Call on me Gallery, Gallery call on me!

At some point today I pulled all of these faces. But I have to say today was a brilliant day! Other than the fact my blog won't let me upload the pictures I took of the new developments, which does suck as there are so many.
For ease of reading I'm going to work through the faces. Starting with face 1. I opened my emails first thing  only to find that I had been signed up by three electricity companies yesterday. All of them sending me welcome emails. Have you ever heard of the expression s**t twice and die? Well face number 5 was the expression I pulled whilst s**tting twice and dying as they all had my bank details. It soon turned to number 1 as I fired off three heated emails threatening legal action to each company.
So leaving that sewage and death behind I headed to the gallery. I walked up to it an didn't recognize it because my man that can Matt Suttle had torn the sign down revealing more windows. It looked amazing, see faces 5 and 6. I was so blown away by my new frontage (pics to follow won't upload as I mentioned earlier) I walked in full of praise and admiration for his handiwork and managed not to notice for a full 5 minutes that he had taken up the carpet and piled it neatly to one side. I'm sure it was at least another 5 minutes before I realized he'd cut down all the huge wood into manageable chunks and again into neat piles. You've gotta love someone who makes neat piles! Face 6 all the way people!!
We then spent the day listening to drum and bass and chatting 'whilst resting on our brooms'. Working blooming hard.
Matt made me a stable door which I'm going to enjoy serving pints from! I pulled up yet another carpet on my own. Tomorrow me and the talented Lisa Bate are going to try and lay a laminate floor, good times! Probably lots of faces 1,2 & 3 going on tomorrow.There might be more sweating and swearing going on too. Watch this space for an update.
The day was rounded off with dump runs and 1 or 3 drinks at the Red Lion. Thanks to Karen and Tim for letting me leave my car there.
Catch you all tomorrow.

And she's spying her stairway to never!

We will make a drama out of a staircase according to the lady upstairs. I have been told that my window that wasn't a window that is now a window again! Is infringing on my new neighbours privacy. If you need a reminder of my newly exposed view check out yesterdays blog. I look at approximately 5 stairs. I'm so busy working my arse off, I hardly stand there with my hands on my hips admiring the view. I ask you, are there not more important things in the world to be concerned with? Like the floods in Pakistan, 10.000,000 homeless, Tropical Storm Nicole has affected 28.2 million people and a mudslide in Mexico. To name but a few. But no, now I can see 5 yes 5 stairs I must have my windows frosted to ensure her privacy is protected. How insane is that? I'm thinking of wearing this t-shirt tomorrow.

I think someone needs a reality check! Rant over. The gallery is now really starting to look less like a bike shop. I had the skilful Matt Suttle working his magic in there today. ( Incase you think skilful is spelt incorrectly it isn't it just looks like it ). I now have self closing fire door and my two raised platforms have got brand new hats. I had fun using a crowbar today. A tool everyone should use at least once in their life as you derive a certain kind of pleasure prising things apart that were once very close together. I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere but it's late and I'm tired. You will be pleased to know that I had nearly as many phone calls this morning as I did yesterday. I was getting so arsey and mistrustful by the end I was picking up and then hanging up straight away. Anyone who says and I quote 'Don't worry I'm not trying to sell you something' is generally a big fat lying *@2T@*>! Fact.
The BikeAbout sign is coming down tomorrow so that will be a big step. Another new door is being fitted and I'm pulling up my third lot of carpet. A monumental dump run is also taking place. Like I said yesterday it is a Mans job so I'm going to butch it up tomorrow and you can call me Steve. My logo is finished I'll pop a picture in tomorrow. Thanks Neil @ Deshok for that. But that's all for now as I have got a busy day ahead of me tomorrow. I need to lie here thinking about a multitude of things, some important but more than likely they are not, for at least an hour before I go to sleep. Because that's the evening ritual.
Good night!

Sweating and Swearing.

My Postcard Door Outside

My Postcard Door Inside

Today saw the return of my Internet connection. To say I'm happy would not go far enough I'm ecstatic! It took me nearly two hours with much sweating and swearing and in the end patience. It is funny how BT managed to fix the problem within minutes when I told them I was canceling my broadband. A nice man from Newcastle at BTs rapid response IT Support based in England put me on the path to reconnection. 

