4th Anniversary Exhibition - Our Best Yet?

Our anniversary falls on the same night as the Teddington Christmas lights are switched on, and this, our 4th birthday, was one of the busiest and liveliest we have had to date.   We were concerned that our invitations had gone out with the wrong date (4 of us proof read the invitations and the wrong one was sent to print!) and that turn-out would be limited, but, happily,  that wasn't the case.    It may well be due to the Teddington Society's organisation this year and greater involvement from Traders in the area thanks to Teddington Business Community, both of whom are very active in promoting local small businesses.  Strength to their arm.  If you want to watch their video of Lights Up here's the link - the gallery is shown 26 seconds into the video for about 1 second! Don't blink!.

We've had several excellent exhibitions in the period since we last posted a blog - we have a passionate new Saturday curator, Steve, who started with us in September of last year.  He replaced Paul Smith, one of our regular artists who curated on Saturdays for 18 months.  Giving up every Saturday, particularly when you have a young family is quite a commitment.  Since the birth of his second child and giving up working every Saturday, he is painting again and we look forward to showing his work in the gallery.  Have a look at his work here.

This current exhibition has some fantastic works and has sold exceptionally well since opening.  It isn't surprising considering the line-up.  You can see the current artists for Outlands on our Website. 

Outlands is an exhibition that tries to look at the different ways artists view the world around them.  Bozena Kaluga's work, for example, is quite extraordinary, using woven fabrics to create imagery.  Some of my favourite pieces are the jewel like framed works with stories woven in between two pieces of glass.  She uses thread to create images that, close up, look like delicate pieces of fabric, and from a distance the story is clear and yours to interpret.  Bozena is already very established and collectable in her native Poland and this is one of the first opportunities to see and collect her work in the UK.

Kaluga's work has resonance with that of John Harrison who uses layers of foam board, to create portraits of the famous. His portraits of the Beatles are fascinatingly abstract when viewed closely, and, again, the image emerges once you step away and is unmistakeable - my favourite being Ringo Star.  Harrison is an emerging artist and his technique is relatively unique.

Works that also tell a story and are selling well are those of Orsi Cowell-Lehoczky.  The glazed paintings are about a dog that the family had, who was much loved but became jealous of the arrival of a new baby.  One of the paintings depicts his departure - he was re-homed with another family with older children - and the painting of his running into the woods is a happy ending for all concerned, missed as he is.  Two of these paintings have already sold and we are hoping to get more from Orsi.  My favourite is the small nude shown here.  This has sold to one of our favourite collectors and long may it be enjoyed.

In early February we are intending to have a reshuffle and invite new artists to show some pieces with us.  This will be needed considering how quickly artwork is leaving the walls.  We'll e-mail those on our mailing list and if you would like to be added please let us know.

We get asked how we find our artists.  Some are recommended, some are artists that we've shown before and new artists approach us all of the time.  We receive a mountain of e-mails each month and go through them when we're nearing the end of an exhibition.  The best way to approach us is by e-mail - with images and prices of available work.  With a great deal of artwork it is essential to see it in the flesh - it can look very different on a pc.  Our next exhibition is programmed for the end of March/early April.

If you haven't visited the gallery yet, it's worth popping in.  We're friendly, informal, there is always something for everyone, we make a lovely cup of coffee and we let you be so you can view the artwork in peace!  Have a look at the world through an artist's eyes.

As Van Gogh said  "I dream my painting and I paint my dream."

Summer Exhibition

It's the end of the first week of the Summer Exhibition at the gallery and I'm still trying to catch up with myself. It always is so hectic building up to the exhibition, then the hanging week, followed by a period of catching up. Luckily we've sold 6 pieces from this exhibition so far.

It is getting easier in some ways; there are patterns and templates but they are still time consuming. The mixed shows are also more difficult to hang - several crises of confidence, so about three changes before I settled on the current hanging. It's all going to change as work sells and new works go on the walls. The balance and unity of the whole thing starts to fall apart.

There were a few nightmares; the framers went to a funeral and forgot about my frames. I'd decided to frame the Ukrainian artist's work - Ruslan Korostenskij - and it was the right decision. He is a master in the making there, is no doubt in my mind. Then the window cleaner had an accident and we had to call an ambulance. The labels always take so long, but the beautiful Suchi Chidambaram helped and saved me a couple of hours of sticking them on the walls. This time, there was the added task of chopping up the strawberries, cucumbers and mint for the Pimms - it did go down very well. Kurt didn't swear so much this time - perhaps we're getting the hang of this (apologies for the pun!).

Anne Penman Sweet's fantastic paintings finally arrived. I'd been dreaming of them - particularly the ship paintings - and was sorry not to have them, but the Stephanie Hoppen Gallery sold them all. Whilst they're not quite "on message" in terms of the otherwise bright summer show, they are just wonderful. The largest is up on the high wall where it deserves to be - it does need to be viewed from a distance.

