It seems that a week has slipped through my fingers, not through inactivity I hasten to add but because I have been locked in "writing mode" trying to get the article about Jim Malone "put to bed". I think that I suffered from what is known as "writers block", or in my words "stumped".

It was so important to me [and the gallery] that my mind just froze and I was unable to write a thing, or anything worthwhile.

Still after a week and four re-writes it is done and has been sent off to

Ceramic Review magazine.

The reaction there was better than expected, they did express surprise at the personal nature of the article but have put it on the pile to be published.

So it's a case of wait and see, but I am glad that it is now behind me and that I can concentrate on the many things that have gone on the "back burner" for a week.

A couple of interesting things have happened.

Firstly I have added another exhibition to what I thought was our full calendar, this will take place in April and is titled 'ALICE', the theme is the Mad Hatters tea party.

How it all came about will wait for another post, and who exactly [some confirmed] will be showing is still a little in the pipeline, mainly because I have tried something really different and approached a group of cinema prop makers and asked if they will be involved.

It had occurred to me that some of the best sculptures made end up on the "big screen" and not in galleries, and that there are some fantastic artists out there that we never know of.

So I made an approach and have had a good response, it would seem that the prop makers are frustrated that they are never recognized. What the outcome is all going to be like is any ones guess at the moment but I am pretty sure myself that with the other artists that I have approached it will all be very exciting.

I'm excited, and as I often say "it's my party" [and if it goes wrong "I will cry if I want to"].

I will tell more about this as it evolves.

One other very exciting thing has happened for me.

I imagine that most people know of the famous sculpture at the 'Eurostar Terminal' at St Pancras station. It is of the couple embracing, it is in bronze and stands 7 metres tall and is guaranteed to stop you in your tracks.

What a lot of people don't know is that it was made by a man named Paul Day.

Paul has made a number of very important sculptures that can be found in public places,

all of them incredible.

Including his incredible "Battle of Britain" monument at Westminster.

He is just so talented I could talk for hours about him, but suffice to say I am very moved by his art, as are many others

I have long thought about approaching him but have always stopped myself at the last second,

after all we are not a London or New York gallery [he sells at both] and I had assumed that he would tell me to "get lost", but I had underestimated the artist and the man.

I did find the courage to eventually approach him and was really surprised to find that he lives in Dijon, France.

Not only does he live there but when he answers the telephone you are treated to hear his voice speaking in "en Francais" and with a beautiful accent.

This was the pleasure that I had.

As I should have expected, like all great artists he was most gracious, kind and appreciative.

So cutting a long story very short, next week I shall be meeting Paul in England to collect some beautiful sculptures that he has for us.

What more can I say, my heart sings with pleasure.

I will let you know of the meeting when it happens, meanwhile here is a glimpse of the work that has moved me so much.

I really hate to leave it so long before writing especially when I had vowed that I would make an entry every day, but life has a way of taking you in different directions when you least expect it and that is what happened.

For a long while I have had planned a trip to Cumbria to visit, photograph and interview the potter Jim Malone. This is for an article that is to be published in May , which is fantastic as we have a long planned [3 years] exhibition of his work scheduled to open on the last day of that month.

The interview was to have taken place in December but because we were too busy I was unable to take the time away from the gallery so it was put off until the first week in January, then of course we had the snow and travel was out of the question,  so we agreed to wait for a break in the weather

Last Saturday things improved and I thought "I had better do it soon before it changes again",

and as these thoughts hovered around my mind Jim called.

" The roads are clear, can you come before it changes".

Hey! This was my hero speaking to me.

That was it, quick plans were made, Rebecca my beautiful daughter took over the reins at the gallery and I was off on adventures.

I stopped over night on route at 'The Green Dragon' in north Yorkshire, a pub made famous by the waterfall at the rear called 'Hardraw Falls'.

A naked Kevin Costner washed himself beneath it in the film

'Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves''.

Mark the owner became a friend a few years ago when he called in to buy one of my photographs [something that guaranty's friendship for life].

I will have to devote an entire entry to The Green Dragon very soon, it is unlike any other public house in the country and Mark an artist and collector has fantastic things planned for his newly  built gallery, we are planning something together for next year, but more of that at a later date.

I will say that the event "The Gathering" that he holds each year is one of the things that you MUST visit before you pass on from this world.

I digress a little bit.

