Friday 27 November 2015

In The Footsteps Of

Well, I 've finally done it. I've sent off an application form to Ferens Art Gallery in Hull, to apply to have an exhibition there, sometime in the future.
I wrote to a few public galleries after my exhibition in the Babylon Gallery and the Ferens eventually contacted me, to submit a proposal.
Daniel had been helping me for a while, to get together a portfolio for prospective galleries to see, and this seemed a good opportunity to try it out. My portfolio consists of some of my paintings, plus the film made for the Virtual Tour and some photos of the Babylon exhibition.
Why Hull? Well it's about to be put on the map as the 'City of Culture 2017' and I did spend the first 27 years of my life there.
Also, an ancestor of ours, Tom Kirk has three paintings in the Ferens permanent collection.

Friday 20 November 2015

Brides Of Choice

Max  has just let us know of their wedding plans and we are thrilled for them.
How different from the time up to the second world war, when young women didn't have much choice in the matter, especially if they were pregnant.
I'm currently making drawings of three brides for my next painting 'Bicycle Thieves' to represent my mother and two of her cousins, who all had to get married because they had conceived babies out of wedlock.
They all stayed with their husbands  but I guess my painting begins to ask the question, would they have married, if the convention of the time had not demanded it?
My three brides have been produced in royal icing and I have been drawing and painting them at different sizes and arrangements. Once Ted Coney's Family Portraits is closed for the winter I plan to start the final piece.

Friday 13 November 2015

Family Portraits 24/7

I was pleased to see that the Ely Standard had published the story about Ted Coney's Family Portraits continuing over the Winter as a virtual tour (which can be accessed from my website 24/7) even though I will be stopping the house tours soon, until April 2016.
My last tour is on 6th December if you want to make a booking.
The accompanying photo with the newspaper story showed me in the studio with my latest painting 'Against The Light' and I am holding  Laurel and Hardy shadow puppets.
That must have perplexed some people!

Saturday 7 November 2015

Can't Take it With You

I was having my annual meeting with a member of the Tax Office recently about my accounts for both Ted Coney's Family Portraits and my education work.
Although the helpful chap behind the desk kept a straight face, he must have been surprised when I said it was disgraceful that so much money was taken away from our hard earned cash in Tax. Surely the Government were meant to encourage us to save for our 'after life care'?
He either thought I was a nutter or had some divine arrangement with the Almighty.