Friday 25 April 2014

A Preliminary Precaution

I am so glad that I offered one of my preliminary studies to Joe before the exhibition started, as by the end of the show I had sold all seventeen little canvases! Joe, who had bullied me into having the exhibition in the first place, chose 'Airlines' and it is now displayed in his hallway in what he calls 'Coney Corner'. This also has one, of only two weavings I ever made and a screenprint from my distant college days.
The most popular studies in the exhibition came from my preparations for the painting
 'If The Boats Come In' and I could have sold them twice over. Obviously boats are very saleable and I could  have sold one to the captain of the QE2 (I know his wife) if there had been more.
The exhibition closed last Monday with the last two studies being sold in the afternoon.
2,000 visitors were recorded has having attended the exhibition over the five weeks, so not a bad effort.

Wednesday 16 April 2014

The Contract

Before my exhibition began at the Babylon Gallery, I had to sign a contract. This stated that ADEC would take all the admission fees for my lecture On The Edge', unless under twenty people came, when they would be entitled to 20% of the money from the sale of my preliminary sketches, postcards and tour guides instead.
Luckily about 25 people came to my talk in the gallery last Sunday (only three tickets had been sold beforehand so I was getting nervous) so it looks as though I will be able to keep all the sales.
The good news is that I have sold all my preliminary sketches but two, and there are still a few days to go.
The last day of the exhibition 'Ted Coney: A Retrospective' is Easter Monday, when I shall be in the gallery as a volunteer. Hope to see you there, if you are one of the few people who haven't made it yet.

Friday 11 April 2014

Lost!

I set off on my bicycle the other day to go to Isleham and got lost. I even ventured into deepest Suffolk at some point. Luckily, I had a pork pie with me for lunch and it was a lovely day but it did take along time to get there. I  hailed a farmers wife at some point and she and her husband were very helpful and  drew me a new map (I realised later I had been reading Hazel's map, upside down). They even invited me in for refreshments so I must have looked tired, but I politely declined as I was already late for my appointment.
I was going to see Nigel, who manages the sale of my prints, to help him edit the advert he has made about  me, which will hopefully help sell more work.
Nigel has  put the piece on YouTube now and I did manage to find it  eventually, but it is rather lost among the other  hundreds of  films and clips.
If you key in UKPHOTOGALLERY and go to page 16 you may discover it.
Alternatively, you can go to my website and you 'll find a link to it at the bottom of the PRINTS FOR SALE page. It's a bit easier.

Friday 4 April 2014

A Slightly Creepy Feel

I can report, unashamedly, that my Private View was a triumph. 310 people were recorded as attending the event to celebrate my 70th birthday and the Babylon Gallery was packed with guests queuing to come in. What more could I ask for, with 25 of my family attending and lots of old friends turning up, unexpectedly.
I did notice however, when going through my visitors book, the next day, that one mystery guest (with a name I didn't recognise) had written that she felt the work had 'A slightly creepy feel'
With over 1,000 visitors so far, I have to accept that you can't please everyone.
You can see some of the photos of the private view on the Ted Coney's Family Portraits page on Facebook, which you can access from any page of my website.