As you can see this means that you can now have a chance to look at what I've been up to. So here are my decorated doors. 

My day was again punctuated by incessant phone ringing, by the twelfth call offering me a service I didn't want the lady could tell by my tone I had had enough so after she said  her piece I was about to less than politely tell her to 'go away' or more accurately for you Swanage locals Far Corfe, and she hung up on me. How rude!

There are a few things that I have uncovered on this voyage of discovery, becoming a gallery owner. I'm going to share them with you as that's the whole point of this blog. 

1. Pulling up carpet is Mans work.
2. Black bogeys can occur outside of London
3. Accessories can cleverly cover little mistakes
4. Polyfilla can be used extensively where ever whether it says so on the tub or not
5. Paint under your nails can look like an expensive manicure if properly applied
6. You can comb emulsion paint out of afro hair
7. You can make a sandwich without butter. No, really you can!
8. People seem to want to sell me stuff all the time.
9. My pockets are deep but empty
10. Talking to yourself makes the day more interesting

These are all things I now know and so do you. Time for another picture. What light through yonder window breaks? I have yet to show you it in all its glory. So, here it is. Today I pulled up carpets, filled cracks, sanded, swept, peeled, stripped and painted. Wow, I sure know how to have a good time. Tomorrow, Matt is going to fit my fire door and I'm going to attempt to set up broadband at the gallery. Wish me BIG FAT LUCK!!!!

Till then...

One, Two, Three, Floor!

I am going to spare you the diatribe about the Bloody Twats. Needless to say tomorrow I'm going to be finding a new broadband provider in the morning.
I managed to locate my phone socket this morning, do you think I'm already wishing I hadn't. To say it hasn't stopped ringing would be an understatement. On average once every 10 minutes. Very few of them were actually worth answering. So tomorrow I might ignore it more than answer it.
Now onto other far more interesting things.
I was floored! End of. I spent far too long tiling the toilet floor. The stinky Lino hid a multitude of sins. Sins against all of Floorkind! Lumps, bumps, unevenness, an ominous damp patch and finally bottoms of 4 yes 4 Walls that are not I repeat not square or true in any way whatsoever. Never before have I used a ruler to cut so many wonky lines. But that said I came, I floored and I conquered. I have also started to rip up the studio carpet.
Tomorrow, will see the gallery space completely emptied. Removal of the last few bits of furniture.
Work starts in earnest next Monday. I'm hoping that I will be able to show you some pics very soon. So much has changed.

Just one more, you never come out on a Sunday!

It's been a resounding yes on the skateboard front. Apparently, if I ask Santa Christmas he may fill his sack with one for me. But if he's paying I want an iPad!!
This blog should really be about the 'Pathway to Hell'. Now, there are some of you thinking what? I can almost hear you think it. For those of you who know your 'sayings' you'll know what I'm talking about. That particular pathway is 'paved with good intentions'. That's exactly what my day has been like. I meant to do so many things today but the thing I actually achieved was buying a First Aid Kit for the studio. Don't shake your head in disappointment it's Sunday!! I have however, been networking. (Read going to the pub and meeting friends of friends) It would seem in a town like Swanage everybody knows my business. More importantly, skilled and talented people are throwing their business cards at me along with a whole host of great ideas. Thanks guys I'm going to be in touch. My good friend Ian came to the gallery today with the lovely Johnathan and within minutes he'd suggested a great idea for my dividing wall. It's great and I'm going to do it.
Tomorrow there is going to be a whole lotta flooring going on. I have a new man coming to sort out my flooring at home. Thank God.. It's a disaster! Meanwhile, at the gallery I'm pulling up carpets and laying floors. Oh yeah, and phoning the infamous BT to ask why? why? why? can they not sort out my Internet?
I'm so looking forward to that!

Is my Ferrari a Skateboard?

