Kippers!

I watched the Royal Wedding on T.V. with rapt attention last week, having followed some of the antics of the Markle family in the newspapers.
I always say on my tours  that all families are the same, even though the starting point for my paintings has been my family history.
In the painting of our wedding, 'Lavender and Dead Bilberries' I show Hazel's two aunts who turned up at the church even though they were not invited. (a long running family feud)
And Kippers? I always have a pair on the morning of a state occasion, when watching it unfold on the television. Another family tradition.

Not Forgotten

One of the nice things about doing the exhibition at the Babylon Gallery is that it has lead to taking part in another show.
Ann Jarman, the owner of the Old Fire Engine House Gallery saw my work and invited me to put something in her exhibition in a few weeks time, to celebrate fifty years of the gallery.
There are hundred artists taking part so I can only display one picture.
I have decided to put in 'Forget-Me-Nots', mainly because it was the lightest to carry and I hadn't yet found a place to hang it.

Full of Surprises

Ted Coney's Family Portraits kicked off the new season  with a different sort a tour .
I was approached by Ely Gin Company to be part of their  'away day' and subsequently we had a visit from twelve staff.
I gave the usual introduction, looking at one painting  but then they wanted something a bit different.
Each member of staff had collected one object to do with afternoon tea and their task was to draw it somewhere in the house.
Hazel and I acted as art tutors and at the end we had to judge who had made the best drawing. The lucky winner received a giant teacup!
After visiting us, the group were going out for afternoon tea where a new gin would be launched  called appropriately 'Afternoon Tea'
However, I had one more surprise of my own before they left.
I showed them my painting 'Tea For 222' in which I demonstrated that if they looked hard enough, afternoon tea could be full of surprises. The painting shows two aunts symbolised in old age by an image of afternoon tea. A closer look revealed what exciting lives they had lead during the second world war.
You can see the picture when you next visit.

Be Prepared

The spotlights in the garage have been fixed so that they make the Morris Minor gleam when I open the doors.
The garden table has been mended so visitors can lean on it when they sign the visitors book at the end.
Most importantly, the lights on the puppet theatre have been made safe as apparently they could have burst into flames at any moment! When visitors enter this part of the gallery, I always put the main light off first, so that they walk into a darkened room with only the dolls house and puppet theatre lit up.
While a fire might have made it even more exciting, I don't think it would have been very conducive to looking at paintings.
Now everything is ready, so let the 10th season of Ted Coney's Family Portraits  begin.