18 March 2010 Made space, now new Big London stuff

The Spring is here!

The lawn is full of little crocuses, snowdrops and sunshine.

We can hear frogs, and birdsong.

My studio is clearer because I burned that stack of paper doodles yesterday.

So now I can get working on a half dozen middle and big sized London canvases.

These were started at the end of last year and put aside because things happened.

Things like snow, exhibitions, flu, new book, etc.

17 March 2010 A sad end

Today I burned Sydney, Vancouver, Venice, Hong Kong, New York, Glasgow, and London.

There is a wastage rate from our big giclee printer.

Sometimes the colours are wrong, sometimes the roll runs out before all the print is finished, sometimes the ink smudges etc.

So I get large bits of very good quality paper that I can use to paint over.

I use these big coloured scraps to try out ideas, experiment, or often just enjoy myself.

The paintings are sometimes good, sometimes not so good.

So today I took the plunge and destroyed about 200 near-miss paintings on paper that have cluttered up the studio for too long.

10 March 2010 Fame at last!

Wowee! I am gonna be famous.

I have just heard that the local bus company have put me on the front cover of the next issue of the bus timetable.

At last.

The timetable comes out in a few days time.

Bus Times

Summer 2010

28 March 2010 until

25 September 2010

The photography shoot was way back last year.

In fact it was exactly one year ago that I finished the job.

See last years blog for March 3rd, 8th, and 10th.

I am pleased to report that the bus company bought the painting.

6 March 2010 Another new 'Affordable' painting

Here is another of the new paintings that will be shown at The Affordable Art Fair in a few days time. The 'Affordable' is a great success as a public art fair. I have shown there off and on since it began some years ago. So has my artist daughter Shyama. This year I join her showing on the Four-walls stand for the first time. Should be fun!

The organisers really make an effort to create a great experience for visitors. They choose the exhibiting galleries with care ensuring that the quality is really the best. There is a price ceiling of £3000. The rules also bar reproduction prints, although there are some limited edition screen prints and original prints. But the main thrust of the show is new contemporary original paintings at affordable prices.

4 March 2010 New paintings

I am preparing new original paintings for the Affordable Art Fair in London next week.

My work will be on show with Four-walls Contemporary Art stand L8.

Opening days are Thusday 11th to Sunday 14th March.

For tickets go to;

http://www.four-walls.co.uk/Home.html

or see

http://www.affordableartfair.com/

I expect to be on the stand during Thursday. Hope to see you there!

Some of my latest paintings are posted on our own website as well.

See

http://www.crabfish.com/catalogue/cat15_orig.htm

Back home exhausted!

Phew! It certainly knocks it out of you at the Spring Fair.

A frantic week getting ready, last minute panics about things not done, final arrangements getting van and driver, double parking and loading in the dark and cold, early morning suitcase packing, long drive up country, park and walk to set-up chaos at the show, unload van, disgorge much too much stuff onto a tiny booth/stand, [why are booths always much smaller in real life than when you plan them on paper or mock up?], paint walls, fix lights, hang pictures, stand back and take photo.

And that is before we start.

Then turn up up every day and live on strong coffee and very expensive snacks from the catering facilities who have you by the short and curlies. A cup of hot water for £1.80 so we could use our own teabag for a cuppa.

But the buzz, and adrenalin surge, and the networking, and the orders, and the feedback, and meeting old friends makes it all worth while.

I did my seminar on Tuesday on 'The Artists Role in the Art Industry'. Went down well with applause. Afterwards several artists came by our stand to ask further questions.

Now the aftermath, sorting through orders, following leads, re-appraising priorities, deciding what is next.

I must keep reminding myself that I am doing this for fame, fortune and fun.

Focus on the fun.

Todays picture shows my small section of the Artreo stand.

My new catalogue book went down well as well. The first 16 copies are now earmarked for my best galleries.

I will make a few minor changes based on suggestions from the art industry. For instance take the date of the front cover.

5Feb 2010

Phew! I am just grabbing a moment to update this blog before I whizz off to exhibit at the International Spring Fair at NCC in Birmingham.

We load the van this evening. I think everything is ready.

The past month has been hectic.

There is meant to be a recession on at the moment, but we have had a bumper start to the year.

Print, paint, print, paint.

The big fat coffee table 10 year catalogue looks superb and the first couple of galleries have already given it the thumbs up. The launch of this will be the main focus of my show at the Fair.

I am also scheduled to present a seminar on 'The Artists Role in the Art Industry' on Tuesday 9th.

I had a practice the other evening in front of the Wessex Branch of The Fine Art Trade Guild members. They seemed to like it. I had some interesting questions afterwards which have helped tweak the talk.

Here is a new painting of Hong Kong waterfront.