This one is for me, place to muse, share ideas and interesting images.
Its a big job getting an art trail set up in your home but after an exhausting week getting ready I did it but at opening I was still running round like chicken with its head cut off. Inspire a a gale and lashing rain the first days great especially as I sold a big painting right at the start of the day.
I’m busy getting ready for this and after taking part in two trails last year I swore I would not do it again as there is so muck work involved but here I am supporting my local community. Sadly my year has been artistically barren as I have been having treatment for Macular degeneration and during the winter with energy prices so high I could’t heat my studio. I have a couple of new works and a lot of older ones inspite of the record sales last year. My venue is Number 18
Today is the fist day of the Bognor Coastal Art Trail and I have been up early getting ready. Almost there!
It can’t be too difficult to hang a few pictures up I hear you say, or at least I imagine it. Nothing could be further from the truth! 2018 was the last time I was able to take part in this event and I am painfully aware that I am not as young as I used to be. There are pictures to be unpacked, edges to be painted on new works and hanging fittings put on, browsers to be mined out from the depth of the garage and filled up. Price list up dated, cards priced, and on top of everything else the house to be cleaned. Emerging from the burrow of lockdowns and coming blinking into the daylight one is suddenly aware of all those jobs left undone over the last couple of years, As well as all this there is the endless job of feeding us, mowing the lawn and tidying the garden and studio ready for visitors. The trail starts on Sat. 30th and is on for the first two weekends in May including bank holiday Monday. Wish me luck!
My daughter has a tattoo studio called Love The Rock Studio with a small gallery on the ground floor. She organised an exhibition entitled “The Heart” of it”. A plaster heart was sent out to all entrants with a return label and a brief to decorate or alter it in any way they chose and return it to the gallery. The resulting exhibition is a wonderful kaleidoscope of talent and here are some examples. the exhibition can be viewed in its entirety at instagram.com/sltr_the_heart_of_it/(opens in a new tab)
‘Sometimes I sits and thinks but sometimes i just sits’ to quote the converstaion of two old gents sitting on a park bench. That is very apt for me today as I am recovering from having 70 visitors coming to my house to view my paintings and studio over the bank holiday weekend.
I think I will do quite a lot just sitting in the sun today though I may mow the lawn before it becomes a hayfield.
Living in a quiet end of the road place by the sea has its advantages most of the time but at Art Trail time it can be a disadvantage. I confess I get a bit envious of those living in the buzzing city of near by Chichester where there is a lot going on and many close venues to choose from but then I remember how lovely it was this morning to sit out on our new front garden having breakfast and feel the soft (today) breeze from the sea and I feel a lot better. Folk obviously don’t know what they are missing and there is a pub next door with lots of outside tables. But Hey, serendipity I shall enjoy sitting out in the glorious sunshine, a rare event on a Bank Holiday weekend.
This morning the sun was out but there was a frost, is it really May?. After yesterday’s continuous rain its a great day to get on with all those small but necessary tasks like making sure all pictures have D rings on the back for hanging, then there is painting the sides of new canvases not to metion finishing off tasks in the garden.Tomorrow I tackle my studio?
I must tackle my messy studio!!
Time to get ready for the 2018 Chichester Art Trail. Its not until Saturday but anyone who has never taken part will not know how much there is to do. I just realised that although i have some nice new square cards I don’t have sleeves for them. No need to get wet, a quick trip to the Amazon has sorted that though hope they come in time!
Its that time of year when everything needs doing – the lawn needs attention, the plants need feeding the garden needs tidying not to mention the house which is looking a bit dog eared after a really interesting winter weatherwise! In addition we have planted a new front garden and the plants need TLC. Add to this mix an impending Art Trail and things are about to get really hectic. Hey ho!
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