chat about different pieces of work etc.

Nothing unusual there, then he told me that he was a sculptor and that he happened to have

some work with him in the car that had just been returned from another gallery.

Sculpture! He had hit my soft spot, I always want to see new sculptors.

I might not like what they have created but I definitely want to see it as I have a fear that it

might be the one that "slipped through the net".

So I did view his work.

It was bronze animal sculpture, for me this is often very dubious as there seems to be many people out there all producing very similar not very good brown bronze sculpture and all of it set with a high price tag,

because after all we all know bronze is expensive.

Which is exactly what he told me when I questioned the price of a Wren.

"Blimey", I thought. I could have created a bird garden for that price.

However his work was not without merit and both he and his partner seemed very nice people

and I enjoyed talking with them and when they left much later I was the recipient of one new sculpture.

Since then I have looked at his piece many times and pondered and indeed a little doubt grew in my mind, "did I take this for the right reasons]? Still what was done was done so now I will do my best to display it properly and achieve a sale for him.

Next morning I had a call from the same artist.

It started really well, he told me how much they had enjoyed having a chat with me and how much they liked the gallery, "we talked about it all the way home", he said.

"However, we did have some thoughts".

Yes, I was going to get the benefit of those thoughts.

They loved the gallery, the building , the displays etc,etc. It reminded them of one other really good gallery which is very successful financially and has sold "thousands" of pounds worth of his work.

Apparently there was only one major difference between us, they had an identity and we didn't.

"if you had an identity you would do really well", I was told.

While he was giving me his [well intended, I am sure] advice] I looked online at the other

"similar" gallery.

"now if only you............."

at which point I interrupted him to tell him I was looking at the "art" of the other gallery while

he was talking.

"What am I looking at"?

A painting by an English artist of a scene of Venice, another still life painting of a vase of flowers, a painting of race horses.

" I have seen it all before, the only difference is the paintings had different names on them.

I wouldn't give them house room", I told him.

Then on to their sculpture, which was all wildlife and animals

[which I have no problem with if done well].

"I am looking at bronze brown horses, they are crap".

What else was there?

Brown bronze, Lion heads, Elephants, Tigers, Antelope, Penguins, game birds, and even Pears

[wow! I haven't seen those somewhere else for at least a week].

"It is all rubbish", I told him.

"Yes, but they make lots of money, everything sells in the thousands, because of them I have had my best year ever, and it's all because they have an identity".

I tried to explain to him that so too had Imagine Gallery.

It is different, everything in it is different, but it sits together well because it all has a common thread, me, I love it all.

I tried to explain to him that we all have many different aspects to our personalities and

that the varied collection that we show was just a collection of all the things that I love in the world, that I equally loved the abstract paintings and sculpture as much as the life like work that we show, that the illustration from a children's book that hangs on the wall was equal in beauty to a famous painting that hangs beside it, that I loved a small rough pot from Japan

priced at £20 every bit as much as a bronze priced in the thousands".

He just didn't get it.

"You need more bronze, he told me".

Unaware that when he was here he was standing next to a fabulous and very expensive bronze

while he was talking to me. He didn't know because it wasn't shiny and brown.

[Thanks Emma that bronze is one of the pieces that I am proud to have on display].

He tried again to make me understand that the other "similar" gallery was making

"loads of money".

"If money was our only motive we wouldn't be here, we would have done something different".

I explained.

We never set out to make money, even though like everyone we need it.

Our gallery is here because Irene [bless her] realised that there was something in my life that I wanted to achieve, and that "something" was showing this great mixture of beautiful artifacts.

Sure, we want and have to make money but that has never been the goal.

To survive, and do something as interesting and fulfilling and as much fun as this was.

In that respect I am rich.

I was wasting my breath, he knew I was an idiot.

Indeed thinking things through over and over again today, I think maybe I am wrong.

The seeds of doubt were planted by someone who boasts great success.

As he told me "the trouble with your gallery you can only sell to people who think like you".

Very true, but I hope there are more people out there who appreciate beauty more than a

brown shiny overpriced piece of bronze.

My parting words were [as always]

"it's my party....."

"yeah, I know, .......and you will cry if you want to", he replied before hanging up.

Cry I will, and cry I do, but never caused by egotistic, vain, money grabbing fools like him.

So on a parting note I am showing you a few "wacky" sculptures by two people who don't understand the importance of "life like, shiny bronze shit".

I mean to say, when did you last see horses in the wild that looked like this?

Never, and as for a Unicorn?

The beautiful pieces are by Paul Priest and Elaine Peto, two people who aren't chasing money.

Just Life

What I really dislike about 'blogger' is that it seems so "thick".

Most likely it is me that is thick, but after having spent a hour writing a post and then realising that I had left a picture out I tried to correct it and typically lost everything.

It is a bit of a bugger as I was in one of those moods where I was enjoying telling and writing about things.

Now of course the "moment" [or hour] has passed and I don't intend to re-visit what in my mind is now history, so instead I will just show the pictures that related to what I had written about my recent adventures and the artists connected with them.

I will re-visit at least one as it relates to lots of things in the future but until then.

Here is a painting by Rosalind Lyons Hudson.

She spends a lot of time at the 'Shakespeare Globe Theatre', re-creating costumes, scenes and events. This painting is from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and features the fairies.

'Peablossom, Cobweb, Moth & Mustardseed'.

Suffice to say I love it.

The next picture is one of the new creations by Michael Parkes.

Of this I will say no more [I had written a load] as I will come back to his new work soon.

The ceramic clocks are by Ross Emerson, and I really can't write again about him as I have spent 40 minutes telling about my recent [nightmare] trips to visit him.

But here anyway are the remaining unsold pieces from those trips.

