Stairway To Heaven

Readers of my blog will know that I am constantly trying to create more space for
Ted Coney's Family Portraits, as the collection of paintings and objects, continues to grow.
I have been thwarted in the past by building regulations in my attempt to open up our loft space as another gallery.
As we are not allowed to have an internal staircase from the first to  the second floor, I have been exploring the idea with Julie, our architect, the idea of having a 'beautiful' fire escape on the outside.
However, inspite of her ingenious plan of having an inverted dormer doorway in the modern section of the house, the whole thing was beginning to look to intrusive (complete with spiral staircase) to comply with listed buildings rules.
We are now exploring the possibility of building over the garage and studio, so she is preparing some drawings for that.
Feeling frustrated about the lack of progress on the loft, I then had another brilliant notion - so simple, I can't think why we had never thought of it before.
 But it will take another blog to tell you about it.

Myths Debunked

What if I don't like the work? Will he try and sell us something?
I hope I have managed to debunk these and other myths about Ted Coney's Family Portraits in a recent article that went to 9,000 homes in Ely. I was given the opportunity of writing something in the new ELY I magazine and I thought I would try and use it to encourage more visitors to book a tour at my pop-up gallery.
If you didn't receive a copy, you can still read my article on the NEWS AND REVIEWS page of my website. Scroll down to Reviews and Articles and it's top of the list of stories at the moment. Once you've clicked on it, turn to page 9. 

Tour de Ely

To celebrate the  Tour de France, I took my bike to Aquafest last Sunday and parked it near the river. As it displays one of my Ted Coney's Family Portraits posters, it's  another way of advertising the gallery.
 I was quite near the Ely Cycling Club display and I think they were impressed (or thought I was a mad, old fool) when I told them about my epic 800 mile cycle ride on my 1940 bike to Scotland, ten years ago. You can see the painting 'Diamond Sutra' I made as a result of the trip, if you scroll down to April 2010 in the Reviews and Articles section on the NEWS AND REVIEWS page of my website. If you want to see me on the bike, scroll down even further to June 2004.
On Tuesday I went into Cambridge to get the bike serviced and cycled part of the route that the Tour de France had done on the previous day. I saw the stands but the crowds had gone.

Upside Down and Out of Focus

Have been working on my latest painting 'The Rashomon Effect', recently. I think I've got most areas working now except for the view into the bedroom by my grandmothers ex- fiancée. I have added to the area inside the magnifying glass several times but have finally  painted it all out. I wanted it to appear out of focus as seen by an unsteady eye, but it just looks a mess!
When I made studies with the magnifying glass from a distance during my research, I discovered that the image appears upside down and smaller than the area around it.
I want to use this effect in the painting, to show that the old man's view of the room will be disorientated, yet still focusing on the bed.
You can see my effects so far, on the NEWS AND REVIEWS page of my website. I'll keep persevering.