 

Jim as many people will know is perhaps [in my opinion definitely] the best and most famous living potter in England, he has work in every major museum and the British Museum

even has interviews with him held in their archives.

He is a man whose work I have collected for the past 30 years and who has become something of a hero to me and many others

 so you can imagine how I must have felt going and staying with him for a while.

 There are just so many stories that I have to recount I don't know where to begin.

In fact I will wait until I have written the article about him before I decide what to tell you, and then I will pass on the pieces that could never be published.

However, it was so strange to be sitting drinking wine [nine bottles] with this most successful potter and hearing of his very humble beginnings.

Living in an remote old miners cottage at the Horseshoe Pass in the  mountains of Wales, a cottage that had only two rooms, unable to afford fuel, wrapped in blankets to keep warm and many times going without food, with a wife and young daughter.

All the time believing that one day his pots would sell and that he would provide for them.

Of course, this did happen but the periods of walking with a pram from door to door asking

"would you like to buy some pots", and the memories of the galleries that rejected his work is something that has stayed with him and made its mark on his character.

To call Jim determined would be "the Mother" of all understatements.

Failure is not a word he understands.

So we have him, Englands greatest most collectible potter sitting at a table in his Cumbrian cottage drinking wine with me and saying

"I have thought of you many times over the years".

He recounts the day 30 years ago [yes I am that old] when I pushed through the crowds at his first London exhibition and told him that his work had given me so much pleasure and that I ate from a plate he had made every day and couldn't wait to finish my

 meal so that I could see the beauty of that plate.

I asked "could I shake his hand"?

Of course I have always remembered that day, [after all he was my hero] but it came as a shock some 27 years later when I approached him [along with every major gallery in the country] and asked "would you ever consider exhibiting with us"?

"Yes I will,

I remember we shook hands some time ago didn't we"?

I hadn't realised then how many galleries Jim turns down, but the day I asked he consented immediately, and all because I asked to shake his hand all those years ago.

Two nights ago he shocked me by saying that he had thought of that meeting so many times and had often wondered what had become of me,

"and then one day I found you again".

" I want to know you. Lets be friends", he said and put out his hand to shake mine.

The pictures are of the Yorkshire Dales as I left the "Green Dragon", some of Jim's drawings

of the pots he is making and then just a hint of a pot that will be in his exhibition.

If you can make the opening then I urge you to come, you will never again see a collection of pots like it, and you may be able to shake Jim's hand.

That may not be important, but it changed my life and this exhibition will be the fulfillment of a dream.

After a period of inactivity a lot has happened in a short time and I find myself thinking "what shall I write about"? I'm a bit spoilt for choice but I did promise someone last night " I will write about this", so I suppose I had better.

Perhaps like many people many people including Johnny Depp [just a bit of name dropping in case he has decided to read this in between takes] one of my favourite films of all time is

' Withnail & I ', one of the best English films made, especially in the way that it shows English sense of humour.

Last year I had the opportunity to make a pilgrimage the main location ' Uncle Monty's Cottage in the Lake District, it had just been sold at auction and despite bidding from the likes of Kate Moss it had sold to a local publican who vowed to restore it to its "former glory", so that sad people like me could visit it and see it as it was at the time of filming.

Translated I think that means "if you have a pile of money you can rent it for a holiday".

I was keen to see it as it was before "restoration".

Like many people before me I got out the map and using clues from the film managed to find

the cottage. Well actually that's a bit of a "fib" as I gave up and stopped at a Pub in the early morning where a young man was sweeping outside and asked if he knew where it was.

" Blimey, my boss has just bought it " he said, and then told me which way to go.

The whole visit was an experience that I shan't forget and I will devote an entry to it one day.

Well this visit came back to my mind last night when I made another unforgettable journey.

I had to collect some new paintings from our favourite artist Jackie Morris who lives a days

journey away but with the bad [snow it was nice really] weather that we have had a journey to her was too far at this time, so she had arranged for a handsome young man to bring

them most of the way for me.

For a few days I had been really keen to collect them so with the snow receding I set off last night to collect them at a location near Oxfordshire.

The paintings that I collected were a real mixture, not only of subjects but also of sizes and it took sometime to load my small [Tardis like] car.

Eventually I was packed to the ceiling and ready to return home.

As I said goodbye to Jackie's young assistant I couldn't help asking "have you ever seen a film called Withnail & I, I heard that they shot some of it here"?

