I think that it is about time that I made a mention of our summer exhibition.

In fact it will be the largest exhibition that we have held, and although the opening is still some time away it has taken up two full days of my time each week for the past couple of months.

What is worrying is that this is just with the early stages, so things can only get more hectic and worrying as time goes on.

Worrying, but enjoyable, as the planning is half the fun.

But from now things will start to become more serious, as I understand that getting artists [potters] to say "yes" is one thing but bringing them in on time is going to be a different matter.

On the last day of June we are holding the opening of an exhibition titled

'LEGACY'.

This is to be a tribute exhibition to Isaac Button the potter and John Anderson the man who made the famous film about him.

There are many reasons why and how this exhibition came about, so I will try to be brief with my explanation. This is fortunate for you and this is only because I hate typing my thoughts.

If you called into the gallery I am sure I could bore you with an hour long verbal version,

But brief or long, the main reason will be the same.

Like many potters and people who have any interest in ceramics I have watched an old film titled:

'Isaac Button - Country Potter'.

It is a film made back in the early 60's and it records some of the last working days and kiln firing

of an English Country potter.

The subject of the film, Isaac Button was a normal working potter, producing simple, low priced pots for everyday use. He certainly wasn't famous, just one of the last of his kind.

It is only after the film was made, and his pottery closed that he became famous and is now perhaps regarded as "the" Country Potter, all because of an old 'black & white', silent film which records his working life. A life that now seems so long ago.

He was an extraordinary craftsman, producing quantities and sizes of pots that seem almost unimaginable by today's standards.

But that was his life,  he was just a potter.

A potter capable of throwing hundreds of pots in a day, simple pots, pots for use, affordable pots.

Pots that could be broken without fear of having to claim on the insurance because of the financial loss,

pots of a size that would now be considered major exhibition pieces.

For instance: he could throw a 'bread crock' using 24 lbs of clay in just 70 seconds,

then without standing back to admire his work he would throw another, then another.

It was a skill born from a lifetimes work, not a natural ability but learnt from repetition.

A working man earning his living as he had been taught.

He has become something of a legend, and all because of the film.

A film that has been watched [and still is] by potters worldwide, a film made by a photographer

John Anderson.

This is where my involvement comes in.

John was one of our customers.

He used to pass the gallery window twice a day, on his way to collect groceries from the village shop.

Sometimes, he would stop and look at pots in the window, other times he would come inside and ask or talk about them, and on occasions he would make a purchase.

To me he was an interesting character who had an understanding about good pots, and he really did understand them. I remember on one occasion he was scathing about the quality of a large bowl.

A pot created by a "famous" potter, a potter who has work in international museums.

"it is dead, this isn't a good pot", were his words.

He was right, the famous name and high price didn't make it a good pot.

It was after one such visit when he had purchased a really large pot by an unknown potter

[unknown meaning he wasn't a potter that you get to hear about] that he asked could I deliver it?

He only lived a few minutes walk away so it wasn't a problem.

Delivering the pot to his home, for the first time I met his partner "Kay" and viewed his incredible collection [a lifetimes collection] of ceramics. Plus it was then I learnt that he was "the" film maker.

He had made many well known films of potters but it was the Isaac Button film that he is most remembered for.

Remembered?

Unfortunately since I came to know him he has died.

He is missed but we constantly remember him because his widow Kay is still a regular visitor.

In fact she is still adding to their collection with purchases from our gallery.

A collection that will one day be passed to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

It was on the occasion of one of her visits just before Christmas that the idea of the exhibition was born.

There was an exhibition taking place and as usual I was panicking, talking and drinking

[in no particular order].

In a corner Irene and Kay were busy chatting and laughing. Eventually I was called over and Irene said "wouldn't it be lovely to show Kay and John's collection of pots"?

From that statement a very large exhibition has grown, in fact it will be our most important exhibition to date, an exhibition which will give some meaning and purpose to what we do.

We will be showing "some" of their collection.

The pots that were created by Isaac Button, plus others that will be borrowed from around the country.

We will be showing the famous film constantly, exhibiting old photographs of the potter,

And more importantly we will be showing the ceramics by twenty of the best contemporary potters around, potters who acknowledge the importance and influence of the old film,

or potters who are still working as "Country Potters".

