JUNE 2004
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More to Serenade and the large Circus canvas.
The party invitation card from the Bridgeman arrives and I'm surprised that it's actually not the image I thought it was going to be, it's one of my tango paintings.
R goes to the printers in Salisbury with the disc and some of the transparencies for the catalogue en route to London. Pops in to see Robert Sandelson; his Tamara de Lempicka exhibition is doing well but he's disappointed as the catalogue for his next exhibition, Erte, is having to be printed again. Then delivers a couple of his prints to the London Business School and onto Nathan who is presently doing the sound track for his film.
I'm still working on the Circus at 2am when I call it a day. R has just left Nathan's when we speak.
Arrive at the Racecourse just before noon. Edward is very generous with his time and energy, showing us first around the magnificent Centaur building which is used for everything from Literary festival events, concerts, exhibition centre and most of all arena of bars, betting shops and big screen for race days. Then we sit in a little courtyard enclosed within the offices where he gives us lots of valuable advice and suggestions for the 2006 Museum tour of my racing and related paintings.
In the evening show two sets of prospective tenants round number 80.
Tony Whelpton calls in with several copies of Perspectives for me and a couple of the photographs he had taken for the interview. During the afternoon I am surprised to get a call from a young journalist on the Oxford Times who interviews me for a piece she is writing for their July copy of Limited Edition, the monthly magazine that accompanies it.
Brian rings about text for catalogue.
My Mum's helping at the senior citizens club table top sale today. One of the visitors is a local councillor
The papers and the radio have bee full of the commemoration of D Day. There are still veterans, mainly in their 80's who are travelling back to Normandy for the 60th anniversary. It's really very moving when you hear how selflessly they gave their services to fight. Many of them were very young and I'm very moved by hearing on Poetry Please a poem written by a 19 year old pilot who never made it back; it seems so young. Sad that my father who flew in the RAF, Henry who was a medic in the Navy and Richard's dad who was an engineer in the Army, are no longer here.
Death announced of Ronald Reagan
Circus
Still working on the circus; R had been hoping totake it to be photographed but it will have to be tomorrow morning instead.
Suddenly realise I haven't replied to Abigail from the Catmose Gallery in the Vale of Catmose, Rutland. She is coming to visit the studio next week to prepare arrangements for the exhibition next week.
Beutiful invitation to Robert Sandelson's Erte exhibition which begins 22nd June.
E mail from Lisa at the Open Museum in Leicestershire, saying that she can join us for lunch on Tuesday with Abigail from the Catmose Gallery. It was Lisa who instigated this forthcoming exhibition (in September). She's a wonderful person with an infectious enthusiasm.
Work on the two small corrugated newspaper pieces for R to take to The Darkroom fIrst thing tomorrow morning. He's also sending scans of them to Kate at The Oxford Times.
E mail from Alistair who bought The American from the Christie's auction, to say we have a deal on the four large works that we have been negotiating for the last couple of days. In the afternoon I get a call from Saudi Arabia and an Omar Sharif-like voice introduces himself as the person who has just bought the four works (Alistair is actually his personal assistant). He asks about the paintings and I give him descriptions of my thoughts when paintings them. R goes to London in a van to collect two of the works.
Day devoted mainly to The Ark but also do more to the stage curtains on Serenade. It's 4 am when we go for our walk; the birds are singing the dawn chorus and the sky is becoming a beautiful deep blue as night gives way to day.
R takes The Ark and Serenade to the Darkroom to have transparencies made for the catalogue, which he then takes on to the printers in Salisbury. I plant more lobelia and pinks in the urns and potter in the garden. My Mum pops in on her way back from the shops and I give her some lobelias and begonias too to plant in her hanging basket and walk round with her before starting again in the studio - a concentrated effort on The Western. Again work until after 3 am.
It's head down for finishing the last painting, The Diners, for the catalogue; R has to take it to the photographers on Monday morning and then drive the transparency to the printers as they have to scanned it by 1.30. He also does another layout for the title page after having gone to collect the Banquet from Brian Sinfield. Nice e mail from Lee Benson at No 9 the Gallery who thinks he has sold a painting.
A really nice call from Alistair in Jeddah running an idea past me that they noticed I had been to Japan and exhibited there, how would I feel about spending a couple of weeks back there collecting material for a series of paintings of which they would buy at least five. Would I like to give the idea thought. I am really touched by their enthusiasm for my work.