This time there are several very established "collectors' artists" - Anne Sweet, Simon Blackwood, and Ruslan Korostenskij. There are also some really fantastic works from five local artists - the most we've had in one exhibition. Linda Meeney did very well at the Chelsea Flower show and I can see why. Patricia Clements' work is just lovely and I'm delighted to have some 14 pieces in the gallery. Jill Storey is very well known locally and several of her friends have been to see the show. Emma Coleman's photographs are just beautiful - what a lovely way of seeing through a lens that she has. I've managed to avoid the cheesy photos of my kids, but I think Emma's the person to do non-cheesy ones! New to the Gallery is Anthony Hopkins - bold works reminiscent of Matisse. That's not to mention all the other works and I love every single one of them.

So now to updating the website. I usually try to launch it at the same time as the opening but it is a huge amount of work. I've started updating it and I've decided to remove the detail pages to reduce its size and the time it takes to upload. This should also mean less work the next time - this time, there is the work in copying the information for each artwork and deleting the detail pages. As we don't sell work over the Internet and it is there for client and artist reference there seems little point in having a larger more detailed photo. I know that some artwork is bought over the Internet, but until one is very familiar with the artist, I feel the work should be seen. Even then, they can produce very different work in quality, colour, depth of paintwork, medium and that's without the alterations the camera itself can make to the image.

The photos I will upload a bit later show the changes in wall hanging day to day. I'm curious as to some method to my madness. I am starting to believe that I subconsciously collate and hang the exhibition as a whole, as I know which works I actually have in the gallery. The absence of Ruslan's paintings was a real stumbling block and the whole thing came together as soon as they arrived.

During this change of show we had the added complication of having to clear the back space to allow the art classes to run - so by Wednesday night, the back space was hung, rather badly, but nonetheless. Then it took 2.5 hours to clear the room and set it up for the watercolour lesson. It was easier the next night for the life drawing.

The sculpture garden project seems to be on hold as I haven't had time to respond to Cleve's e-mail now that he's finished Chelsea and I didn't forward the brief to Carol Cordrey. I've got an outline design in mind and need to draw it up for inclusion with the brief. I have written a draft brief...... time.

Tomorrow will be my first day off in two weeks - I'd worked until 11.00pm 4 days last week (not to mention the week before), then Saturday and we were open on Sunday as part of Teddington in Flower. This was wonderful and so many new people came. Teddington Society organise this to raise money for local charities with a variety of beautiful gardens opening to let visitors in, selling plants and refreshments. I'd bought too many strawberries and at 5.00pm we started giving them away in unopened boxes! I brought some back for the neighbour's children who were delighted (as well as my own who ate strawberries all week). Must get my quantities right, but waitrose did well out of me!. In terms of cost, the strawberries and Pimms formula is definitely up there as the most expensive way to hold a private view. I loved it though and drank more than my fair share which was dangerous as I was a very jolly curator. We had got our proportions wrong (1 to 1 instead of 1 to 3) and it was very good and strong pimms!! I'd approached marks and spencers to give us a deal on strawberries, but they decided to be a bit mean. Pimms had apparently spent their budget on these sorts of things and I have a great deal of lemonade sitting in the garden! Luckily, the beer never goes to waste. I was surprised and pleased to see the deputy Mayor and his wife on the day and several local councillors.

The great news is - apart from good sales in our first week - is that the Teddington Society want to give us an Award for enhancing Teddington! I was delighted and rather moved. It really is lovely to have a pat on the back when your intentions are good and the effort required is stretching to say the least. The truth is though, I do love it. I'm very pleased to have had the opportunity and feel that its the culmination of a variety of learnings and experiences that seemed directionless at the time. The gallery pulls them together in a way I never imagined. I don't know when the ceremony will be, but Baroness Hilton is to present the plaque! Even better, it lists the gallery and architecture:wk! Twice the accolade!

One niggling thing that has been on my mind; my very nice neighbours brought a friends of theirs who runs what seems to be a college gallery in Kingston. This lady asked if I had a list of my artists, which I did have for the wall to show sold works as they change and I said so. A little later I saw her taking this and putting it in her bag!! I'm not sure why - it was rather irritating, more because I'm not clear on the intentions rather than the taking of the list.

The next change now will be in September - August will be quiet, particularly as I'm also away for half of it. I had been in conversation with a lady who wanted me to show her father's work and was planning a mixed show partly based on "length of service" in art. I'm not sure about this, and neither the lady nor her father have been in touch and I do need to plan ahead. I've also been considering a People and places exhibition. This could be very good following the holiday season and several artists I'm working with now have work from their travels. I will start the search.

I get less chance on the computer these days partly because our home one has died. We're having some IT problems at the moment, but should hopefully be mostly resolved by the end of next week.

In the meantime, catching up with architectural work - some very nice projects and very nice people - so am delighted to get back into Revit and my love/hate relationship with it.

Note to self - must buy comfortable shoes! Standing up all day is so much more tiring in high heels!

20 june - i've uploaded some images during the change of show but can't quite see how to place them where i want them on this page! so apologies for the messy presentation.