Potters who make a living from their craft.

I made a "wish list" of the potters that I would love to include, and to my amazement the response has been fantastic, potters really wanted to be included and involved.

We will have potters from the UK, Europe and from across the pond.

Some of them very famous, all of them real artists.

Very different potters but all of them producing connected by a common thread.

Isaac Button - Country Potter.

To some up the response I will quote the words that John Leach said when I asked would he consider being involved with the exhibition.

"I would be honoured. Without that man and that film I wouldn't make the pots I make today".

So above are a couple of pictures of Isaac, then two of today's potters,

Clive Bowan and Stephen Parry.

Making different kinds of pots but I think that it is easy to see that nothing has really changed.

These pictures followed by ceramics by Tony Clenell, Ron Gearing and Stephen.

This will be an exciting exhibition, if I survive the planning.

I will be returning to this theme many, many times before the event as there will be a lot to show and tell and I have the feeling that excitement will get the better of me.

It is unlike me to make another 'blog' entry so soon, even when I often promise to do so.

This one is because I felt that I needed to, sooner rather than later.

A"blogger" [I follow] recently wrote that he felt that due to the lack of comments that he received, he often felt that he was just writing for himself. I know exactly how he feels.

Another, I remember saying he wouldn't write about his life as his 'blog' was just intended to record his working life as a Potter.

A more recent post by another potter/ weaver/ sculptor/ craftperson, stated

"Bloggers are the Best".

Maybe they are, but perhaps not all of the readers.

So what has the above got to do with what I am writing?

Well, what I have recently found that you never know who is checking or reading your 'blog'.

The chances are that they are certainly not 'bloggers' as I have just found out.

In my last entry I mentioned that I had some reasons to be sad and this was the reason I had forgotten to mention our latest exhibition.

Yes, my thoughts were elsewhere because I did have a reason to be a little sad.

Irene my wife and best friend had learned that she had cancer, of course like everyone the very

mention of "that" word has scared the crap out of us.

As a family we are still a little numb with shock, but are coming to terms with it and now feeling

positive, we know it will just be time before she is back to normal.

So writing the last post my thoughts were "anywhere and everywhere" and I would have liked to talk about how it had affected me, writing would have helped.

The realisation of how much this woman means to me.

The understanding of what she has given up just so that I can live the life of my choosing,

and the support that she gives me I had never really considered,

until now.

But I had decided like the "potter" to keep my real life private, as we all need somewhere to retreat,

Somewhere that is private and special.

But like the first "blogger" I didn't understand who reads what you write.

The result?

Several "artists" assumed that the "sad" news meant that the gallery was in trouble.

[After all I write of nothing but the gallery].

And of course, being the sensitive people that we all understand they are

Some have been demanding their "art" back before we closed!

To say that this shocked and saddened me would be something of an understatement.

But reflecting upon events perhaps it is good,

as they say "every cloud....................................."

Now at least we know exactly who are genuine artist friends are.

As a result we can move on to a nicer future with good people.

Anyway.

We did have our opening of the new exhibition, and it was a good day,

in every respect.

It had a really large turnout of "Karen" fans and supporters, which was no surprise.

Karen, Colin her husband and their baby were here

Sales were really good

But most importantly the atmosphere was a lot of fun and we felt surrounded by friends.

Which, is of course what most of the regular customers have become.

Those that I had told of our news were "rocks" and so very genuine in their concern and support.

The good day ended with us all going home feeling happy and looking forward to the future.

So above are just a couple of Karen's incredible ceramic wildlife sculptures.

She really is clever.

I intend to get pictures of others before they have all sold, but knowing myself only too well

I will probably get "side tracked" and talk of something else.

For instance.

The three pictures at the top are the work of my latest discovery.

An incredibly talented woman, who we are exhibiting later in the year.

We "showcased" this piece at the weekend [as a tease] and the response was fantastic.

But before I talk more about her [and I really will]

I think my next post is more likely to be about an exhibition that we are holding at the end of June.

It could possibly be our biggest to date.

On a final note.

Think before you write, you may have more readers than you know of.

Not all of them genuine.