"Oh yes, the famous tea room scene".

"That's it, do you know where it is"?

"It's 500 yards down the road, if you want to see it I will take you there".

So slipping and sliding in the snow Robin [young man] and I made our way to what what I would describe as a village square, although that isn't what it is.

The snow covered square was illuminated by Victorian style lamps and with romance in my mind I found it easy to imagine the Lake District village square depicted in the film.

In the corner of the square was the 'Tea Rooms'.

Now the building is just a chemist but all I could see was "the" Tea Rooms.

We walked over to the building.

I looked through those famous windows and I caressed that old door, looking inside I couldn't see the racks of lotions, pills and perfume all I could see was Withnail sitting there.

I swear I heard [or maybe it was just an echo].

" We want the finest wines available to humanity".

What an experience it was for me, of course this will mean nothing to anyone unless you have seen the film, if you haven't you must.

So what a trip for me, a little piece of cinema history and some beautiful new paintings by

Jackie Morris.

 

Jackie had included some fantastic work including some of the original artworks from the

'Robin Hobb' book covers, it will take me some days to photograph them all but I will try to show them all over the next week or so.

Meanwhile here are just a couple that I have photographed.

One of them is the original painting of the drawing which I use as my journal heading.

The drawing was lovely but the painting is superb and no photograph of mine will ever do it justice and I am only showing a portion of it [one third as it is really large].

The picture that isn't Jackie's is my photograph of the Withnail cottage.

A strange thing happened this morning, I arrived at the gallery and for the first time that I can remember there were no cars parked outside. This doesn't mean that there are always customers outside waiting for me it's just that Long Melford has no parking restrictions so and cars are often left for hours while tourists visit the different sites of interest, as a result it is often hard to find a parking space especially on a nice day and unheard of to be able see the gallery clearly.

I decided that I would take advantage of this event and took some pictures of the gallery from outside, then having started and with the morning being so nice I wandered around the village to get take photographs, something I have often intended to do but never find the time for.

As is often the case I would imagine that the average day-tripper has more pictures of the area

than I will ever get around to taking.

So, I decided that I would give you a glimpse of the scenes that I see and take for granted everyday, there are many places of interest that I haven't included, such as the Alpaca Farm that I stop at each day to collect eggs [where the chickens wander around amongst the herd of Alpaca's who protect them from predators], the famous Bull Inn, the Church [the size of a cathedral], the incredible Elizabethan 'Kentwell Hall', and of course the six 'pubs', perhaps on another nice day I may photograph some of these [not just the pubs].

As the photographs show the village is very long [in fact a mile] hence the name Long Melford and it was once very famous for its antique shops, there used to be 30 of them, in fact many years ago it was the setting for the famous TV series 'Lovejoy', now most of the antique shops have turned into galleries [including ours] but the man who many claim to be the inspiration for the Lovejoy character is still here, running one of the remaining shops.

In fact he once suggested to me that we should merge, and show our art displayed on and amongst his antiques, we never followed through with the idea but who knows "maybe one day".

The pictures show [apart from the gallery] the National Trust owned Melford Hall, a view of the famous green as you approach the village and the start of the street as you enter the village proper.

I say "famous green" because it was made famous by John Lennon who danced with Yoko upon it [and made a video of the event] just after the Beatles had split up.

They stayed in the Bull Inn which is about 50 metres from us, and who knows maybe even came into the gallery to look at antiques [I'm the only antique here now].

I didn't know any of this until one winter evening about 2 years ago.

I was here late with the lights on working on the computer when a couple banged on the window and waived to me. I opened the door to see what they wanted.

They "had to see inside" they said because of the 'John Lennon' connection. I didn't know what they were talking about and asked them to explain.

They were travelling through but had stopped to call in at The Bull to see if they could look at the guest book. They new of and had seen the Lennon video and wanted to find out if he had

"signed in" like any normal guest.

He had, they were really excited and photographed the book, then on leaving they spotted the gallery which at that time just had IMAGINE above the door [I added gallery at a later date].

They "just knew" that there must be a connection and wanted to know if we had named it in honour of the man, I was sorry to disappoint them but was pleased to here about the dancing on the green.

I have never looked at it in the same way ever since, however I don't suppose they danced on such a cold day or as early as the scene in my photograph.

Can you Imagine.

