Monday 31 May 2010

Peggy - Your Life in Pictures

My dear mother, Peggy died on Friday, aged 92. She has been a great source of inspiration for my paintings over the years and I have no doubt that she will be again. From appearing in human form, albeat in saucey postcard style in ' Wish You Were Here', through two paintings were she was sympbolised as Soo (of Sooty fame), to being a corn dolly in my latest work ' Snow Angels and No Angels '. As Soo, Peggy appeared in a painting entitled ' Duet ' alongside my brother Richard as Sooty and my father, Arthur as Sweep, in a picture about moving to a new life in Skipton, after living all her life in Hull.
In the second painting, made when Peggy was 80 and I feared she would soon die, was based on the mexican 'Day of the Dead' tradition and took the form of an Offrenda (the title of the painting) or altar. Anyway, Peggy didn't die, so I always tactfully referred to it as her birthday painting in her presence. In my latest painting, Peggy appears as a corn dolly, the symbol of fertility and motherhood - a fitting tribute to a lady who devoted herself to her family, as wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Monday 24 May 2010

Is There Anybody Out There?

Last Friday, just before we left for Manchester to visit Leo (yes, I know I missed doing
Ted Coney's Family Portraits, but I did do a mid week special last week), I did a phone interview for Star Radio. It was for their business programme which goes out on Sundays. Did anyone hear it , I wonder? Ofcourse, I am aware that I am the last person to give advice on how to run a successful business but it was fun talking about what I had acieved so far.
Anyway, by going away for the weekend I proved what a bad businessman I am. On my return I picked up the most bookings by telephone and E-mail I have had so far, and I missed them all!! Best Wishes Ted

Thursday 20 May 2010

Home Sweet Home

I was asked to do an early evening tour last night for a group from India , who were making a special visit to Ely. They had started with the Cathedral, made visits to Cromwell House and Ely Museum and finished with Ted Coney's Family Portraits. Apart from the sheer mental fatigue (they were due with me at 6pm!) of keeping going all day, I was concerned, they might not 'get' what I was trying to do. However, I need not have worried because family is everything in India, so they very quickly warmed to my theme. They even presented me with a little gift at the end, so hopefully it went OK. By the way, I am the radio tomorrow, so I will let you know how it goes.
Best Wishes Ted

Monday 10 May 2010

Morris on Parade

The other weekend I took my 1931 Morris Minor to Ely's Eel Day to advertise
Ted Coney's Family Portraits. I also took my A-board and signs and had alot of people looking at the car. I'm not sure if they really understood about the link to the gallery, but anything that gets me in the public eye, must be a good thing. The fact that the car had made the front page of the Ely Standard might have helped. The sun shone and I chatted to lots of people so I had a nice day anyway. I also got to meet Mark Peters from Star Radio, so hopefully I can get myself invited onto there sometime in the future. Best Wishes Ted

Saturday 1 May 2010

Third Time Lucky!

This blog is to bring you up to-date with progress on my latest painting TEA FOR 222. I want to put a thin membrane of wax on the canvas to separate the two images. I have used Encaustic Wax before in my paintings, but always in a very textured way (see NAMESAKE and 3001). This time I want it to be very smooth, so that the underneath images show through the translucent surface. The annoying thing was that each time I tried it on a practise canvas, it just wouldn't set. Anyway, on the third go I increased the amount of wax to the amount of Damar Varnish and Stand Oil and it worked! The next trick is to try to get it really smooth on a much larger surface, but I'll keep you posted on that one. Best Wishes Ted