I almost forgot to tell you that we have an exhibition opening on Sunday.

There are reasons for the lapse of memory, but at the moment they are too sad for me to talk about.

But with luck some of those feelings will be alleviated for a while this weekend,

as we are holding of a solo exhibition of sculpture by one of my nicest friends,

Karen Fawcett.

Karen has built a really large following of fans here in the gallery,

so it is with excited anticipation that we will open the doors on Sunday. I collected the sculptures

from her a week ago and I can promise that they really are "something special".

Over the years we have been exhibiting her art it has been a delight to see her growing,

In reputation, as a sculptor and as an individual.

I have always promised her that "one day" she would be famous.

Of that I have never had doubts, but now that it is happening I feel jealous of the galleries that exhibit her art, I almost think I preferred it when she was "my secret". 

But to even think such a thing shames me.

As she told me a couple of days ago " your work is always put in front".

I suppose that is because we have become friends and collaborators with a common goal.

This will be a good and fun exhibition, with sculptures too good not to be real. 

When and if I have a chance I will show pictures of her stunning ceramics as they deserve to be seen.

Until then here is a peak of the invitation.

Apparently, it was a bad time of the year that I had decided to travel upon

The weather had been pretty bad, rain, snow, rain, ice, more snow and on the evening before I set off

Yet more snow.

Still it could have been worse according to the media,

"Whiteout Britain"

"Planes Grounded"

"Country in Ice Grip"

"Chaos on Motorway"

"Country on Flood Alert"

There is no doubt about it when it comes to "doom & gloom" we really lead the way, everything was predicted except "Plague of Locust," give it time it will come.

But I was committed, car was hired, rooms booked, clean socks, pants and 'wellies' were packed,

So off I set early on a Sunday morning before the world awoke [or at least my household].

I must admit once I have managed to leave a warm bed and a house full of sleeping dogs I find that there is nothing nicer than watching the sun rise on a beautiful day.

Travelling West and then South.

By the time I was driving through Somerset the day really was looking good, the morning mist rising over the lowlands while everything else was bathed in a glorious light.

It was a day that it felt good to be alive on, I felt very fortunate to be making this journey on such a day.

In fact I was happy to be making the journey, I felt that I was "slacking off work",

although I wasn't really because the trip was to collect new art for the gallery plus cement some new

relationships, which was essential for a very important and ambitious exhibition that we have planned for the middle of the year, an exhibition involving around twenty world class potters.

Even so there was still a feeling of guilt being away as there was so much to be done back at the gallery.

I stopped for the night a few miles outside of St. Ives in Cornwall.

I could have carried on and had my first visit, plus a bag of chips by the sea which would have been nice, but I just wanted to sleep.

The family hasn't had a holiday or any time off except for Christmas for over seven years, and I spend

seven days a week in the gallery, so it is trips like this that give me the chance to "switch off"

from the daily routine and as normal it makes me tired.

So I was in bed at a time when I am normally still in the gallery writing letters or doing paperwork.

Sleep, it was lovely.

The potter John Bedding was the man that I had come to visit.

So my first call of the morning was to his amazing gallery, although it should be called a museum.

He shows [for sale] probably the best collection of ceramics in the country, it certainly equals the collection in many museums.

Although I had come to admire the work by many famous potters my real purpose was to discover what beautiful pieces of his own might be tucked away somewhere, before I went off to meet with him.

I made a wish list of my choices then set of through the deserted lanes of St Ives

.

Out of season this famous artist location is a strange place, the tourist shops are closed or empty and

in reality a little of the magic is lost along with the vibrance, in fact it seems very much like anywhere

in the country with the exception of the sound of the sea in the background.

I visited John at his studio which is in the towns old gaol-yard, which forms a complex of studios that John owns and lets to other potters, all of them exceptional craftspeople, it is a magical place.

From inside that "gaol" some fantastic, original ceramics are created, but I will mention more about that in a later post when I will show some of the work by Sarah Dunstan.

I would like to talk of her, her work and my meeting with her now but as usual the time is late.

