Keep Your Friends Close and Your Admin Closer!

Now I enter the final phase of the process of opening a gallery, I am starting to see the parallels between my new job and my old one. Paperwork! The biggest difference is that I don't have endless reports to
write. I don't have to think of several different ways to write your son/daughter is ultimately average and  could get better results if they applied themselves. Now it's numerous emails to art publications trying to get them interested in me. Self promotion is hard. Wording things so you don't sound like egomaniacal lunatic is quite difficult. Under sell yourself and people don't think you have what it takes. Over sell yourself and they wonder you are contacting them as it is obvious you are just one step down from God like status and why do you need them?
I am aiming for modest but confident, whether or not I am hitting the mark is anyones guess. I hope that the next fifteen times that I will check my email in the next hour will actually bring some rewards for all my efforts this morning.
I am going to try and find some money to put in my business account in a bit, that will probably just be depressing.
I have had lots of very encouraging messages from people who have been reading the blog and I would like to thank everyone for those.
A double blog day today so I can show you the new developments as promised for the last two days.

Still At Work

I would have loved to have shown you great pictures of all the new developments........but when your electrician says he's coming you stay put. I can't upload my pictures from here. I have my first row of lights! Hooray!!! They look great! I am busying myself doing various menial tasks but feel guilty because I'm not doing anything meaningful.
I have spent the day sending emails and chasing up artists. I did this at home as the gallery is a bit 'freezing' at the moment. The weather here is so cold. I have been wearing five layers down here and the minute you stop working the cold grabs you by the throat and strangles every last bit of warmth out of you. I think it will dramatically improve when the lights are finished and the rest of the ceiling is up.
So Dan and Matt got all the tracking up and some of the lights are actually already working. They look great. (I'm worried that the word 'great' is becoming the new 'so') But you know what, I don't care, because everything is looking great, fantastic, brilliant and fabulous.
I'm doing all the tweaky tedious bits at the moment. I just want to start making stuff be it prints or jewellery. I want to get busy.
I apologise for the lateness of my last two blogs but I have been pulling late nights to be on hand if necessary to help. I made coffees and screwed in my led bulbs into the lights. So as you can tell I was a big help.
More of the same for me tomorrow, I'm hoping to have news on my sign and doors. They are the last few things that need to be finished. I will put pics up tomorrow as I will take the necessary lead to the gallery with me.
By the way I under ordered my lights, I knew it was all going too well. I HATE numbers, they are SO not GREAT!!!

I am a Gallery Owner!

Today was the beginning of my official life as a gallery owner! Until now I have been someone who has been engaged in the activity of refurbishing a premises that was to become a gallery. But today I had my real job head on. I had the very delightful job of selecting work that I will show in the gallery.
It has been a day of strange coincidences, two artists Mary Jane Evans and Maria Jirat arrived at the same time and I was listening to Michael Jackson and they both sign their work M.J. My phone rang twice and both times my mobile rang at the same time.
I have to say if I have been feeling uncertain in any way about having enough work to show, today totally dispelled that. Mary Jane and Maria absolutely had me spoilt for choice. Two very talented ladies. I cannot wait to put it all out. I did think about putting pictures on here but they would be spoilers as they would not do the work justice. I also want to keep it all a surprise until the opening.
I have decided that I am going to wait until January to open as there are a few jobs that really don't look like they are going to be finished in time. No-one is to blame it's just the way things are. It will give me time to plan it all properly and more importantly publicise it properly.
Matt added a second tier to my glass display table and it looks great, he made some great little display stands and my 'Robot of the Week' box. A very good afternoons work.
Dan turned up and sorted my plug sockets out. I bought the right but wrong quick fit boxes, which were nigh on impossible to fit let alone quickly. Luckily he had some others he could use and finished the job super quickly. He also showed me my lights in action and thank all that is holy I bought the right ones and the right track. Phew!!!! They are going up tomorrow.
I've got some admin to do in the morning, I guess I should actually put some money in business account and pay some bills.
I'll show you all the new developments tomorrow.

“Anger always comes from frustrated expectations” - Elliot Larsen

There is always a danger when you expect too much from anything or anyone. Today I found myself expecting too much of christmas decorations. It was a mistake. I decided that whether I open or not I am going to put a christmas tree in the window. So in keeping with the black and white theme I have a black tree with silver and white decorations. Crammed the tree into the mini, along with a bagful of bling. Everything was going according to plan. Unpacked the tree, joined it all together and I thought 'Let the decorating commence'. Apparently not. I have boxes of baubles and other sparkly stuff, and none of it came with any means to hang it with. No string, useful loops or ribbon. Nothing whatsoever. This was a completely new one on me, this has to be the first time that I have bought decorations that did not come ready to hang. For now I have had to make do with the white tinsel and nothing else. I went across the road to the charity shop who sell christmas decorations and scrutinised theirs and they also did not come with any means to hang them with. WHAT is the world coming too? I have since been to several other shops trying to find something to no avail.
Luckily, I was rescued from my Mission Impossible by my friends Suze and Katie who came to visit and take me away from my arduous task.
I had my last Saturday class yesterday and it was great. I have really enjoyed being so self indulgent and creative for an entire day every fortnight. The people I was there with were also cool and I hope we keep in touch.
Gallery news.....My life is not yet lit up, but I'm hoping it will be soon. I have two artists coming to bring me their work tomorrow so at least something is progressing. I will have to have my official gallery owner head on which will be interesting.
My cheque book and debit card arrived yesterday. They are Big with a capital B. Not the card just the cheque/paying in books. My debit card reads L'Artishe Gallery and Stud as it couldn't fit the whole word studio in. I think that is fairly amusing.
I just thought that you might like to know I've written well over 100 blogs and I've had well over 4,000 page views so thank you all very much for that.
That's all I can think of for now.

