A Day in the Life

Two days ago I looked at the 'Twitter' page of an artist that I know.

Of course being Twitter I didn't expect to read much but what as of interest to me were 

the photographs that she had attached with it.

They weren't that good and hadn't really been thought about or composed with any seriousness,

There was her in a bookshop, her on a tube train holding flowers, a detail of the flowers.

Everyday photographs

Nothing of any great interest but combined they told the story of her day.

It made me think that this is something that I don't do.

There are times when perhaps I have made a journey or done something different to the norm

I may perhaps write a little more, but basically I never tell about a normal day.

So today I am going to try and give an idea of what my normal day is like,

The good thing is I'm not going to write about it, I will just try with photographs

to tell the story of an average day at the gallery.

Showing "snapshot" images of the things I see on a daily basis.

Starting as enter the village of Long Melford and arrive at the gallery

Followed by various artworks and objects I saw while wandering around this morning.

 

After finishing the previous post I remembered that there were other paintings that I had

intended to include.

That's a pity it's too late now, I thought.

But rather than wait another couple of months before I was ready to write again I have decided to show them to you while they are still fresh to me and before I had time to forget them again,

even if this means writing even less than usual.

 

Kate Leiper

Is the artist who created the first three paintings shown.

Her paintings are a delight and all have such a strong narrative,

It is little wonder that she is an illustrator of books.

I have always loved her art and it feels great to have something new here to exhibit.

The next artist is someone I have known for sometime now.

Tim Walton

He is an artist whose work many people have seen but without being aware of it

as he has worked extensively in the world of films.

Special affects and backgrounds created by him have appeared in many "blockbuster" movies.

At the time I first met him he was busy creating "skyscapes" for the film version of the musical

'Les Miserables'.

When not working for cinema he returns to his first love of painting.

Tim's landscape paintings are full of drama and have an "old master" feel about them.

To fully appreciate them they  have to be touched as well as seen as he uses different mediums mixed with the paints to give them a texture which helps add to the feeling of great age

that they convey.

This time I was very fortunate as Tim agreed to let me also have his initial 'Study' paintings on paper

which were created before he embarked upon the the very large oil on canvas paintings.

Although much smaller in scale they are wonderful in their own rite.

As you can see they are also different to the finished master painting and I find it very

interesting to see

where his thought process is taking him.

 

Although it is unlikely to happen I really hope that the purchaser of these works takes both the study and the master as I think they need to be seen together to fully appreciate them,
plus it gives an appreciation of the history of the painting.

Anyway that concludes my little "catch up" on the new paintings that we have received during the past month or so, and fortunately for me I haven't had to do much writing.

However that will have to change next time as I have a lot to show and tell about another artist,

on that occasion it will take more than a few words to describe his creation process.

Before the year slips away I decided it was time to write a few words and show a few pictures.

This year Christmas at the gallery caught me unprepared, which seems an odd thing to say considering that I have had a years notice that it would be happening.

It was because of my little hospital holiday and the recouperation that followed that I was unprepared.

Although now I am pleased to say that I am back full time in the gallery I am paying the price for such a long absence.

Not so much my absence from the gallery but the fact that I missed out on many of my regular visits to see artists at their studios and the fairs at which they exhibit during the summer months.

This is still a problem as I haven't yet returned to driving but it is something that will be resolved early in the New Year.

This has been the first Christmas that we have not held a seasonal exhibition.

We intended and would have liked to have done so, but of course all artists and craftspeople like to have a little notice. But of course because of my preoccupation on my health the weeks slipped past.

By the time I was able to focus more on gallery events it was far too late to approach anyone, allowing them enough time to prepare. So this December there was no special opening with Mulled wine and minced pies.

Fortunately this did not mean that we had nothing new to exhibit as fortunately there were artists

who have been supplying various beautiful artworks to us in recent months.

So this is my chance to show a little of it.

For a long time I have been "lusting" for one particular painting and at last it is here on display.

It is the painting of the sleeping child.

I was thrilled and slightly nervous when the artist Wendy Mould arrived to deliver her paintings on her first visit to the gallery.

I have admired her work [especially that painting] for so long I had placed her on a pedestal

[in my mind].

Now I have gotten over my awe I look forward to more visits and hope that we build a long working relationship.  

It is visits like this that have all helped with my recovery, it meant my thoughts and desires were returning to normal.

[Normal for me that is]. 