So, I did meet with John Bedding, who for me is one of the most forward thinking potters of our time. Despite not being in the best of health he "once again" captivated me with his explanations of his working methods and future plans. Some of his ideas really are ground breaking but it is not my place [although tempted] to talk of them, which is pretty good when I consider that he is slightly more ancient than me. This isn't a man who tells second hand stories of Bernard leach, he worked with him,

although he doesn't talk of this or of any of his important associations.

He is a quite talking man with lots of energy and enthusiasm, I like him a lot, and his work.

Of course, it goes without saying that he let me leave St. Ives with my choice of his pots.

So to shorten a too long a story, after a visit to the pottery that once belonged to Bernard Leach I returned to my hotel for another long nights sleep.

Next morning found me driving up to Devon where I met up with old friends and craftsmen.

I would have visited more and I had promised to call in to see Philip Leach but the day was passing too fast and I had one more important visit [for future exhibition] to make before leaving the county.

This was to meet the potter 'Harry Juniper,' a truly amazing man.

He is aged 80 but going on 16.

Visiting his pottery I was staggered by the shear amount of pots he produces, and most of them

Harvest Jugs, and what surprised me is that they are affordable.

None of the "they take so long that's why they are expensive" stuff for this old boy,

He just works and works.

His only complaint was that he "needs time, that's all I want, time".

That would be interspaced by his most frequent comment "isn't life grand?"

"Isn't it a wonderful life," "just more time"

was what he kept repeating. It was a wonderful visit.

He took me into his home. "Nobody gets to come in here," he told me.

Showed me all of the photographs of his work since he started life as a potter, aged 14, recounted stories of his life and career, and even showed me his personal collection of ceramics.

Just one piece by John Maltby.

"The only man I purchased a pot from, after all why should I buy them I make them".

After too many hours and in the dark evening I reluctantly left him, but with the promise o

 "Harvest Jugs to follow in May".

So I drove up through the remainder of Devon, across the Severn Bridge [in horizontal rain]

into Wales then north to arrive late at night outside the ancient town of Ludlow.

After a "not so long" nights sleep I travelled into the town to meet with another potter Andrew Crouch.

This is an episode I will revisit as I don't write fast and it is getting too late to be sitting in the gallery.

I must be the only shop that is still lit and with an occupant.

[if you're passing call in].

Finally, I arrived at my last destination the pottery of Mark Griffiths.

Slight problem here, Mark had gotten the date of my visit wrong and he had left for the coast of Wales.

I was determined that I was not leaving his pottery without a car full of his pots, so I drove into town got some fish and chips then returned to sit outside his door in the hope that someone would arrive home.

At long last. His son arrived home in the evening.

After I explained my predicament and my purpose he invited me in to

"Help yourself".

That's just what I did and I loved every minute of it.

In my mind I could hear Mark saying "not that one, I'm keeping that" but as he wasn't there I did what a man has to do [well if he has a gallery] and took every pot I liked.

Now "that's what I call shopping".

Two days later back in the gallery Mark called for a chat.

Everything was good, and when he told me the prices it got even better.

Believe me, anyone who comes to purchase these pots is going to get a real bargain, fantastic pots by one of UK's best potters at prices we can still afford.

I like Mark, even if he does forget things.

Like my bloody visit.

Above are a mixture of a few pieces that I returned with from John and Mark.

A friend and artist called me yesterday and made the comment

"I see you haven't been keeping your blog, why's that".

I have certainly wanted to, and the fact that I have been reading the various blogs of many people

is why I wanted to.

It seems that almost every artist has a different opinion of why they have done good or bad during the Christmas season.

"I'm putting my prices up", "I'm bringing my prices down", " I'm making more," "I'm making less",

"my hourly rate is....", etc, etc, etc.

Of course some where saying nothing at all, which means that they were doing fantastic or where afraid

to confess that they were doing bad.

After all most people only use "social media" as an advertisement.

Don't we?

Or more to the point, as a very well known potter and blogger told me last summer 

"it would be good to be able to post a blog and tell the real truth".

The truth never hurts anyone does it?

So rather than annoy anyone or respond to lots of silly statements I decided to not write at all until

I was in the mood to reflect upon what the season is supposed to be about.

Good will.

Whatever,

Christmas here was pretty much the same as ever in terms of sales.