I managed a whole 20 minutes at the gallery today. Before I went and basically hung out with my friend Maria. I got more post today. My name's still spelt wrong and it was from BT who have the cheek to bill me and the line doesn't even work. DO NOT get me started about BT we all know I think they're Bloody Twats! Got a cool retro lampshade for the gallery. What I'm not sure about is if I've told you the gallery is going to be rocking a retro style. Keeping it a bit Old Skool. I'm going to admit something to you now, I found myself looking at retro skateboards on EBay!! I had this crazy idea that I was going to totally use it for transport to and from the gallery. For those of you shaking your heads whilst thinking 'Mid Life Crisis' has arrived...... I lived on a skateboard for years. I can still do tricks and stay on!! But I think the biggest difference between now and back then I had no fear of falling off. Now I just think 'Hospital'and the fact that there's not a real one in Swanage.
I feel I've gone on about that enough. Maria showed me some of her new work today. It looks amazing. I'm totally going to give her, her own exhibition when she's ready. I'm going to put some pics on here when I can!
Hope you're having a great weekend!

I don't wanna wait in vain for my Hub!

Ok, so it's now been nearly a week without the Internet. I waited in all morning rubbing my hands together in anticipation of my new Home Hub. It did not happen. The man who told me 4 times in a minute, ' your Home Hub' will be arriving on Friday Ma'am ' Yes he really called me Ma'am. He lied twice!! I'm no madam!!! No Hub either!
I have to say I'm starting to come out the other side of cold turkey. No more night sweats, and the panic attacks are decreasing to a much more manageable twice an hour! I'm hoping by next week I'll have fully embraced 'the old ways' I'll be flicking through the Yellow Pages and buying stamps like an old pro. You see if I'm not.
I have now got a sparkly new front window. I'm excited about that. I have also decorated my toilet door. It's now a collage of postcards that I've been collecting for years. It looks great. If I do say so my self. I took pictures but I know I don't need to tell you why your not seeing them.
I cleaned my newly uncovered window, so now you can see out of it. It had been shut up for 15 years. So grime and filth galore.
Tomorrow, I have my friend and talented artist Maria coming to check out the gallery. I'm excited I haven't seen her since we stopped working together.
It's lights, camera, action this week. Doghead, yes that's how he was introduced to me, is going to be sorting the lighting out for me. It's all starting to take shape. I can't wait to show you pictures. I hope this longer blog has made up for yesterdays short missive.
By the way, my electricity was put on at 1.30 this morning. The absolutely genius thing about it was I went round and switched all the lights on, force of habit. (Whilst electricity was off) So I was woken up by lights a blazin'!! Doh!

No Blog Today!!! My Powers gone away!!!

As if I haven't moaned enough this week about my lack of Internet access. Still not got any.:( Today, I was given a new thing to moan about. I've got no electricity. Have had none all day. So as I'm using my phone which is low on battery. I'm going to write today's blog in full tomorrow. I'm thinking happy thoughts and looking forward to salad by candlelight.

Please Read! My sanity may depend on it!!!

Trying to organise your life particularly your brand new business life is made 10 times more difficult without access to the Internet. I am now certain that the reason my dream is only now becoming a reality is because I could never have coped before. Snail mail. Researching where? A library? What I achieve in seconds would have taken days. I think I'm having a huge reality check. I feel like an amputation has taken place, I've got 'Missing Limb Syndrome' only the limb is my laptop and I am sure as Hell missing it. I know what you're thinking! Bitch, moan, bitch, moan, tell you about the gallery already. I have a window that lets in daylight!!! It looks awesome. Still a bit Prisoner Cell Block H but I love it like only a Mother could. The false ceiling is now at the municipal dump and my new front windows coming Friday. Even better than that I think I've managed to get my new doors for free 99! I'm hoping that is the case. Fingers crossed people. Tomorrow I've got to buy a whole heap of stuff. Mundane and boring but necessary. I found out today that it costs £44 a year to get a license to play music. Ker-ching I'm having some of that! As this is another transmission from my iPhone I'm going to call it a day. Can I recommend something before I go? I'm going to anyway! The Girl Who Played with Fire, Swedish film really good. As I'm recommending that I should also recommend MicMacs a french film by Jeunet (Amelie-Director). It's almost too good if that's possible.
Bon Nuit

Glossing over the ???

