Yesterday, in a somewhat rash moment, and influenced by the engaging and eloquent recollections of Fred in Fred's Blog, I resolved to share some experiences of opening our house, 11 York Villas, to the public as part of the 2008 Seven Dials Artists Open House trail.
But I've never blogged before - and I'm already playing catch-up as this idea didn't occur to me until half way through the season ... as if being elbow-deep in cake recipes wasn't enough! I guess I'll have to start with some memorable moments before engaging with the present. In this, as a former academic, I am on firm ground.
The initial decision to host an Open House was, no doubt, product of a mid-life crisis - my second such. The first one involved deciding to work in 'Blair's favourite think tank' at the time of the Iraq invasion. Hopefully this current venture will not have such a hapless outcome!
I won't go into the details of the setting up process. Actually, with comprehensive support provided by the organising committee, this was a doddle compared to the task of winkling my mother ('Sheila who must be obeyed') out of our home following her post-Christmas sojourn.
All that I will say on the subject is that I consider us exceptionally fortunate to have attracted such a group of talented and professional artists to exhibit with us in a very short time!
Our happy troupe includes: Heavenly Helen and her installation of vintage chandeliers; the extraordinarily innovative Matt Smith and his seemingly innocuous pots; Livia O'Toole (according to Matt, 'Fit as a Butcher's Dog') who prints her wonderful life-drawings onto vibrant textiles; the hugely talented photographer Maria Short and her compelling large scale images of animals; Pam Aldridge, an established artist showing exciting new work as well as one piece that has been on international tour but has never before been offered for sale and Pam's partner, digital photographer Tashi Thondup (as voices of experience and mature wisdom they often instil productive angst, so I've fondly nicknamed this couple PMT); and Kenneth Welfare presenting alluring images that combine photography and painting and transport the viewer into other worlds. Then there's Jacob Norris, my 13 year-old son, whose desire to be included moved him out of his bedroom to create images of his favourite sweets and of some local scenes. For my part, I'm showing graphic screenprints including a 'Wonky Woman' series that comment on contemporary policy and politics as well as my hand-printed black and white photographs. The glitz is provided by Voluptuous Val (jewellery) and Delightful Dinah (textiles).
I am also PM (Project Manager). So far I have resisted the temptation to sit this errant group down in front of a flip-chart and give them a 3-hour 'Apprentice' style lecture on my business strategy. In the AOH task I'm backed by Long-Suffering Dave (husband), Effervescent Emma (daughter, my model and muse) and Elliott the Elusive (older son) ... plus amazingly supportive neighbours up and down the road who have taken to feeding and watering us.
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