Being a gallery and selling things that are a little expensive the Christmas buying 'presents' frenzy doesn't really affect us.

One things for sure I certainly don't intend to start stocking "craft gifts" in the hope of increasing the number of people coming into the gallery,

that's not what it is about as far as I'm concerned.

We sell what we sell, and we stock what we love, and that holds true for each month of the year

including December.

But I would be telling lies if I didn't confess that we do hope to get some 'special' items,

using Christmas as the 'umbrella' to entice some artists.

We did, and for December the gallery looked lovely,

I would go as far to say festive looking.

For different reasons, geographical or commitment some artists were unable to get new work to us

until late in the month.

That has been more of a bonus than a minus as it is giving us the chance to show

some special pieces to the public at the start of the New Year.

The notable late arrivees were 'Dave Wood' the paper sculptor and 'Maureen Minchin' the potter.

The incredible art by Dave should have arrived in November, but taking into account that it

has come from Australia and that customs "sat on it" for a while it is almost a miracle

that it made it here before the end of the old year.

Unfortunately I only managed to have one piece framed in time to display on Christmas Eve.

But that is not a problem as it is good to have such unusual work on display for the

New Year window.

There is still another even more incredible [yes it's true] piece to be framed, so that is something to look forward to and I will show it when it is ready.

His work really is so clever, well crafted and very beautiful,

even without the sculpture the words of his beautiful calligraphy are very moving,

dare I say romantic?

I'm really pleased and proud to be the first UK gallery showing his work,

I know that there will be many others to follow but it is a lovely feeling to be the first, at the moment

he is ours.

The other very late arrival was our dear friend Maureen.

Although she lives ten hours drive away the distance wasn't the problem, she is just so busy.

In fact I would imagine that she is one of the few potters in this country that doesn't even know that we are in a recession.

Of course I know that comment will have many saying "no, look at me I'm doing fantastic".

So I will correct that by saying "in my opinion".

Her work is so time consuming it is a wonder that she produces the amount that she does, but then

she is not an artist that calculates her hourly rate.

Like any true artist she does what she does and it is never released until she is content,

regardless of the time involved or the payment she will receive.

Her work is her life and it reflects where she lives and who she is.

For such a small woman she is a great big hero of mine.

The fact that her pots arrived just before Christmas was of course no problem, but unfortunately we will not be showing them in the New Year as they disappeared almost as soon as they arrived.

Her work is almost as elusive as the little lady herself.

The atmosphere and art in the gallery looked so lovely over the Christmas period

it was with reluctance that I changed everything around

and removed the decorations [real Holly & Ivy] from the window.

It was only a last moments thought that made me dash outside with the camera on the last night

of Christmas.

As we all know, it is bad luck to leave it any longer.

Superstitious? Me?

Never.

Have a Good Year.

 Most of the time I enjoy visiting different artists, it gives me the opportunity to choose the pieces of work that I feel are most suited to our gallery, but more importantly it gives me a little

insight into the world of that maker / creator.

It enables me to have a greater understanding of why they create what they do,

plus also on many occasions I get to see their source of inspiration.

I feel very fortunate to have these opportunities and it really helps when talking with prospective 

purchasers who have not been as fortunate, but who still desire to have first hand knowledge

of the artist.

 So my many trips around the country are usually something that I enjoy, plus the solitude

of a long drive gives me the opportunity to think through problems.

Believe me there are many when running a gallery.

My journeys take me to many places around our island and as a result I have come to regard many places as "home", or at least I feel comfortable in that region, town or even hotel.

But there are occasional exceptions.

 About three weeks ago I experienced one of these.

I wanted to visit various sculptors who happened to be showing together in Herefordshire,

it was a good idea to visit as I could reduce three trips down to one.

Unfortunately, but as usual for me I left all of my travel arrangements until the evening before I left.

Never again, this time I have learnt my lesson and I will try never, ever to repeat it.

I booked a room at a hotel in the town Leominster which was the closest location that I could find to my destination as I had left it so late.

The pictures on the "hotel" web site looked pretty good, and I admit that I did pat myself on the back and thought "well done John, you know how to find them".

Trouble was when I arrived on a cold foggy night at 10.00pm I couldn't find the hotel.