Another long anticipated visit was from the artist Jeffrey Courtney.

It was perhaps two years ago that I first took delivery of a painting from Jeffrey,

It was titled 'Girl in a Gallery', the same name as the one above, in fact very much like the one above 

but with one major difference, it was huge.

Although greatly admired it was the very size that stopped the chance of a sale, many people wanted the painting and left with the dimensions but unfortunately there was no one with an area for such a large piece.

It was reluctantly returned to the artist along with my explanation for the disapointing result.

The immediate response from Jeffrey was,

"would you like me to paint a smaller version"? This is now on display in the gallery.

I have often wondered, what the painting that holds girls attention?

It must be good.

Of course the shop would never seem normal without having some paintings or prints by 

George Underwood

hanging upon the walls.

No sooner was his exhibition finished and I was pestering him for more work, so we had a visit to look forward to from George and wife Birgit to deliver a mixture of paintings and Artist Proof prints.

Here are just a few.

 These will have to suffice for a few months as we have a new solo exhibition with George planned

for October 2018.

At least I am not going to get caught out with lack of preparation towards the end of next year.

In fact I intend to start talking with artists about next Christmas some time next week.

Last but not least.

Almost like a Christmas present a new artwork from Michael Parkes arrived early in December.

DARK UNICORN.

Just in time to frame and place in the window for the festive season.

We may have missed an exhibition but it felt like Christmas to me.

Happy New Year

An Unexpected Break

This summer was not the one I had anticipated it to be, I had been hoping to take a few days off

 but instead I had a long and unexpected break, and not a good one.

In the words of John Lennon,"Life happens while we are busy making other plans".

As I explained in my previous post I had been busy preparing for our next exhibition,

it had been scheduled a long time ago and although there was still a few months to go I was becoming

increasingly excited at the prospect and there was still a lot of planning to do.

However, I didn't plan on having a major stroke.

That was something that came as an unpleasant surprise,

and as a result most of my summer was spent in a hospital.

The stroke happened on what would have been a normal day in the gallery,

but now I appreciate that I will never have another "normal" day again.

I lost the use of one side of my body.

It was told by a doctor that I had had "a life changing experience".

And that is true

I had lost the use of one side of my body,

I couldn't walk, move my arm hand or fingers, but I was very lucky I could still talk.

So for a long all that I did do is talk as I started on the long road of learning how to use my body again.

Fortunately I had a fantastic team of physiotherapist's who worked with me each day,

they taught me how to stand, to move my leg and after a month how to take a step.

With each day that passed my constant goal was to be back at the gallery for the opening of the new exhibition.

While I was away the family had become a team and they were running the gallery.

In fact I think it has now become "our" gallery instead of "my" gallery,

so perhaps some good has come from my experience.

Of course the fact that I am writing this means I am "back at work",

I am still learning to use my body again and that will take time, but I am back.

I did achieve my goal of returning for the exhibition, in fact the opening day was my first full day

back at the gallery. 

It was tiring but what a great day to be back.

It was to be our busiest most attended exhibition ever, with hundreds of people visiting during the course of the day.

The opening coincided with the 40th anniversary of Marc Bolan's death,

as a result the walls contained many of the artworks that George Underwood had created of him during his short lifetime.

Along with portraits the album covers were also exhibited.

The one shown below is from the 1976 album 'Futuristic Dragon'.

What made this of special interest is that George was able to give us a copy of the original concept sketch for the cover drawn and given to him by Marc Bolan.

This along with a drawing by David Bowie for the 'Space Oddity' album gave the exhibition a greater dimension. It really brought the art to life and explained some of the history of George's relationship with these two iconic musicians.

Of course they were not the only "stars" that he has painted and worked with, the exhibition covers

some 50 years of music history.

'George Underwood

Rock and Roll'

is the title we chose for the exhibition and that explains everything.

Below is a very small sample of the art on show.

 

Here is a picture of the artist himself, taken just after he signed the banner outside the gallery.

 In fact signing is something that George had to do for the duration of the day as it seemed that

everybody wanted to take home evidence that they had met the great man. 

Here are a few pics of the day

You might be forgiven for thinking that this is a picture of George Underwood and Marc Bolan.

In fact it is Danielz the singer with the band T. Rextasy who played a live acoustic show for us at the opening. 

After my long break I couldn't have had a better return to both the gallery and life itself.