A New Year

The New Year has started and I can't help wondering what it will have in store for us.

I often look around at the different work and artists that we have here and find myself thinking

"this time last year I didn't know they existed, now not only do I have their art but they are an important part of my life".

Or I may think " how wonderful it is to have this new friend ", someone who a few months or a year before had just been an anonymous artist whose work I admired.

For better or worse I can't help but marvel at the way life works and the roads it leads us down.

So it was with the artist Lindsey Carr.

Now I can't even remember how I stumbled across her or what was the first picture of hers that I

looked at, which is a really strange feeling as now I couldn't imagine the gallery being complete

without a piece of her work on display.

Not that I take that for granted as I feel that Lindsey is one of the people who will suddenly

become very big [in the art world] and will be showing in far greater places than ours, she is currently exhibiting in America where she is greatly admired, in fact some of the paintings of hers that we have sold have gone abroad and I think it will be a case of her becoming an artist

who in the future UK galleries will be trying to lure back 'home' to exhibit.

It was with these thoughts in mind that I have asked Lindsey to exhibit with us early next year,

which seems strange because I haven't yet finalized this years exhibition programme, but I just have a feeling that if I hadn't asked her  [a few months ago] then I may never get another chance.

What can I tell you about Lindsey?

She has a very large following and I would imagine that most people know more than I do, but I

do know that she is someone who doesn't talk about herself too much, or give much away in terms of her personal life, I have a feeling that she doesn't think that she is interesting enough.

Far from it she is fascinating, just trying to understand what motivates her and where her ideas come from is enough to occupy many hours.

So, I will tell you what she tells everyone.

"She is an artist who lives and works in Scotland." That's it, she tells very little else.

But from my own observations I will add that she is very intelligent, has a great sense of humour, and has a mind that is full of so many ideas that she has trouble finding time to bring them all to fruition, although that may change now as she has altered her life in order to spend more time creating.

She paints on wood, usually reclaimed  [why make life easy] and frames her work in old clock cases.

Oh, and she has a boyfriend, a cat, and lives in a cottage that looks out over the sea.

So now you all know as much as I do.

Here is a sample of her art.

The last picture is a sample of her work that we have used for gallery information cards.

I have enjoyed having an "enforced" break from the gallery over the Christmas period.

I do know that I spend too much time here and that it occupies my thoughts constantly

 but it was only having a couple of days away that made me realize that

I live, think, breath, and dream

about the place every minute of each day, which I enjoy, but having a break made me understand

that it maybe doesn't make me an easy person to live with as I don't become involved enough with the normal events of family life.

So it was a pleasure to find that I have a family [and pack of dogs] who enjoyed

me [and my mind] being with them for a while,

as I enjoyed being with them.

However thoughts of the gallery and the coming year were never far from my thoughts

and I think "stepping away" for a little while has helped me focus

on what I want us to do and where we should be going in the coming year.

Trying many years ago to earn a living [supporting a family] as a potter,

and understanding the difficulty of this has left me with a lasting love of ceramics and

the craftsmen [and women] who make it.

I have always wanted us to be recognized as a "ceramics" gallery, and we will until the

day we close show ceramics in all its forms as it gives us great pleasure.

But, this past year has not been great for ceramics in terms of sales, pottery it seems has

become the art that people can live without.

This to a certain extent I can understand. For so many years potters struggled to become

recognized for the artists that they are, then with the advent of the Ceramic Fairs

this slowly changed and potters became not only acknowledged as craftsmen

but also as artists,

which has been both good and bad.

I think [only my thoughts] some people working with clay found it strange to find themselves

suddenly a celebrity and as a result acted as they felt "artists" should,

and as a result lost maybe a little bit of their own integrity, and

as a result perhaps overvalued their work, although of course like everything else the value

is determined to an extent by what the public will pay for something.

I have always felt that pots are to be used and handled daily

to fully enjoy them.

Breaking a pot should be a disappointment not a financial tragedy, but now too often I am

told by people that they own a pot by a "famous" potter and it is kept

in a case or cupboard in case it gets broken.

I can't understand this, as why own something that you can't take pleasure in

on a daily basis?

So it has been a great pleasure for me to have pots by many potters which are well

made, beautifully fired and which are meant to be used daily

and if broken is only a sad loss for an object of beauty.

So thinking about the coming year different potters and their work keep coming to mind,

they are people whose work I want to stock regardless of sales.