I have come to really trust my 'satnav' but this time it let me down

as it brought me to an 'Indian takeaway' restaurant which was situated next to a very "sleazy" pub.

I parked the car and wandered the streets trying to find the hotel,

I confess I didn't wander far as the area that I was situated in seemed "slightly" dangerous,

it felt like there was violence [and a kebab shop] at every corner so I decided to take 'satnav'

on trust and walked back to the 'takeaway'.

There I explained that I was looking for a certain hotel [no names mentioned].

I was told by two people that there was no such place, then a young woman of ethnic origin called out "yes, yes sir this is us".

Oh shit.

It turns out that the website photographs were images of various hotels,

none of them being the "doss" hole that I was to stay in.

 I have never slept above an Indian takeaway before and please God I never stay above this one again.

This was "the" most frightening night of my life.

I was given a key and directed up many stairways and corridors which brought me to a plywood door.

Inside was my "apartment".

I have no pictures to show as I left my camera, cloths and everything dear to me in the car

as I didn't want anything tainted by this place.

Filthy, frightening and vile would be the nicest thing that I can say about this room.

The windows were broken and covered with tape, the bed was stained

[I don't even want to think with what]

and the "bathroom" had blood splashed up the wall.

Why did I stay you may ask?

I don't know myself, but it was too late at night to find an alternative, I should have slept in the car

I now know, so I can only plead stupidity.

The door had no lock so I wedged a chair against it and lay on the bed fully clothed,

then prayed for sleep.

Of course I survived as I am here to tell the abbreviated story.

But never again, in future I will plan ahead [at least a day] and I hope that a night like that 

never happens to me [or you] again.

Was it worth it?

Some of it was some of it wasn't.

Above are a few of the reasons that made it so [there are others but I lack the pictures].

The porcelain work by Tony Laverick really is sensational, it really is translucent,

when a light shines inside it just glows.

He really is an excellent craftsman, plus one of the nicest, honest gentleman I have dealings with, 

I would like him even if I didn't love his "wafer" thin porcelain.

The smoke fired ceramics by Christine Gittins were also a good reason for the journey.

But of course not all good work requires a "night from Hell".

Jan Mayle [a very old friend] brings her ceramic figures here to the gallery for me to choose from.

This year she has excelled with her gentle [old looking] winter pieces.

Just what was needed for our ice cold December.

There have been other visits, some good some not,

I might tell you, might not,

but at least with them I was able to sleep in a bed not on it.

I must go now, for some reason I have the urge to have a bath.

Oh! The things I do for art.

I don't think that I ever got around to mentioning that our Christmas Exhibition has opened,

in fact it has been running for a couple of weeks, which may seem a little early

but we find that each year the serious buyers tend to come in early and it is only people

[mainly husbands] that have come to purchase that piece which their partners have been hinting

about for a long time that visit us late in the month.

Even then they don't usually purchase what they have been sent to buy,

instead the choose for themselves hoping that it isn't noticed.

One year we had a man arrive on Christmas Eve who had been sent to purchase a sculpture of a Peacock for his wife.

She had visited several times to look at the sculpture and she even told me

"I am having that for Christmas".

Instead she received a sculpture [it was good] of an Owl that her husband wanted and just knew

"she will love it".

She must have as she never came in to exchange it as I expected.

It must have been true love, either that or she hit him with it. 

Anyway, I have neglected to write about what I have been collecting and receiving over the past few weeks. I know it seems a little late to mention things now but if I don't it will

be another year and I will be concerned about other events.

Actually, it's not too late as we still have various pieces of art on their way to us, some from Australia

which I hope to show if they arrive safely and in time.

So here is just a brief mention of the pieces we have which are shown here.

The first two paintings have been long in the waiting and the creating,

as a result I wanted them even more and almost gave up on ever actually seeing them.

The artist Timothy Walton is a very busy man

and an artist of many skills, apart from being a painter he is also a master of visual effects 

for the cinema.

I doubt that any of us have not witnessed some of his work without ever knowing it.

He has worked on many famous motion pictures, such as:

Ghandi, The Killing Fields, Superman, The Mission, Stardust, Batman..........

the list goes on.