This is a real first. I'm doing this from my iPhone. It would seem my home hub has had it. So they're sending me a new one. The nice man told me this 4 times in 1 minute. I fear he thought my grasp of the English was as tenuous as his. Well gallery news, today I was thinking about an old colleague of mine and how I could contact her? She lives near me but I'm not sure where.I kid you not when I tell you less than 10 minutes later I bumped into her. So thank you Divine Intervention. She, I'm sure is one of Swanages many Oracles, whose brains I hope to pick in the very near future. Meanwhile, back at the gallery I glossed and glossed and glossed. But you now how vindictive gloss can be? No sooner have you painted it on and it tries it's hardest to grab you in it's sticky grip. After several near misses I decided that whilst I have sported various paint splashes in the past weeks, I thought I would forgo the pleasure. So early finish! Nice!!! I'm going to continue ordering equipment rather than watch paint dry.
I'm hoping to put some pics up tomorrow as I have downloaded them to memory stick so they're portable.
Till then :)

Going Cold Turkey!

If you were wondering why I haven't managed to post a blog the truth of the matter is that I do not have access to the Internet at the moment. BT are working to fix the problem. I think BT = Bloody Twats. Pardon my french. I have had an ongoing battle with them since last November. It's true, I'm not lying!
Today was the day that saw many unfinished jobs get finished. I would love to show you some pictures but the reality is that I'm typing this is on a Stegasuarus' Spine. If you need a more obvious translation I'm using a PC that won't load pictures from my Iphone. :(
I'm already suffering some cold turkey symptoms as I can't log on to the web! I have to get my cyberspace fix.
I have finished the toilet, my office and I'm now starting to put out my accessories in. If you've been following me you know that I LOVE my accessories.
But I have heard from another artist who is rearing to go so that's all good. I miss my pictures because they show you exactly where I am at with everything.
So I'm going to sign off now as I'm borrowing someone elses computer just so I can keep up my Blogging momentum.
Hopefully, tomorrow I can show you all finished rooms.

I can't get no sleep!

If you were ever wondering how to stay up late without the help of Red Bull, Caffeine and Illegal Substances I have discovered the perfect solution!!
Start your own business! It works like a charm, no shakes, paranoia, horrible come downs or anything. Just a guarantee that when you should be sleeping you are wide awake.
How much time does a person need to think about paint? Apparently, this person needs at least one hour contemplating the various pros and cons of matt versus gloss.
Tragic in absolutely every way possible.
The only news on the gallery front today is...............you've guessed it! PAINT. I have bought floor paint, metal paint and wall paint.
I have no other news other than Milo has given me the go ahead to put his website link on here. So if you feel like it have a look.
http://www.milonewman.com/home.html
I hope that I have something more interesting to tell you in the next few days.

It don't add up to a hill o' beans!

I needed to show you that I find maths tricky! All I have been doing today is number crunching and I am already feeling that crunching is not good for me. I have had to start to make decisions and who would have thunk it I'm growing increasingly indecisive. I know why, it's all those zeros I was talking about the other day. Make the wrong choice and my already seriously depleted bank balance shrinks like a mans privates when entering a particularly cold sea.
I am deliberating about things that wouldn't even have been on my radar a month ago. The good news is that I have time on my side. I can afford to spend large amounts of time finding things at the right price. Today alone I have saved myself £100 by shopping around. Aaaah, the joy of the Internet. I must start as I mean to continue.
I'm now thinking about leaving my false ceiling up as I cannot find any light fittings that are beautiful enough to sit on the actual ceiling without leaving an horrendous amounts of wires trailing. I am sorry if this is boring you but this is my new life.
This is a battle that I know you have all wanted to know about. Paint versus Carpet. Who will win in this fight to the bottom? Who will be floored before they get out of the corner? Another mundane decision to be made.
I've started to contact artists about putting work in the gallery. It's all been positive so far. I looked at the website of a photographer Milo Newman. He's good, I'm just waiting for him to give me permission to put a link on here and maybe some pics to give you a taste. My website designer Neil Stevens @ Deshok seems to think he will have something to show me very soon. I can't wait to share that link with you all.
The weekend is almost here and I will be able to put down my laptop and engage with real people. I hope I'm up to the challenge.

