Great expectations

Eleven months since my last posting! A brief update.

In the past year I have attended several exhibitions: Windsor Art Fair, Untitled Art Fair in Chelsea and and held my own Cambridge Open Studios. As a first time exhibitor with Windsor and Untitled I had no great expectations. What I can say now is that it was great fun, but for the wrong reasons. The private view evenings were buzzing with friends and family, a great opportunity to catch up and a have a tipple or two!! The only problem was that two led to four which led to . . . hick, how many? Nonetheless, it was a fun evening if you put the notion of selling a piece or indeed having any logical discussion with a genuine dealer out of your mind! And for the rest of the time I got to know my fellow exhibitors pretty well. The visitors to the shows were indeed down from the previous year!

The Cambridge Open Studios in July brought reasonable sales, but the frustration of opening your home to the public does at times make you wonder why you do so! Some seem to look upon the four weekends in July as a free creche for their children. At other times, which is more often the case you are an encyclopedia for the new up-and-coming artists, syphoning every ounce of information you have collected and stored away over the years. They pick at you like a vulture to a carcass! It's only at the end of the interrogation you realise that their intention was far from innocent! Beyond all that, I have met some wonderful people who have given me a great deal more in terms of inspiration and motivation.