Most recently and for most of this year he has been working on

Les Miserables.

It was while he was working on this that he contacted me asking

"would I consider showing his paintings"?

"Would I"?

Yes please, I absolutely loved what he had to show me, he really is a talented man.

The paintings that I have just collected were born from his work on "Les Mis".

He worked on the creation of over 240 sky's for the film,

so remember when you go to see it at the cinema and your breath is taken away by a beautiful sunset

you now know who created that scene.

He explained that as he was working on the film he wondered if he could capture the same

feeling and atmosphere in his paintings.

As you can see he has.

Not only are the stunning and full of emotion, they also look so very old,

I was thrilled to find that when I collected them they had a crackle glazed surface,

they made me feel that I was handling something very old.

Now he has a little time to himself he has promised to create another two or three.

I know that I will write more about Tim and his art in the months to come.

Another piece of work that I have longed to exhibit is the wood carved Hare by Chris Hindley.

I first came across this piece a few months ago and was disappointed

to learn that it had been promised to a very famous London gallery for an exhibition

to be held in January.

But like a "dog with a bone" I wouldn't let it go and I am thrilled to say that my persistence

eventually made Chris give in and send it to me.

You can see why I wanted it.

It is beautiful, gentle and so very childlike.

For me it is a 'Kit Williams' painting brought to life. It is one of the nicest sculptures we have shown.

The last two pictures are of prints by George Underwood.

I know that I have gone on about him a lot recently but I just had to share these with you.

Like all of the art that I love they tell a story,

I'm not sure what the story is and I'm sure my interpretation of them would be different to his,

and maybe yours, but that is the pleasure of them,

they make you think, imagine and dream.

I will attempt to conclude the story from the last post, although this will be a very shortened version.

Firstly because I have attempted to write it four times and have been unsuccessful because

'Blogger' has changed since I last posted and I now have great difficulty placing images.

Secondly, because Irene tells me that every time I tell this story she can see people falling asleep.

I don't care I like the story, but I promise to keep it short.

So, above you can see the different work by three very talented artist's,

George Underwood, Terry Pastor and David Bowie.

Three artists sharing a common link.

As I mentioned before George grew up and went to school with David Bowie, in fact it is because of an incident in their schooldays that Bowie [I don't know him well enough to call him David]

has an unusual appearance.

Two different coloured eyes, have you ever noticed that? Most people have.

At the age of fourteen they fought over a girl, well they didn't really fight,

George just punched Bowie in the face, something to do with a few "fibs" being told and the girl being

lured away from George. I can understand him being upset, especially as he asked her for a 'date' first.

The full story can be found online, with accounts from them both, I won't bother to give you my account as I am sure to add a few little pieces of my own just to make it even more interesting.

So, there is David Bowie on the floor with a hand over his eye, all for the love of a girl.

The result was eight months off school, two operations and different coloured eyes.

You might think that this ended the friendship, but no it continues to this day.

George went onto become the artist I admire and Bowie the musical legend we all know of.

Their friendship and combined talents brought them together much later in life when Bowie

recorded the album Hunky Dory.

Lets face it if you want a good piece of artwork you might as well ask an artist you know, admire

and trust to produce it.

We are talking something like 1973, a time when George was sharing a studio with an artist named

Terry Pastor.

Terry was something of [and still is] a master craftsman with an airbrush, a tool that was needed to

produce this unusual yet simple album cover.

George explained to him that his mate David needed some artwork done and asked Terry would he do

the airbrushing that was needed?

The album produced hits such as 'Changes', 'Life on Mars' and 'Oh!  You Pretty Things.'

So it would be safe to say that it was a bit of a success.

Bowie followed this with 'Ziggy Stardust'.

He had liked the previous artwork so much he went back to see his friend and his partner and

requested some of the same magic be used again.

The result?

Well, I think we all know that.

The album made David Bowie a world star and the album cover is hailed as being the second most iconic cover ever produced. The Beatles 'Abbey Road' being the first.

In recent years the cover has made Terry something of a celebrity, it has even been used as a Royal Mail stamp. It seems that hardly a week passes without Terry appearing on radio, television or

in a magazine.