Short But Sweet

Having now spent the last 3 hours looking at a whole heap of things on the Internet working my way through my 'lists'. The image signifies the current state of my head. There are so many things that I need to know and do and I want to explain that the learning curve is somewhat HUGE!
I think I've found some front doors though. I've also sourced some new CCTV cameras. Contacted the water board. Got first public liability insurance quote. Filled in countless other forms to get quotes. Looked into registering as a business. Sourced daylight florescent tubes for the studio. Got Landlord on the case to fit new window in studio.
Are you impressed? I'm only 1/3 of my way down the list. Believe it or not writing this is light relief. I've got a date for the work to start on the gallery, 4th October. I've just got to take down the ceiling and rip up the carpet. So not much then!
I'm starting to contact potential exhibitors so if you are one then you know what to do. Drop me an email or you can use the comments box to make initial contact.
Best get back on with it.
Tearing down ceilings and ripping up floors is what I'm going to be up to tomorrow.

Scary Times!

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

George Bernard Shaw


I'm starting with a quote as that's how my gallery business started today. My Man that Can - Matt Suttle came by with his quote for the renovation work. Luckily for me I did not have a nervous breakdown as it looks like I will be able to eat and keep the roof over my head. Which is a huge relief.
I have started to look at double doors as I will need to replace the ones that are currently there. To say they were shabby would insult any doors that were actually shabby. They are circa 1970 and have the ghosts of a hundred bike stickers that I scraped off on day 1.
I am already losing the will to live as I can't find any that actually will fit. Lights were the next thing  I started to research and to be honest I'm over that too. I have to make a big ceiling decision. Any input would be gratefully received. False ceiling or no false ceiling?
That will determine what lights I can fit. All things considered now is the time that things start to get serious. There are more noughts involved at the end of each transaction. So I guess I'm entering the Trials and Tribulations stage of proceedings.
You know it's getting serious when your Landlord puts a friendly note through the door reminding you that you are now responsible for having new fire extinguishers on the premises. GRRRRRRRREEEEEEAAAAAATTT!!!
Tomorrow I will start the last bits of tidying up. But to be honest there's so much to research for the gallery I'm feeling that my NBF - New Best Friend will actually be my laptop.
Back tomorrow!

I'll show you mine, if you show me yours?

You wanted a window so I gave you a window!

Ok so this is MUCH later than planned. The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray according to some very famous author. What you should know is that I have been to the pub celebrating a friends birthday tonight so if there's any typing mistakes or Freudian slips they are purely unintentional.
I have revealed the window that wasn't and now is. Yes, it is ugly but it's mine. The bars remind me of Prisoner Cell Block H. Oh, I could reminisce about Uni and that programme but rest assured I won't.
It was a busy day at the gallery, if I was to carry on the analogy of metamorphosis it would definitely be at the 'leather jacket' stage. If you can remember your O' Level Biology for my younger audience GCSE.
Got loads done and three out of the four spaces that I need to renovate are very nearly finished. Which will leave the 'Big One'. Matt hasn't got back to me yet with my quote. I hope that no news is good news. Not holding my breath though.
On another note, when is a fire door not a fire door?
When it's a useless hunk of wood that will almost guarantee that you choke to death on noxious fumes. So it would appear that my current 'fire door' and I use that term loosely is neither use nor ornament. I feel like if I was a cartoon character there would be pound signs in my eyes whilst birds flew around my head.
I would like to have exclusive ownership of the phrase "'Ow Much?"

My finished office, with clock and CCTV.

My Boss has decided to reward all my hard work with the day off tomorrow. It just means that all work will be computer based and can be done from home. The Ice Lady is thawing just a little. At eight minutes past midnight I think I can safely say goodnight and thanks for reading and for my international audience good morning and thanks for reading!

Girl on Grime, Hot Action! Must be seen to be believed!

Me and my Stereo modeling our Plastic Bonnets.

