Princess Margaret Says No

I was recently asked to proof read an interview I had given about my contribution to
 Cambridge Open Studios thirty five years ago, for a book that is being written about it's history.
I was horrified to see that I  mentioned  I had invited Princess Margaret to open my first exhibition. Understandably, she turned me down owning to a 'prior engagement'.
What was missing from the text was why I had invited her. I  was collecting for Save The Children Fund and the Princess was the charity's patron.
When you know that, it doesn't sound quite so bad.

Good News And Bad News

There's good news and bad news.
 The bad news is, I wasn't picked to display my work in the Kettles Yard Open exhibition . I guess I could have predicted the outcome as there were only 22 lucky artists out of 500 applicants. Without  sounding  like sour grapes, I probably  would have been more successful with the archive material rather than my paintings. The labyrinth of  mirrors (David's Journey) and the dolls with pins in (No More Trist) are more like installations and might have appeared more contemporary.
And the good news? I am a step closer to getting more space to show my work with  plans for our garden gallery going out to tender.

The French Connection

For the fourth year running, I had three groups of French students yesterday, making a tour of
Ted Coney's Family Portraits.
I think it went OK (they wrote some lovely comments in my visitors book) but over the years I've learnt to have some useful aids to help me explain the paintings. For instance, I always have a set of 'Happy Families' playing cards when showing my picture of the same name. There are a few puzzled faces until the students understand that I am playing something similar, but with members of the family.
For this year, I  obtained an advent calendar to help them  understand the inspiration for my painting 'Limners' and it's format of tiny  images behind closed doors.
(you can see it on the PRINTS FOR SALE page)

In The Driving Seat

For my Artist in Residence event at the Courthouse I commissioned a model of Toad.
This was so visitors could peep into my Morris Minor and see him perched on cushions appearing to drive.
This tied in with my latest painting 'Who Stole The Toothpaste?' where Toad appears and I used the Morris for his car.
You can see him when you visit Ted Coney's Family Portraits but if you can't wait, then view him now at the steering wheel, in the latest batch of photos on my Facebook page.
 Just click  the logo on any page of my website.