The amazing thing is that he is now my friend, plus a neighbour.

Once or twice every week he calls in to have a chat, and although I know him I still can't resist asking

for stories about the 'old days' when we were all young and life was innocent and fun.

Terry has produced a special limited edition set of [just 10] prints using an

'out take' of the Hunky Dory cover. We always have one of these plus much of his other work on show in the gallery. 

We also now have a copy of the painting that George produced of the original cover.

This was painted as a gift for David but became lost for nearly 37 years until George discovered it

recently, while he was clearing his garage.

It went on sale a few weeks ago in London, priced at £16,000,

But our version is a little bit more affordable and is one of the first prints produced.

How strange it all seems to me.

What would I have thought all those years ago when I was in my 'den' listening to my latest

purchase [Hunky Dory] with my girlfriend [Irene] if someone had said:

"One day when you are much, much older, you and your wife Irene will have a gallery and you

will be showing this album cover on the wall".

Life can be hard and a little bit funny but sometimes it can be fun and brings surprises.

The wonderful picture by George is called 'The Three Muses Return'

[actually they have gone again as I have just sold it].

Terry's new version of the old album cover is of course called.

"Oh! You Pretty Things".

I have a feeling that this will have to become a two part post as different things that are happening in the gallery all blend, and together they make for an interesting story.

I think it's called serendipity.

But I do intend to write about lots of things but it never seems to happen, so let's see.

The picture above will form a little piece of our Christmas exhibition.

It was painted by the artist that I mentioned before.

George Underwood

It is a painting that I absolutely love, it ticks all of the right boxes in my imagination, desires and loves.

Oh! How I would love to own that picture, unfortunately someone else does but the image will still be

here for sale in a couple of weeks, well that is the plan.

As usual I seem to be fully occupied preparing for another exhibition,

which at times seems to be my full time job.

As soon as one is finished I seem to be behind on preparations for the next, but I suppose with the next

one I should have no excuses, after all Chistmas happens every year.

So the last week has seen me busy trying to prepare a full page advertisement for the coming show.

Having been involved in advertising for most of my life I now feel very cynical about it, in fact I am

sure that it is on the whole pretty ineffective, but it is certainly a quick way to get rid of any money

For me the only adverts that work are the simple bold ones with strong images, the sort of thing that makes you pause as you are turning the page of a magazine.

So by choice I would just show a picture and no text.

Idiot that I am, even I understand that might be a bad idea, so I just go for minimal text.

So with great anticipation I was looking forward to the pictures of the paintings from George,

I just knew that he would have something I could use, and of course he did.

He sent me many pictures, all of them beautiful, but.

There was one painting I was in love with and which I felt had a seasonal feeling about it, but understanding that we would have nothing of this to show I prepared another advert after

spending hours deliberating over his many beautiful paintings.

I really liked my final choice and felt sure that it would have an impact, then, just as I was about to send it to the publisher the image I was besotted with arrived from the artist.

So it was back to the drawing board and four hours later our overdue Christmas advertisement was sent off, next time to be seen in a magazine.

The picture I chose is called 'Of the Lowlands', it features the angelic looking Knight.

I was so happy that my original choice was going to be printed, and then things got even better.

The next day the publisher contacted me to ask if they could use one of George's other paintings for the front cover, they attached an example of how the cover would look.

My Christmas had come early.

They were going to use 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' painting of David Bowie.

All in all not a bad result and certainly one that should attract a "little" interest.

I don't think that it is hard to understand why I am excited about this particular artist,

his paintings speak for themselves.

Unusual, beautiful and all with a story to tell [one of your choosing].

It now seems [fingers crossed] that we will have for sale a limited edition signed print, [10 only]

of my favourite painting, an edition that will be unique to Imagine Gallery.

There is still much to be done and the quality has to be vetted by the artist, so let's see.

I must admit that none of this is what I had intended to write but as you know I get easily distracted,

so maybe now the two part post will have to be a three part post, or perhaps an abbreviated version of what might have been.

The clue is the David Bowie painting.

Not only is Bowie a great collector of Georges paintings but they also went to school together.

That really is a story for another day, and perhaps not mine to tell.

But you know how I like to talk.