As you will know after 3 months of painting and 4 months of Social Networking my exhibition opened on Sat 14 March with 23 paintings of my paintings on show. The morning I was "in residence" went well and quickly. Most of the time was spent finishing off my display and cleaning the common surfaces in the gallery.
It was booked over 6 months ago but on the opening day I was of the view that it might not run its full 4 week cycle due to the spread of Coronavirus. Sadly I was told on Monday 16th March that Eccles Community Art Gallery was closed immediately and would not open until the coming crisis was resolved. It is not yet decided how this will be sorted after "The Gallery" reopens but I shall keep you posted. Meanwhile my works are still hanging which was the safest option. I hope to be around to continue supporting this great community space and its wonderful volunteers. Community galleries don't just happen, they exist and run by people who care about others.
Having an exhibition requires a lot of energy, preparation and hard work. It is an emotional thing. Any artist that has done it will tell you it is a whole lot more than if you were reselling something from the cash & carry. I have also missed the opportunity to try and raise funds for our chosen causes. I only mention this to explain to all of our supporters because I was so sickened by the timing. If you run a full show and don't sell anything then at least your work has been looked at by the public and that is different than the online experience. That is why I haven't mentioned it on Social Media before now. Also I have been concentrating on spreading some good news, where there is any to cheer my friends up a bit.
Having explained that I have to say the decision to close was absolutely the only safe choice to protect artists, "The Gallery" volunteers and of course the public. Salford Royal Hospital had enough to do , even then, without us rustling up some trade. Art will always have its place to lift the soul & spirit and it will be sorely needed during his nightmare. There will be an awful lot of sadness and misery for most of us in the weeks and months to come.
Most people have much more pressing matters to think about & spend their money on than buying paintings at the moment. However I believe that we shall come through this and return to something different than what we had before. So Curly Bob & I shall keep plugging away on facebook etc to be ready when that moment comes. I shall post the gallery images here and on Facebook. The individual works there will be published on a daily basis , health permitting. I have posted a selection of images of my work, in situ, separately here and on Facebook.
Here is "Sunset Antarctica", oil on canvas, circa 2014
It was booked over 6 months ago but on the opening day I was of the view that it might not run its full 4 week cycle due to the spread of Coronavirus. Sadly I was told on Monday 16th March that Eccles Community Art Gallery was closed immediately and would not open until the coming crisis was resolved. It is not yet decided how this will be sorted after "The Gallery" reopens but I shall keep you posted. Meanwhile my works are still hanging which was the safest option. I hope to be around to continue supporting this great community space and its wonderful volunteers. Community galleries don't just happen, they exist and run by people who care about others.
Having an exhibition requires a lot of energy, preparation and hard work. It is an emotional thing. Any artist that has done it will tell you it is a whole lot more than if you were reselling something from the cash & carry. I have also missed the opportunity to try and raise funds for our chosen causes. I only mention this to explain to all of our supporters because I was so sickened by the timing. If you run a full show and don't sell anything then at least your work has been looked at by the public and that is different than the online experience. That is why I haven't mentioned it on Social Media before now. Also I have been concentrating on spreading some good news, where there is any to cheer my friends up a bit.
Having explained that I have to say the decision to close was absolutely the only safe choice to protect artists, "The Gallery" volunteers and of course the public. Salford Royal Hospital had enough to do , even then, without us rustling up some trade. Art will always have its place to lift the soul & spirit and it will be sorely needed during his nightmare. There will be an awful lot of sadness and misery for most of us in the weeks and months to come.
Most people have much more pressing matters to think about & spend their money on than buying paintings at the moment. However I believe that we shall come through this and return to something different than what we had before. So Curly Bob & I shall keep plugging away on facebook etc to be ready when that moment comes. I shall post the gallery images here and on Facebook. The individual works there will be published on a daily basis , health permitting. I have posted a selection of images of my work, in situ, separately here and on Facebook.
Here is "Sunset Antarctica", oil on canvas, circa 2014
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| "Sunset Antarctica", oil on canvas, circa 2014 |