In May we have our exhibition of Jim Malone "Cumbrian Potter" which for me is a

dream come true, but aside from him I am determined

to show other people like Stephen Parry and Mark Griffiths, two men who are not only

very good potters but also "generous to a fault" and very nice people.

I would describe them as "gentlemen".

I know that if they ever read this they would both be embarrassed and would hate it.

They are "old fashioned" craftsmen and that's why I like them

and their work.

Pots aside, I definitely want to show more and more ceramic sculpture,

I find it so exciting to think that for a modest outlay you can own a "one of a kind"

sculpture.

I have a mental list of the people whose work I want to [or continue ] show.

Artists like Herman Muys, Emma Rodgers, Eve Shepherd, Fidelma Massey as well as

lesser known [in this country] people like

Harm van der Zeeuw.

So with my thoughts organised I'm looking forward to what the New Year holds for us

[in terms of ceramics that is].

Having said all of this I have just put out on display our most unlikely and unexpected

piece of ceramic art, a teapot by the artist

Tracy Emin.

Now that's not something you see everyday, and if I dropped it then it would

be a financial loss.

Just call me a hypocrite.

I have so wanted to put pictures on over the last week, the snow has been so like Christmas.

Unfortunately it hasn't been the best thing to happen in terms of sales, never the less we have enjoyed it. Little things like taking our 3 dogs [Old English Sheepdogs] out for a walk has been an extra pleasure with the knowledge that we won't be returning home with "muddy paws", has been an added bonus, also for the first time this year the garden has looked pretty.

Apart from this Long Melford has looked "a picture", the epitome of an English village at Christmas, all we needed was Santa arriving on the green and it would have been the perfect setting for a child at Christmas.

Alas, I haven't been out with the camera, it has taken so long to get here each day I haven't had the luxury of wandering around.

Of course the problem has been that it has been hard for anyone to reach us, so over the last week

a lot of sales have been concluded via the Internet and telephone.

Never the less, it has been a very enjoyable run up to Christmas and I have seen many beautiful works of art disappear, which is a strange experience, as of course I want to sell things but at the same time I love them and miss them when they have gone.

I have many little stories and things that I want to mention, but I have still not shopped for Christmas dinner, and with only an hour to go before the country shuts down I think that I had better leave them until Monday.

So with a last minute posting this is what the window looks like before I close for the day.

We have the "Angel Hares" by Karen Fawcett, which though  childish are so very well crafted

it is impossible not to love them.

The other pieces are by Louise Richardson, the larger piece in the glass case I will show in detail after Christmas, the other is a fairy like bodice made entirely from human hair.

It has sold to a local hairdresser, with very good taste I must add.

Merry Christmas to all.

I have tried taking more pictures of the gallery at Christmas time, but without much success,

it has made me realize that I am not any good at this kind of photography

or maybe I don't like taking pictures of things that are too personal, I don't know, maybe they were just crap and I can't admit it.

This is stupid, at this rate I will be admitting that I am normal with failings like everyone else,

something that my ego wouldn't allow.

So I will show a couple of pictures that aren't too bad and which give an idea of what we are

showing, along with a picture that I adore of 'Peter Pan' which I feel that the season

allows me to show. It is a print [ yes we sell them ] by a famous artist named

Robert Gould

it is one of an edition of 50 and is about 20 years old and from what I can make out is the only

one available anywhere. I love the innocence of it, and it is one of those things that we have from time to time that " I couldn't care less " if it sold or not, it is a pleasure

to look at.

Having said that I think one of the greatest pleasures to come from having a gallery

is that every evening after I have locked the door,

[usually about two hours before I leave] I can walk around and admire all these different pieces

of art that are in my care. I can stand and stare at a painting and caress a sculpture

and have all of the pleasure that comes with owning such a piece.

Sadly none of them will ever be mine, although many times we talk about buying something

for ourselves it is always put off  "for when things are better".

I don't think such a day will exist because running a gallery is like feeding a steam engine,

you have to keep stoking the hole all the time and in our case the hole

needs money, money for all the vultures that are convinced that a small business makes

lots of money, especially when art is involved.

What does keep us going is the kindness, generosity and support of a small group of

artists and craftsmen, people like us who are trying hard to make a living 

but who believe in what we are trying to achieve and do everything to help us achieve

it, which is to show a selection of some of the most exciting, varied

and unusual art that is being produced by dedicated serious artists throughout the country.