We had a lot of fun today, but it was bloody hard graft. I painted one whole ceiling and half of another. Finished the walls and did a general touch up on all the previously painted areas. Lisa painted up a storm and whizzed round and did all the walls in the workshop. My Man that Can, Matt Suttle came round to give me a nervous breakdown. Oh, I mean a quote for the work that needs to be done in the gallery. He was shown a hole that led to a window and in record speed and for free (phew) he dismantled the faux wall and revealed a fairly ugly barred window. That is covered externally by a steel sheet. So "Let there be light!" I meant to take a picture of it, I forgot you will have to make do with the before shot.

You will have to check in tomorrow if you want to look through the square window. He then showed me my actual ceiling which again is ugly and wallpapered. Bright green and magnolia in places. Colour blind people should never be allowed to decorate. I apologize to any colour blind people who read this but you're not painting over this crazy coloured ceiling.

I have to say by the end of the day the delirious laughter that over took us was largely due to inhaling far too many paint fumes throughout the day. That and relief that the 'Boss' had finally said we could clear the Hell up. Lisa called her the 'C' word today I don't think she likes her much either. I thought it was a bit strong but it did make me laugh.

A bit more hard graft ahead tomorrow have to get the toilet painted. My next blog will just be all before and after pictures. I keep forgetting to take them. As many of my school reports said 'must try harder'.
You should know this has taken me an impossibly long time to write and I'm really concentrating. My jaw hurts from gritting my teeth.

Sex, Sex and more Sex!!! XXX

I was looking through my blog history and I was trying to workout why the blog that got the most readers, got the most readers. I think I might have worked it out. So I'm using this blog to do a little social experiment.
I hope you appreciate the artistic sex. Anyone who has ever studied art will recognise the two perpetrators of some of the most wooden acting you've ever seen!
There's not much to tell on the gallery front I was there for about 2.5 minutes today. I delivered a microwave put some more scary mail in the scary mail pile for the previous owner.
Tomorrow the work will begin again in earnest. Lisa and I will be painting the workshop and hopefully the littlest room too.
So I'll catch you later.

The Glass is always half full.

I have spent the day chilling out and being proud of my achievements. I took the talented Lisa Bate to the gallery today and I'm happy to report that she got as excited about the prospect of the gallery as I am. We spent time just looking at the space and having fantastic creative ideas about the endless possibilities that could happen.
We followed that up with some brain lubricating fluid consumption and that generated further creative ideas. I have to admit some more far fetched ideas were starting to flow. I'll spare you those. I've roped Lisa in to help with the transformation process. Read-General hard labour and painting.

I am going to show you some of her very unique glass sculptures. If you like them you will know where to come if you want to see some more.
I hope you like it because it's just been included in the British Glass Biennale 2010 and is also going to be on permanent display at the Royal Cornwall Museum in the Mineral Section.
So as always watch this space for the new developments.

I'm coming unravelled!

In light of there being no other developments at the gallery other than a rather large purchase of paint. I have cleaned the retro ghetto blaster. It took 30 minutes to degrease it. But it looks pretty cool now. I got my first piece of post with my name on at the gallery today. Ok, my name was spelt wrong and the address was not quite right either. But it made it there. Meanwhile, ominous looking post is turning up for the previous owner. As I have no forwarding address and no means of contacting him I just have to hope they don't send the heavies round.
This weekend I will be showing some friends the gallery space with the intention of persuading them to exhibit their work with me. So that's pretty exciting.
Had my haircut, it's pretty radical. I'm try to persuade Ross at Maximum to write a blog of his own. He does these kickass haircuts that I'm sure people would like to see.
Anyway, I'll let you know whose arm I twist over the weekend.
Have a good one.

To say that I do not have the mental capability to write this would be a huge understatement. But just to keep it interesting I'm going to carry on regardless. You have my sympathy if it turns out to be absolute drivel. I will do my best. I already told you about the 200+ screws that I would have to remove. Well I started that today and guess what? Can you guess? I then had 200+ holes to fill. My cup of joy runneth over. So thank you to the mighty Black & Decker for making that first bit a little easier.
Then started the the major degrease. Sugar soap and pink marigolds, even with my OCD tendencies did not hit the spot. Several buckets of black water later you could start to see the colour of the paint underneath. Matt Suttle my Man that Can came by today to get a feel for the place, he's going to be putting up my false walls. Like me he got way more excited about this totally retro ghetto blaster that I found. I think it's going to be my first working installation piece.