Finished work on The Diners at 7.40am. I had worked solidly through the night and would probably have gone on even longer had Richard not needed to be at the photographers for 8am.
Call just after 1 from Fred, the shipper, to arrange collection of the four works.
R's already at the printers with the transparencies. I potter around in the garden for an hour before getting out the smaller Cinema painting for the Blondel's client. Pierre Marie was pleased when Richard told him I had started it some time ago but had to put it to one side whilst completing the works for the Sinfield exhibition catalogue.
Lisa from the Open Museum in Leicestershire and Abigail from the Catmose Gallery arrive just after midday. As we wander round the studio looking at the paintings and considering works for the exhibition, it's interspersed with conversations about gardens etc - and more girlie talk. Abi has just set up a Speed Dating agency, which seemed wonderfully enterprising. After lunch we run through the possible works for the exhibition and I give her further information on the pieces which seems to inspire ideas like perhaps trying to borrow one of Rolinda Sharples' paintings from Bristol City Museum.
Proofs arrive for the catalogue and of course I spot something I feel I need to do to The Diners and the usual one or two adjuustments to the text. have the painting rephotographed in the afternoon.
R sets out at 6 to take the proofs and the new transparency back to the printers. I receive nice phone call from Robert; he and Joanne are in Burford during their anniversary break and have called into Brian's gallery so he's just letting me know what a nice gallery it is and they like Burford too. Their Erte Exhibition vernissage is on Monday. Also call from Professor Ken Simmonds to say will we be in about 11 tomorrow as he and Nancy will call, they leave for America next week. Work on the small doorway. R does more to the Oxford Said Business School commission in readiness for their visit.
Ken and Nancy arrive about 11 bearing lots of presents. They both look well after their recent trip to Belgium and are pleased with the Business School painting. We chat lots and look around the studio before they leave for Oxford where he is seeing students.
We get out the four paintings to check over ready for the shippers to collect tomorrow.
Shippers here punctually at 10 am. They photograph and check over the works; interestingly they already have black and white images (presumably copies of those we had sent to the client) to verify they are the right ones. The three of them wrap and pack them carefully and efficiently on a big pad outside the lorry.
Work on refining Circus and a little more to the smaller cinema painting for the Blondel's client.
Nice e mail from Alistair saying they would also like to add 26 February to their collection. They will again arrange for it to be collected.
Seem to get off to a bit of a later start but do begin a new small piece. As I brush colour on to the frame and panel it begins to suggest a descent from the Ark. Later I work further into the Blondel's cinema.
Bobby rings from the printers to say they are running late, so the catalogue will be a bit later than expected.
Bobby rings again to say they are still running rather late but he's expecting the catalogue to be ready by Thursday morning.
The shippers ring to say they will be coming to collect 26th February on Thursday morning. Again they have already got an image of it.
My sister Gill rrings late afternoon to say she's got the job. There seem to have been several interviews with governors and heads and the directors of education as well as a Maths, English and Aptitude tests. With the application she had to write eight different sheets of statements to the different educational departments. The application took her four days to complete. Her post has a new title but it embodies Chief Inspector of Education, Child development and Services; encompassing both primary and secondary education. She does work incredibly hard and I am thrilled for her.
More to The Diners and the little Cinema; also a little refining on the 26th February, though have to remember not to do anything radical as the shippers have the image.
Nice postcard from Tracey Cutler in San Francisco. She and Andy own two of the paintings - she did for a short while do PR work for me whilst they were living over here.
The Descent from the Ark has now got a few animals descending! three zebras, two elephants and half a tiger.
Early evening a call from Jenny Mead who wonders if their art history group might come and visit the studio and have a talk in the new academic year.
Do a little more refining on the 26th February ready for the shippers to collect tomorrow.
Shippers come to collect 26th February at 9.45. Then R goes to Salisbury to collect the catalogues.
There are now giraffes, sheep and two white horses also descending from the Ark.
R gets back 7.15 after having dropped the catalogues for Brian off in Burford. I spend the rest of the evening writing little notes to go in with the catalogues that we will start posting tomorrow. Then R sends image of the Seascape to a magazine that had requested it for their exhibitions listing.
Write a lot of notes on the invitations to go out with the catalogues; it's a good way of keeping in touch with people. In the evening do a little more to the Cinema.
Brian rings to go through prices of the works in the exhibition. Write more notes to go in with catalogues. It's almost like taking a break from this fairly mammoth task to work on the small Cinema painting for the Blondels. The studio is strewn with written cards, catalogues and addressed envelopes with the ink drying before the card can be put in the catalogue and the catalogue in the envelope each of which has to have at least two and often four stamps stuck on, depending on the destination.