I don't know, I seem to have got myself a little over excited there, perhaps I'm taking things too seriously, but I do strongly believe in what we are trying to do in what

after all is a rural gallery. Just because people chose to live in the countryside doesn't

mean that they don't love and desire the same works of art that are usually

found in a city.

Another thing that is really starting to help and make a difference is our

participation in the 'Own Art' scheme

which is run by the Arts Council, this is all about encouraging people who are not in a position to spend lots of money to be able to purchase art over a period of time without paying any interest charges, it is a fantastic scheme and it has been really gratifying to

hand over a piece of work to someone who had felt that such a thing was beyond their means,

but now could afford it.

Anyway,

getting off my "soapbox" for a minute I will just mention something about the above pictures.

Firstly there is 'Peter Pan'.

Followed by a shot of there rear of the gallery [today],

then two pictures of sculptures in the smaller windows, these are by Jan Mayle a sculptor

who has little idea of how good her work is and who always tells me

"you don't have to take them".

These are from her ' Travels With My Aunt Series ',

lastly is a Raven by Karen Fawcett, a sculptor who has had more than her fair share of problems recently, but who has thrown herself into her work to try and help

us out at this time of the year, more of her work will arrive this week and I will endeavour to show some of it as soon as I can along with some other beautiful pieces that will be arriving in the next couple of days.

For me it seems like Christmas has come early.

Hollis, the American potter who is bored enough to follow this blog has suggested that I show pictures of the gallery during the festive season, Jackie Morris the artist has also said that she thinks that it would be nice to see pictures of the Christmas window as it changes with the comings and goings of different art over this period.

This does sound like a good idea but I do hate showing pictures of the gallery.

I feel so defensive of it and the work in it, I love the space and the work in it and I feel it can only all be appreciated by a visit which of course is not possible for most people.

I have yet to take, or see photographs taken by others that show the place as it really is [or maybe how it is in my mind].

However, here are a couple of snaps plus detail pictures of a work that appears in them as the gallery looks today as Christmas approaches.

At the moment it seems rather strange as things are disappearing at a faster than normal rate and I find it a bit difficult to fill the gaps with work that looks right amongst the surrounding pieces.

I mustn't complain we spend so many days with people "just looking" that is nice to have the problem of knowing what to put on display.

The main window is always a worry as it is what is shown there that makes the decision for most people of should they come inside or not.

Our original Christmas window display was dominated by 'BEING' the magical dress with wings created by Louise Richardson, this would have sold many times over but it has gone to a good home, the lucky purchaser is someone famous who had their own reasons for buying such an unusual piece.

To replace this Jackie Morris has sent us one of her magnificent Hare drawings and much as I want to sell it I also know that I will miss it when it goes.

Still that's what "gallery life" is all about, for a short time having the pleasure of being able to enjoy art that you can't afford.

The first picture is by Cliff Wright the man responsible for the original Harry Potter

book covers, it is called

'Father Christmas ?'

Not many people can understand why, Cliff has told me that so far only one person has been

able to see the true meaning in the picture.

Isn't it obvious? 

I'm not sure if I enjoy the Christmas experience as far as the gallery goes, everything seems to be a constant state of flux as pieces go and are then replaced by something totally different.

Usually there is some sort of theme or feel to the place but at the moment that seems to have "gone out of the window" as I try to second guess the public and put out something that I think might appeal.

As an owner there are always certain pieces that I really love, to the extent that I don't care if they never sell which is a "little silly" to say the least as our existence depends upon people paying for, then walking out of the door with things that I love and admire.

There was a time when I was displaying art that my heart wasn't really involved with, this was because I knew that certain kinds of art would sell so I was catering for people who wanted to own things that I didn't like.

It must be obvious to most people that that was a "recipe for disaster", but at the time I couldn't see it, but I did recognize that it made me unhappy.

Those days are now long behind me and everything that we show now I am proud and happy to be showing, I like to feel that everything that we display has been made with integrity and skill.

It is hard to be able to show even a fraction of the different work that we have on display but here are a few examples of what I have pointed the camera at earlier today.

The first picture is the finished sculpture by Eve Shepherd that I have shown earlier before it was completed, something that I find really fascinating, to be able to hold in my hands a sculpture that I had seen being created.