It's a handsome thing indeed. I hope that there's someone reading this that feels just a tiny twinge of nostalgia for these pre ipod works of absolute genius.
Anyway, waxing lyrical about a ghetto blaster.......... So back to the gallery. I'm back in there Monday as I need a haircut as I'm currently growing a pseudo fro. It looks rubbish. Then the afternoon will be spent buying more paint, much more paint, much, much more paint. I reckon you now have the picture. I'm going to sign off now as I think enough is enough. Till the next time.

What a difference a day makes.

I'm sorry people but having done a fullish day at the gallery I'm absolutely cream crackered. For my overseas readers and I think there's one or two. Literally. It's cockney rhyming slang for knackered a word we use to mean well and truly worn out. Pooped. As I said earlier I'm not sure about my new boss, wants me to work 5 hours straight without a break. Hard core. Well if paint got in my eyes yesterday I got in my hair today. But I reckon 1 hour more of painting and I will be finished!!! My office that is, it's a case of the smallest room first. Well second smallest I still have to paint the bathroom.
I'm done in.
Goodnight! Sleep loose! Tight just seems too unrelaxed if that's a word.

Paint Gets in your Eyes.

I came home yesterday looking like a much duller  and grubbier version of the picture above. I'm feeling the burn today. I have been working flat out for 6 days both at home and at the gallery. I'm waiting for the floor fitter as he is going to attempt to finish the two rooms he's started.  He's coming at 11.00. The time now is 11.31 and counting.Time is money people. My goals today are to finish painting my office, strip the windows as they are covered in stickers. Start to unscrew 200+ screws that don't appear to serve any purpose whatsoever. I'm watching Diagnosis Murder it's rubbish.
I promise to put the pics on later. I will make myself upload them if it's the last thing I do. My Boss can be a total bitch sometimes. I'm not sure I like her.
FYI it's 11.37 now still on my own.

Getting down and dirty.

I was trying to think how I could best describe the dirt and muck I had to deal with today. I wanted to conjure up the level of filth in a way that everybody could relate to. Most people have moved a cooker at some point and are fairly horrified that it's quite so dirty in an area that you cook and prepare food. If anyone asked you would probably say my kitchen is clean. So now imagine a place where no food needs to be prepared. A place where thousands of bikes have been through during the last 12 years. A place where bikes were taken apart and various parts were washed in the sink that coffee cups are washed up in. There was a grease scum line around the entire building. I have managed to degrease one room and fill about 150 holes. One coat of industrial white paint and its looking much better. I'll upload pictures later. I'm absolutely shattered. I think the previous owner thought hygiene was how he greeted his friend called Jeanette.
On another note at least 5 people came in to ask me where their bikes were. Maybe I should seriously have considered remaining a bike shop. Just kidding.
I'm going to post the pictures later so you can see it for yourself.

The Lazy Caterpillar

I'm lying here thinking that I need to motivate before it's too late.  The gallery is at the caterpillar stage of metamorphosis. Interesting to look at but what it will eventually look like is a closely guarded secret. I have all the equipment at the ready but today I feel lazy so I'm going to refuel with some more caffeine before heading down there.
I will add pictures later.

Losing my cherry!

Today was the day! I finally went to the Bike Shop/Gallery. I'm going to level with you, I was a little scared about going there first time on my own. My level of responsibility had grown by 1000,000,000%. I am entering the realms of a business owner. I'm going to be my own boss. I just hope that I'm a good employee. No pulling 'Sickies' when I'm well but fancy the day off. No elongated breaks and lunches. No sloping off early to do the shopping. Am I insane to give up all those perks of working for other people? It's ok, I know the answer. Of course I am, but I'm an artist and in the words of Bobby Brown 'it's my prerogative'.
So I opened the door and was greeted by the smell of tyre rubber and oil. First thought, that has got to go. You want to know about how it felt, well it was exciting, exhilarating, scary and right. It felt right and I can totally see myself in there doing my thing. The amount of work required to make my dream a reality seems totally possible. The most work needs to be done is in the gallery space. The walls are covered in huge bike logo banners. Nice. As you can see the floor is covered in grease.  The ceiling is sporting 1980 tiles and florescent lighting.
The first picture is of what will be my studio it's difficult to get the sense of scale but it's pretty big.
The second picture is of the gallery space it's huge. I'm happy about that.  Tomorrow the work will begin in earnest. I intend to take a proper camera with me tomorrow so that I can document each stage of the transformation. So you will be properly involved. Wish me luck it's going to hard graft from now on. But I'm ready for it!