Decide this is the only afternoon I can pop into Cheltenham to find some clothes for partying as most of the invitations say 'party dress'. Manage to find two outfits that are also interchangeable with one another. We hurry back for 5 as John is coming with the new canvas covered corrugated piece which he has made up beautifully. He's been clever and made a couple of innovations that will make the two sides easier to paint. We sit sit and talk for a couple of hours discussing the big altarpiece triptych that he is making for me. He's wonderfully enthusiastic and has been working out ways of constructing the predella so that the panels can change with the seasons, which will of course make it more of polyptych.
Henrietta rings shortly afterwards as they are meeting us for supper tomorrow at the Chelsea Arts Club after we have been to the Bridgeman Art Library party also there.
Brian Sinfield rings about 9pm to see if I have got his message, which I hadn't, to say that a collector of my work has phoned to ask if he could see a couple of the pieces that he is particularly interested in. I tell him that we could drop them off at the gallery on our way to london tomorrow but explain that I am still doing some work to the frame, which means that I do stay up until 3.30 working on them.
I feel very lucky when a flotilla of birthday cards comes through the letter box, even one from Rick and Jo Rumrell in St Augustine. Also three e mails with similar greetings. My Mum calls after aerobics bearing flowers and cards; I walk with her round to her house and admire the hydrangea that she has recently put in and the pebbles that her young neighbour Brian has laid in the gap between their paths.
We set off about a quarter to two and get to Brians about half past. The Taylors are there with a beautiful seventeen month old addition to the family called Zac, who quietly observes all that is going on with interest. They decide on the big Circus painting. Whilst we are still there somebody rings for one of the smaller pieces. Brian makes us a cup of tea and we chat for an hour; he's still in the process of sending out catalogues for the show. Arrive at the Chelsea Arts Club about quarter to seven. The Bridgeman Art Library party is in the garden and it's nice as there are a few familiar faces. Chat to Didier, who had come to the opening of my Cork Street show; a fascinating Frenchman who set up their Paris office, he studied art history and then did a law degree in this country. We discuss the fact that lots of French educational books use images of my work and he says that they particularly like them because the two main criteria in French education is the quest for knowledge and the developing of the imagination and I tell him how interesting we find it in France where everyone seems to have a cultural interest in the visual arts. That when we have travelled on the Metro to the FIAC, even people who look like housewives got off to go to visit this art fair. Also meet James Huntington Whitely who showed one of my works in a recent themed exhibition. I'm very pleased as he is next year organising an exhibition of women artists through the twentieth century and would like to include me. Mary B and Cathy from the Portal Gallery are also there so we exchange news and chatter. Suddenly we notice it's almost 8 so we go to the ladies lounge (the only place in the Club where you can use a mobile phone) to call Henrietta. They had been held up in the traffic from Blackheath. Just as we are about to ring Nathan he and Sophia arrive through the door. We sit in the bar until Henrietta and Kev join us and we all enjoy the dinner - a lovely way to celebrate my birthday. When we arrive back there's a message from Brian Sinfield saying he sold the Western and Late Night Movie on the phone just after we had left.
Speak to Brian returning his call - I'm delighted to hear that Late Night Movie and The Western have both gone to a new collector. Michelle Blondel rings at lunchtime with exciting news that they are changing the gallery location to the Left Bank in the city's traditional artistic quarter. I know that they have been contemplating this for some time.
Then back to work on the small Cinema for her client as R is hoping to deliver it shortly. During the evening we look at the copy of Tatler that Henrietta gave us, which has the big feature on Cressida Connolly - particularly interesting as we are going there to her husband Charles' birthday party on Saturday.
The Art Consultants ring. Their client is back in London from the weekend and she's checking to see if the paintings are still all available. As she goes through the list I think she is somewhat concerned as so many of them have sold over the past couple of weeks.
I have been sorely tempted to change one of my smaller works for the past couple of weeks but just haven't got round to it yet, which was perhaps just as well as Marcella had an enquiry as to it's availability. Send out a few more catalogues and invitations. Still painting the small cinema when my Mum, Minnie, Richard and Rose arrive for my birthday supper [as we had been away on Monday]. Minnie was looking much better than she did after her fall on Saturday. R bought me a wonderful book, 'Boteros Women'. It was a lovely evening and we all enjoyed the feast that he had prepared.