The other sculpture is by Antonio Lopez Reche, a Minotaur, then for something totally different a clock by Nigel Graham, it is made from silver and gold and contains more precious stones including diamonds than I can remember.

The last sculpture is a head "RED" by Anonia Hockton, it is carved from limestone and is so lovely and simple, although the colouring may seem strange it is the same as the pigments used

by medieval masons on the work seen in cathedrals worldwide, it is no surprise that a lot of Antonia's work is seen in Churches throughout the UK.

I'm getting a little bit lapse at this blogging lark, it started with the intention of being a daily entry but then as it does, life got in the way, or more to the point writing about my day didn't allow me to have one.

Now I'm telling lies, I don't have any trouble with writing about my days but I do have a problem with recording them with pictures, what makes this harder is that because it is peoples work and art that I want to show images of I feel obligated to try and show their work in the best way I can,

this takes time as I am rarely happy with a picture because I think that the original work always looks better.

So day after day, come the evening I think "I can't do the 'blog' as I haven't any pictures.

Today I decided to go with what I have and then play 'catch up' from tomorrow.

Anyway, things here [on gallery land] have started to get a bit hectic, we have had new art arriving daily, which has been exciting it has made each day feel like Christmas day, then we had our Christmas opening last Sunday, an event I did intend to take pictures of but I seemed to spend too much time out the back wrapping things and not enough time out front talking

which I love to do, as a result I have nothing to show from that day.

Since I started writing this I have been interrupted to do a couple of sales which has really

re-enforced in my mind I must take pictures while we still have some of these lovely works,

which I must admit is a very nice feeling because after all everything here is intended to be sold but sometimes I do fall in love with something myself and when it sells I really feel a sense of loss, still maybe one day I will be able to afford something of my own.

Despite what a lot of artists think there isn't any money in running a gallery, just a lot of pleasure. 

So just a quick view of a "few" works that we have at the moment, from the top. Paul Harvey's

magnificent [very large] Red Kite, then some beautiful unusual ceramics by Claire Baker, followed by a rare early dish by John Maltby and lastly a sculpture called 'Bird Boy' that I find really moving by Antonio Lopez Reche.

Right, I'm off to walk the dogs in the dark and the rain, something none of us will enjoy, but tomorrow I will get the camera out.

I have been known to lie.

Christmas Posters

This isn't what I want to write about, as I have much more interesting people to talk about and

whose art I want to show, but I have these pictures to hand so it is easier to mention what I have been doing today.

Our Christmas opening is this weekend, like all exhibitions that we have there seems to be masses to do and no time to do it, this probably has something to do with the fact that I am very

disorganised and tend to get excited about many things at once and don't have time to calm down long enough to look "under my nose" and see what must be done next.

So, our invitations have gone out, advertisements printed, new work is here with more is on its way, there are journeys to undertake, displays to arrange, etc,etc, and still I haven't done a poster.

Something that Irene pointed out to me last night, of course I argued that we had time and that I was "on the case", but in truth it had been forgotten so this afternoon I tried out a few designs and made a print of each.

I find it very hard as we show such a variety of work and it is almost impossible to have a poster or invitation that will appeal to everyone.

I suppose in truth, myself I tend to want to go towards a "corny" old fashioned look, as for me that is what Christmas is all about, nostalgia, or maybe that's just an age thing.

But going for this look then wipes out the relevance of all the fantastic very contemporary work that we have and are receiving for the Christmas show and as a result I would probably lose a lot of customers who are after something modern and very different, so I have decided on about six different

posters starting with the three I have done today.

I like them all in different ways, the first features the incredible "fantasy" dress created by Louise Richardson [one of the nicest, most down to Earth and successful artists we show], it is a little like "Cinderella meets the Angel" and is truly beautiful, I just wish that a photograph did it justice.

The second picture is of an engraving by a very clever man who died in 1971, Meyer Eberhardt.

I love his work and we always try to have at least one of his pictures on display, the one in the poster is a favourite of mine.

Another favourite is the picture in the last poster, why you might ask?

Because it's one of mine.

I don't like showing my photographs as it feels like it is all about ego, and I honestly think as far as photography goes I lost mine long ago [only with photography that is] but as this one is so "Christmas'y" I thought "why not"?

It was taken in the village of Lavenham earlier this year and reminds me of Christmas as a child, or at least in the childhood of my imagination.