Torville and Dean. Shame I'm Neither One of Them!

There is still plenty of snow on the ground and I am yet to get dressed. I have set up office in bed and have been organising my admin from here. Outside my window there is an ice rink that would be perfect if it wasn't my road and the pavement. Snow was totally doable yesterday but the shimmering ice that is glinting beautifully in the winter sun looks lethal. I should add that I live at the top of a hill, that's a fairly crucial detail.
I am not sure it's worth the risk. When I have so much other stuff I could be getting on with. It would seem that there is always something to do. I have just designed and ordered my new business cards and a company stamp and some window decals. I need to get the name out there.
I am contemplating getting up and about  but I'm not exactly sure why I'm bothering.
I'm thinking that I could do my homework for college tomorrow but I'm not sure that it is even going to happen. Unless the temperature goes up several degrees from -6 I'm fairly certain I wont be leaving Swanage tomorrow either.
I hope that none of you are suffering too much with the bad weather. I keep thinking to myself, how can something so beautiful cause quite so much chaos? A friend of mine is grateful for the snow because it makes his messy garden look tidy and he's got a point there.
My cats have all fully embraced the snow and are out playing in it even though it's up to their armpits/legpits, not sure what the correct terminology is for the top of cats legs.
Let me know if you know so I can be correct in the future.
I love the quote above as it is clever and insightful and one I intend to embrace whenever possible.
Happy Second Snow Day everybody.
Keep Safe and Keep Warm!

Snow Day

Well Swanage avoided snow very effectively until about 11.30 last night. I saw a few flakes fall and thought nothing more of it. An hour later it was falling in earnest, more importantly it was settling. By 1.30 about an inch had fallen it was at this point I thought enough with this insomnia I should get some sleep. I should mention that Matt phoned me at 12.05 to tell me that it was snowing. He proceeded to venture out whilst I stayed put and cuddled my hot water bottle.
I woke up to six inches of fresh snow, and cats who thought the ground was attacking them. It was very funny to watch. It was officially a Snow Day and plans were already in place for snowman building and other snow related merriment.
Swanage only has one road out and that meant that Swanage was pretty much on lockdown, you knew this was the case because you couldn't buy a loaf of bread in the shops. Panic buying had already taken place.
Matt was unable to come to work today day to 'the long treacherous commute to work'. Admittedly he lives up a freakishly steep hill.
Gallons of Mulled Wine were consumed at the Red Lion and 35 people strong snowball fights took place, and I'm fairly certain virtually everyone I knew managed to be in there at some point today.
Now for gallery news, it's a bit up in the air at the moment as the artists whose work was supposed to be coming this week haven't been able to do that due to the snow. My doors which were ordered well over 2 months ago have not shown up yet. My lights need to be fitted. I may have to revert to a January opening which is a shame as I've worked really hard to try and be open before Christmas but there are factors that are beyond my control. For an OCD control freak you can imagine that does not sit well with me.
I've been grumpy on and off all day as I was really hoping to be open and have worked really hard. But I don't want it to be not quite right. Too much effort and energy has been involved to open before I'm fully ready. If everything falls in to place over the next 7 days it could all be back on. So send me as positive many vibes as possible.
Keep warm and keep smiling!

I'm as Cold as Ice!

We have no snow but what we do have is wind a plenty, the wind chill factor must be bringing the temperature down to minus bloody freezing. If you walk outside without gloves your hands are numb within minutes. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm giving you such an in depth weather report. The gallery has not got any central heating and inside closely echoes outside. I had a halogen heater on and it took the edge off, but you have to keep moving.

Matt came down and sorted out all my hanging rails. The best news about this is that I did not under order the hanging rail. I was convinced that I'd ordered 9ft as opposed to 9 metres. I have developed a very peculiar paranoia. I think it's closely related to spending large amounts of cash. I put the order together, then check it, then order it. I allow 2 or 3 hours to elapse and then I suddenly think 'Have I ordered the right thing/amount/colour?' The list goes on. I then have to check and mostly I have been right. I am hoping that I am nearly over spending the really big wedges of cash. Just as well really.

It is getting exciting now just got to get the lights in and the artists work.

I've still got a few more jobs to do as always. I need some gloves to wear whilst I work that would definitely help.

Official opening in 2 weeks I hope. Fingers crossed.

P.S I'm going to put the Christmas Tree up tomorrow not essential but nice.