On the edge about 'On the Edge'

I devised a lecture about my work several years ago entitled On The Edge which I have played to packed houses in such places as the Custard Factory, Birmingham and the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. Although it has it's own page on Ted Coney's Family Portraits website, lately I have not been asked to give it. I decided as one of the stratagies to get the gallery known, I would advertise the lecture in the Women's Institute handbook. Hey Presto! I have my first booking- at Mepal Friendship Club. I am a little nervous, but hopefully if it is a success it may draw more people to visit me. I am also apprehensive about driving the seven miles to Mepal. I hope to go in the Morris Minor but have still not got it back yet from it's respray job. Watch this space

Surfaces! Surfaces!

Like a good old fashioned painter I usually stretch and prepare the canvases myself. Maybe I am getting lazy or just old, but this time I treated myself to some already prepared ones. I kidded myself that because they were so tiny (yes, my work is getting smaller, like me) they would be difficult and fiddly to prepare, Luckily I had bought one extra canvas to experiment on as disaster struck when I came to stain it with dark brown paint. It was such a horrible greasy, shiny surface that I couldn't acheive a dark colour at all. So I will have to sandpaper each one of the six canvases and then paint on a gesso ground. My aim is to have the first layer of the painting done by the time I open Ted Coney's Family Portraits on 17th April. Have you booked yet?

Clipboard Crazy

One of the things I wanted to change this year for Ted Coney's Family Portraits was the old pinboard I had hanging at the end of the lane to try and explain to the public what it was all about. Everything was held down with large mapping pins and although it worked on still, sunny days, at other times it was a disaster. Often, newspaper cuttings or posters would fly off and I was left scurrying down the road to retreive them. So this year I have invested in a new smart clipboard which will be temporaly chained to the wall with a padlock. However, no such thing existed so I bought the nearest thing and brother David came to my rescue and made changes so it can be used in this location. Hopefully, another problem solved.

Light Over Dark

Last week, Hazel and I went to the big Watercolour exhibition at Tate Britain. There are lots of wonderful pictures there (as well as some rubbish in the last room) and I got some new inspiration for my latest painting 'Dear Reginald Owen'. Instead of working up the Hollywoodland section in pale sepia tones (inspired by the photos of the 1930's) I am going to experiment with painting the first layer in very dark browns (I am still keeping with sepia at the moment) and then moving onto light , more transparent colours for the subsequent overlays. I am going to try burning oranges and cold blues for these two, though it might be a terrible idea, but one can only experiment. Whatever happens, my aim is to have started on the actual canvases by the time Ted Coney's Family Portraits reopens in April.

Popping - Up All Over The Place

This week I received my copy of the new Ely guide, where I am advertising
Ted Coney's Family Portraits for the first time. In it, I revealed my new strapline 'Ely's first pop-up gallery'. I also rang Paul from Honest Ideas to ask him to change my strapline on the posters and flyers before getting them reprinted ready for the opening. Sadly, the Good News Press who did the origional printing has gone out of business, so I need to find someone else. I will also contact Chris at The Internet Marketing Company to change the news item on my web-site to ' Reopening of Ely's first Pop-Up gallery is Sunday is 17th April. Book now'. The W. I. will also get the pop-up treatment as I have got an ad in their handbook as well.

The Morris at 8o

I am relieved to report that the Morris Minor passed it's MOT with only a front headlight bulb (which luckily I had) needed. Ofcourse, the brakes needed tightening and the exhaust pipe needed welding but at least I didn't have to hunt around for any spare parts this year. Just as well because the Morris will be 80 in July and I want to use it, to maximise on publicity for
Ted Coney's Family Portraits (especially as I am using it in one of my paintings - see my last blog) - and hopefully make some mony for charity as well. It's first outing will be on Eel Day at the Jubilee Gardens fair. I then hope to do my usual Rides Around the Quad for £1 for charity (which I did on it's 60th and 70th birthdays) Only this time, I am hoping I will be allowed to take people for rides around the Maltings roundabout at Aquafest .

It's Simultanaity!

In the last two weeks I've really tried to make some of the decisions about my latest painting 'Dear Reginald Owen'. I've decided it will be made up of six small canvases (I've even bought them, so no going back) with the images going across all of them in a continuous sweep. I had thought I would start with Hollywoodland houses at one end , gradually changing into our house in Great Shelford and the houses we looked at in Bury St Edmunds and finishing with Ely. Over that I intended to lay an image of the inside of my Morris Minor (which is a time machine moving from 1930's Hollywood to the present day). However, an idea stuck me at 6am this morning that may push my idea of simultanaity even more. I have decided to lay three layers of happenings over each other (Hollywoodland, our house-hunting and the Morris Minor) to show that these events are happening at the same time. I actually discovered the Hollywoodland material (which I believe, belonged to a cousin of my mother's who was trying to get into films in the 1930's) while we were house-hunting a few years ago. And the Morris Minor? Well if it's a time machine it can be in several places at once, can't it?