Tuesday 1.11.11

Busily engrossed on with exhibition

Wednesday 2.11.11

Call from Miranda at Brian Sinfield Gallery to say the catalogues have arrived and they look great. Sue arrives with ours later that afternoon.

Thursday 3.11.11

Still finishing the works!

Friday 4.11.11

R gets call from Professor Ken and Nancy who complement him on his catalogue design. They have just bought Coming Home although would have liked Night Owl too but its now too big for their apartment particularly as its already bulging with my paintings. But perhaps just as well as later a call from the Gallery to say Night Owl too has sold.

Saturday 5.11.11

Phone call from two of my lovely collectors who want to buy Evensong but on phoning the Gallery discover they have already sold it!

Sunday 6.11.11

Trying to complete - way to go!

Monday 7.11.11

Ditto

Tuesday 8.11.11

ditto ditto

Wednesday 9.11.11

Ditto

Thursday 10.11.11

Gallery phones to say one of my American collectors had just contacted them to say he wanted to add Eclectic Sheep to his collection.

Friday 11.11.11

Still busy painting all those parts that nobody sees !!!

Saturday 12.11.11

Phone call from Richard Medway to say he and Donna would like to buy Evensong and are also keen to bid on Nightmare, the horse I’ve painted for the Friends. hen I phone the gallery they tell me that Evensong sold a couple of hours ago - to collector who had bought the painting I had donated to Helen and Douglas House Children's Hospice two years ago.

Sunday 13.11.11

Final haul!

Monday 14.11.11

Final Haul!

Tuesday 15.11.11

Final Haul!

Wednesday 16.11.11

Start new little painting with Helen and Douglas House Children's Hospice (in Oxford) in mind called the Courtship featuring The Owl and the Pussycat.

Thursday 17.11.11

Continue

Friday 18.11.11

Miranda phones in the evening to say that one of their collectors has just phoned to say he would like to purchase Liberty Horse, the bronze. Finish The Courtship at about 2am.

Saturday 19.11.11

R takes my Mum for her ‘flu jab and back home before we leave for Burford. Its a lovely journey through the countryside with Stow on the Wold en route. When we arrive at the gallery dear Greville is there with Sue and her daughter and son in law. Lots of people start arriving amongst them my lovely friends Joyce and Maureen from student days and Martin Day who we’ve known since the 80s when he commissioned a large painting of his children and their friends. Martin Kiszko comes with his Mum from Bristol. Ren from Luton who tells me he’s just bought Bountiful Harvest that I painted for the National Star College and another delightful couple who I remember meeting at my last exhibition ( he’s a musician who also teaches arts ) buy the little painting COURTSHIP in aid of Helen and Douglas House a wonderful children’s hospice in Oxford. Stephen and Tony come and Richard compares printmaking techniques with Tony. At 4.30 we go for tea and a bun at the invitation of Andrew and Bernice and it seems surprisingly dark and cold already.

Sunday 20.11.11

To Burford again for second opening. I’m so lucky to have so many lovely friends and collectors who turn up all through the day including the new owners of Night Owl who already have one of my works in their collection as do the new owners of Evensong who tell me the painting is even better in reality than in the reproduction in the catalogue. Delightful friends Viv and Paul  who had been keen on both those paintings decide upon Liberty (which means they also now have two PJC’s. My Mum arrives with an angel called Mary who also collected  dear Lyn (who used be our neighbour but now lives in a care home) my sister Gill appears shortly after. We all end up for tea at the tea room a few doors down with Wallace and Judy. En route home we visit Rita who has recently unexpectedly been diagnosed with  secondary cancer. She doesn’t want to go into hospital or subject herself to endless tests or medication she wants to die with dignity and Grace. She has lost the use of one leg and her brain tumour had been affecting her speech but there she was sitting up in bed as lucid and articulate as ever anticipating with delight the omelette that Richard was cooking for her and enjoying a glass of red wine. When I commented that her speech hadn’t faltered she said it was because she was with friends  whereas when she had been in hospital just a week ago She had problems. So I suspect that being in her own space was helping too.

Monday 21.11.11

Now onto a new challenge. Buckling down to paint the small works and miniatures for my Open Studio for the Friends of Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museums fund towards the Museum’s new development.

Tuesday 22.11.11

ditto

Wednesday 23.11.11

Also painting one for Jackie and Laurence Llewelyn Bowen for their charity dinner next week.

Thursday 24.11.11

Caroline and Simon come over to discuss the commission. Its lovely to see them after quite a long interval. Always fascinating as we discuss the creative process, he being a designer of bars. Each year they commission or use one of my paintings for their company Christmas card so we are discussing this year’s. They deliver some of the puzzles they have had made as gift to their clients too, with the image from last years card, The Feast.

Back onto Sheep on the Wold for Jackie and Laurence.

Friday 25.11.11

ditto

Saturday 26.11.11

ditto

Sunday 27.11.11

ditto

Monday 28.11.11

E mail from Jackie saying she’s still hoping we can get to their charity dinner and Auction at the Ellenborough Park  hotel and also if I am still able to donate the little panting I had promised for their auction. I tell her yes to the painting and say I would really like to come to the dinner but have to equate it with taking the time off from creating the Miniatures for the friends event next weekend.

R puts seven miniature paintings on the website at about 4.30am and is very excited that a coupe of minutes later three of them have sold to our wonderful collectors Karl and Sharron.

Tuesday 29.11.11

Up to London to the James Harvey British Art gallery in Chelsea for the launch of Robert Fountain’s book on the traditional circus. As we drive up I’m delighted to see my big painting in the window, the gallery is packed with people. I make my way through the crowd to where Robert is signing the books whilst Richard is parking the car. A couple of the their artists ask me to sign their copies and I do likewise. It’s a lovely gallery and James Harvey is very nice too He tells me that my large painting in the window is stopping the traffic. We’re not there for that long as we then need to go onto the Arts Club to meet with Gerry, Sheridan and Hilda, all of whom have some of my work in their collections and I have just repaired one of Gerry and Sheridan's which had got damaged when they had to temporarily vacate their apartment due to subsidence. its a fun evening and Hilda is delightful and entertaining and very pleased when she sees and greets Antonio Carluccio who she says she had seen on television the night before. She also seems to charm many of the other diners. Jerry regales me with wonderful stories of working with Steven Spielberg and one of being mesmerised “ by Marilyn Monroe's bum” as she walked down a corridor at the film studios. Sheridan who is chief executive of the Wiesmann Foundation is a delight.

Wednesday 30.11.11

Another e mail from Karl asking if they can buy the little owl painting which Richard only put on the web site in the early hours of this morning!

Day spent on miniatures.