Do not over diversify!!

I am almost ashamed to admit it that for the second day running I've been preoccupied with all matters house. A note to self would read " DO NOT get new floors fitted throughout your house in the same week that you gain possession of your new business premises!!'
Furniture from IKEA looks great on the Internet but putting it together is another story. It should all come will a swear box attached, because by the time you've finished putting it together you'll have enough money to go back to IKEA and buy the thing you thought was frivolous the day before.
Gallery developments are fairly minimal but I've been quietly pottering in my sketchbook/list book developing ideas for how I can launch the gallery. Optimising my marketing.
Any ideas gratefully received. So I'm going to venture to the Bike Shop tomorrow and I'll post interior pics.
That's all for now folks.

My Gallery pretending to be a Bike Shop.

I felt guilty about not keeping it real. Here's a picture of my major work in progress. Don't worry about the scaffolding it's going next week. So tomorrow I'll show the inside.

Art is where the home is.

As much as I wanted to regale you with tales of my unlocking the door to my gallery for the first time and how it felt, and how happy I am to realise my dreams. I have another truth to tell, I spent the day at IKEA purchasing random articles that I think I might need. It seems to be a right of passage, the necessary pilgrimage to IKEA whenever you are redesigning a space. So suffice to say I'm an artist so I'm overly concerned with the minutiae. Accessories being key to the my overall success. I know it's not true but I feel better knowing that I'm completely colour coordinated and have all the necessary cleaning accoutrements to satisfy my other compulsion which is cleaning. So tomorrow will in fact be the day that I tell the tale of my maiden visit to 'The Gallery'. Bear with me people I'll get to the good stuff soon. I'll also be adding pics tomorrow.

Beware! The List Maker Cometh

Having recently left teaching, I believe that some of my success in that career was largely due to my ability to write lists of 'Things To Do' and religiously tick them off as I completed them. So when planning this new project I'm sticking to an old favourite to insure I do exactly what I'm supposed to. So in order to keep you updated I have already got the keys.... I have a phone number....and of course let's not forget I've got my lists. I am babysitting my floor fitter who has bought chaos to my home but has meant that I have to be here and have to work through my list(s).
I'm going to carry on with my OCD list affliction and if there are any mind blowingly interesting events that occur between now and bedtime regarding the gallery I will fill you all in. But, I'm expecting it to be all quiet on the gallery front!

A Voyage of Discovery

So, making a blog is fairly straight forward but knowing what to put on it is a completely different matter. But I realised that I haven't actually told you what is happening with the gallery. I met with my website designer yesterday (Neil Stephens @ Deshok.com). He's shown me the first mock ups of my logo. They're looking great. Chosen 3 to combine together to make one. So watch this space and you'll be the first to see it. I get the keys to the premises on Saturday, I'm going to spare you the drama behind that. But when I feel like laughing about it I'll share it with you all. Then it will be laughs all round. Monochrome is my theme so my blog already is selling me. If anyone has nothing better to do please feel free to come and help me degrease the gallery as it is currently a bike shop. Don't get used to 2 blogs in a day as I am going to be very busy with the metamorphosis of a grubby, dingy bike shop into a cool, urban art gallery.
So I'll let you know what I manage to get done tomorrow.

Getting Started!

I'm a blogging virgin but like the rest of the world I feel that I have something to say that someone somewhere might want to read.
I am going to document the experience of opening a gallery I'm a virgin at that too! So in a an attempt to keep it real I'm going to use this blog to tell all the secrets that are a mystery to me at the moment. I would gladly welcome any input from anyone who has anything to say about Gallery ownership.
Here endeth my first ever blog.