Lastly is a painting that I have "lusted" after and wanted to exhibit for so long, it is titled.

"Polly Vaughan's Swan Song", by Kate Leiper.

I think that it is so beautiful, innocent and fitting to the season, it featured on our

Christmas invitation.

If you know of the story of 'Swan Lake' then you can probably work out what it tells of,

she has been shot by her lover, a Prince.

Sad, beautiful, innocent and childish.

Whatever, I will take pleasure everyday looking at it while it is here,

and I will be so very sorry to see it go.

Sometimes I really would like something to keep for myself.

But, go it must for that is the nature of what we do, I do miss some things more than I should and I certainly know that this will be one of them,

but after all we are a just shop and selling our goods is what we must do.

Still at least for a little while this is mine.

Too many different pieces of art have arrived or are on route at the moment.

No, that was a mistake.

What I meant is that there are too many different things for me to choose from to show.

"I should show that, but what about this it arrived earlier, wow! I want to let people see this,

how have I left that unseen? Etc, etc, etc.

These are the many thoughts that I have each day, so as a result I take the easy option and instead of taking photographs I go home.

Which doesn't matter as I read on a blog recently,

"it makes me laugh when people apologise for not posting, after all who cares".

Who indeed?

So if there is anyone who is interested here are a few things that have interested or captivated me recently.

Firstly, I have to admit that I have a "bit of a problem" with tea bowls, and what follows will upset any potter who bothers to read, but that is not my intention.

It seems that for the past 25 years or so western potters have been working away trying to produce the perfect tea bowl, myself included.

But why?

It is not of the Western culture, we do not hold tea ceremonies or revere the ritual's associated with them.

But we do know that the best potters in the world, the Japanese and before them the Koreans

regard them with great importance, so obviously to be a good potter you must be able to make a good tea bowl.

In fact I think once I nearly did make a good one as one of my hero's [in ceramics]

Takeshi Yasuda admired a bowl made by me and pronounced that "it is nearly good".

That was it, when I heard I was "made up" as we say in England [or I do].

I was now a real potter, or so I thought at the time.

Since that day many, many years ago I have thought often about Tea Bowls, and even though I have a large collection of them I have decided that the "Western" tea bowl is a lot of nonsense.

What do we do with them?

Drink coffee or wine out of them or maybe even drop a teabag in once in a while and have a brew?

This wasn't what they were intended for and they are not of our culture.

This only became very clear to me one day a couple of years ago when a customer was in the gallery deliberating for an hour or so over different pots

[made by a very revered English potter].

Eventually he came over to the counter and told me "I have decided at last, I'm going for the jar

not the tea bowl [this is where the anoraks ask what kind was it, Yunomi, Chawan, who cares]

they are both the same price but I can't bring myself to pay £200 for a tea bowl".

He went on to explain that he understood that I had to "mark up prices to make a living",

but I pointed out to him that the price label was hand written in gold pen and unlike any of our

price labels. "That is the potters price and what you would pay at her studio" I told him.

"We receive a percentage of that but that is what you would pay direct".

He left with his jar, but he left me with a lot of thoughts.

Hell, we sell mugs from £10 so why was a mug without a handle £200.

What do most of us use each day? A mug or a cup, so to me these should be the pieces that we cherish not a bowl that most of us don't know how to use.

So why do we all persist in making bowls?

Because we are all trying to be recognised potters and to do so it is best to aspire to

replicate the best of the east.

Wasn't there an old pop song "I think I'm turning Japanese". I really think so.

As a result I returned all of the pots to the maker as I no longer felt comfortable with them.

She was not "too" happy, and many people have since asked "are you mad"?

The potter is important, and very very good, but I felt uncomfortable with those prices.

I have made my bed now I will lay in it.

So having upset any potter who is reading.

A few years ago I went to a ceramic fair and showing there was a man named Richard Dewar.

Richard is English but has his pottery in France, and he really does produce some lovely work.

However at the show I visited he had on display a selection of tea bowls.

"What now" I thought. Japanese bowls made by an Englishman in France, "what next".

But these were different, they had all the beauty and qualities that I would look for in a tea bowl but they all had "handles".

They were beautiful, fun, objects, meant to be used and were priced at £8 each.

Here was a man who wasn't taking himself too seriously, although his pots were seriously good.

I have used the one I purchased everyday since then.

Sure it is getting chipped in places but it gives me great pleasure to use, whats more I don't burn my fingers holding the bugger because I use the handle.

I met Richard again a couple of months ago and he was still making and selling tea bowls but this time he was also showing a fantastic selection of tea pots.

Everyone totally different and unique and with prices that started at £25.

Although he was selling them there were no "tea bowl mugs" as beautiful as my own [of course] so instead I left with boxes full with his teapots.

I was surprised that from years ago he remembered me purchasing the "tea mug", not because of the money he made but because he knew I was going to enjoy it [or so he said].

I have meant many times to show the teapots I purchased and now at last today I have photographed those few left.

Apart from Richards pots there is also another teapot I am showing, made by a delightful young

Welshman, Sean Gordon.

He is such a lovely man and whenever I see him he tells me "you are leaving with some of my pots aren't you"? More a command than a question.

He is a strange lad [not strange, lovely], and although young, his roots are firmly set in the past.

He often talks of the "great miners strike" and the affect that it had on his family and his community.

Like him I remember with anger what Thatcher did to the working man.

He remembers his childhood and home and as a result, many of his pots are based on updated versions of old household implements [like his "coal scuttle jugs"].

But like everyone he is looking forward and outward and the latest teapot that I collected from him I have named the "Laboratory" teapot.

It is fun, beautiful, very well designed, and more importantly it pours a treat.

In fact I think I might use it to make a "cuppa" to pour into my "teabowlmug".

Is nothing sacred nowadays?