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| Ice (2) - Acrylic and acrylic ink on canvas board . Feb 2012. |
27 Feb 2012
18 Feb 2012
17 Feb 2012
What a week today was.
Well, I'm sitting back now, laptop warming my chilly and aching knees, wishing someone would materialise to light the fire and cook my tea. It's been a tiring day - it's amazing how much preparation goes into just a small show of work.
I'd arranged with the lovely folk at The Belgian Cafe in Eastbourne to show my work there for 4 weeks from today. All new works finished, I then had to decide how to display them - being the archetypal (or should that be stereotypical?) penniless artist and far too lacking in handy skills to make my own, I had to resort to readymade frames, which I discovered aren't easy to find if you've been stupid enough to paint on A1 size board.
Well, eventually I found 3, not quite matching, but decent mouldings and sturdy enough. Now to cleaning the glass - what on earth the frame manufacturers do to the glass I have no idea, but half a bottle of glass cleaner, 2 copies of the Sussex Express, one j-cloth and half a pound of elbow grease later, the results were bearable. Older pictures that had not been chosen for this latest show had to be unceremoniously stripped from their frames, to make way for the new. The half an hour I’d allowed had become 2.
And how to you hang your frames? Well d-rings of course which you can but at any DIY shop...... surely... no, had to get those online in a pack of 100.
So, all the big odd (really, A1 is odd?) sizes sorted, I just had one more standard 16 x 20" frame to find. Easy, I had to visit Eastbourne on 5 occasions over the last 2 weeks so that gave me plenty of time to look - no, didn't get into any shops that sold frames. I think there must have been a subliminal lack of desire to trawl around the singularly unappealing warehouse style 'sell it all' shops and have to root through all the shoddy quality tat to find something decent. Note to self, either learn how to make frames, only ever paint on box canvases, or start earning some money so I can use a framer!
But, all's well that ends well. I managed and at the 11th hour (should have been the 10th but hey, I run on Tipler time) I had everything wrapped, labelled, priced, catalogued and ready for my willing helpers to load into the car... One 'willing' helper had forgotten his heartfelt and reassuring promise and was out with his bike in Hankham, the other was sleeping off a late night delivering pizzas. Emotional blackmail got them both to the venue in time to see me locking the car after unloading all 19 paintings and associated paraphernalia ON MY OWN- but unlucky son number three, lacking his own transport (his bike was still in Hankham) and a means of escape, 'willingly' stayed to help with the hanging.
The Belgian Cafe is a lovely venue - light and airy, and they've just revamped their seating and table area so it looks very inviting as you walk in the door. My fish paintings were relatively easy to hang around one corner of the cafe over their arched mirrors, making a sort of Aquarium area, other assorted paintings fitted nicely in alcoves and recesses, but of course it is a cafe and as the morning became lunchtime customers were coming in thick and fast. Short of climbing onto a customer's lap to hammer nails into the wall above their head, I could not finish the hanging and had to admit defeat and leave 5 of my smaller pieces behind the bar to be hung later in my absence.
So, please do pop along to the cafe and have a bite to eat, or a drink, and cast your eyes over my work - there are 6 new pieces that have never before seen the (public) light of day and I am particularly proud of them. And an exhibition involves a lot more than just painting pretty pictures! My tennis elbow, aching knees, pierced fingers, grated knuckles and long suffering family will testify to that. :)
I'd arranged with the lovely folk at The Belgian Cafe in Eastbourne to show my work there for 4 weeks from today. All new works finished, I then had to decide how to display them - being the archetypal (or should that be stereotypical?) penniless artist and far too lacking in handy skills to make my own, I had to resort to readymade frames, which I discovered aren't easy to find if you've been stupid enough to paint on A1 size board.
Well, eventually I found 3, not quite matching, but decent mouldings and sturdy enough. Now to cleaning the glass - what on earth the frame manufacturers do to the glass I have no idea, but half a bottle of glass cleaner, 2 copies of the Sussex Express, one j-cloth and half a pound of elbow grease later, the results were bearable. Older pictures that had not been chosen for this latest show had to be unceremoniously stripped from their frames, to make way for the new. The half an hour I’d allowed had become 2.
And how to you hang your frames? Well d-rings of course which you can but at any DIY shop...... surely... no, had to get those online in a pack of 100.
So, all the big odd (really, A1 is odd?) sizes sorted, I just had one more standard 16 x 20" frame to find. Easy, I had to visit Eastbourne on 5 occasions over the last 2 weeks so that gave me plenty of time to look - no, didn't get into any shops that sold frames. I think there must have been a subliminal lack of desire to trawl around the singularly unappealing warehouse style 'sell it all' shops and have to root through all the shoddy quality tat to find something decent. Note to self, either learn how to make frames, only ever paint on box canvases, or start earning some money so I can use a framer!
But, all's well that ends well. I managed and at the 11th hour (should have been the 10th but hey, I run on Tipler time) I had everything wrapped, labelled, priced, catalogued and ready for my willing helpers to load into the car... One 'willing' helper had forgotten his heartfelt and reassuring promise and was out with his bike in Hankham, the other was sleeping off a late night delivering pizzas. Emotional blackmail got them both to the venue in time to see me locking the car after unloading all 19 paintings and associated paraphernalia ON MY OWN- but unlucky son number three, lacking his own transport (his bike was still in Hankham) and a means of escape, 'willingly' stayed to help with the hanging.
The Belgian Cafe is a lovely venue - light and airy, and they've just revamped their seating and table area so it looks very inviting as you walk in the door. My fish paintings were relatively easy to hang around one corner of the cafe over their arched mirrors, making a sort of Aquarium area, other assorted paintings fitted nicely in alcoves and recesses, but of course it is a cafe and as the morning became lunchtime customers were coming in thick and fast. Short of climbing onto a customer's lap to hammer nails into the wall above their head, I could not finish the hanging and had to admit defeat and leave 5 of my smaller pieces behind the bar to be hung later in my absence.
So, please do pop along to the cafe and have a bite to eat, or a drink, and cast your eyes over my work - there are 6 new pieces that have never before seen the (public) light of day and I am particularly proud of them. And an exhibition involves a lot more than just painting pretty pictures! My tennis elbow, aching knees, pierced fingers, grated knuckles and long suffering family will testify to that. :)
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