Have Fun and A Happy One!

It is with a few extra pounds (weight not cash) I am writing my post Christmas Blog! I'm sure I'm not alone and I hope that you have all over indulged sufficiently enough to recover in time for the next time on New Years Eve?
I have been attacked by a winter cough which has me hacking more effectively than a teenage nerd with a penchant for I.T. It's been two days now and that's been forty eight hours too long for my liking.
I know you're all wondering what could possibly have happened at the gallery over Christmas. The truth is not a great deal actually. But I have however had my first advert in the local paper. It's very exciting, it looks great.....there is a down side though. They have printed my home phone number as opposed to the business one. Ooops, so that will have to be rectified as I can't have people phoning me at home when I am  at the gallery.
The other things that have happened are Christmas presents, I got loads of great stuff all for the gallery. I got a coffee machine, three liquidisers, a flip video camera and various other small bits and pieces. I hope that with my new video camera I can successfully upload videos to my blog. Then you can see all the exhibitions and keep visually up to date with all the new developments.
I think it is worth telling you that there must be a lot of people surfing the Internet looking for everything rude. The Blog that I called 'Sex, Sex and More Sex' has had so many views this week it's crazy. Oh how disappointed were they when they opened it and read it?? I'm guessing supremely.
Well that's all I have got to say for the moment. I hope that you all have a great New Years Eve and that 2011 is the year that makes you happy.
Have fun and be safe!

Have A Great Festive Season!

Like everybody else I have been doing the festive thing. Wrapping presents, writing cards and trying to catch up with everybody before they head on their Christmas way. I have some exciting news......my doors have finally arrived. They came this morning so this means that I will be able to complete the renovations by New Year.
I have organised all my publicity and I have collected the majority of the work.
I spent some time at the gallery today mostly up a ladder and you know how much I like being up a ladder. The rest of my lights have now been fitted and the gallery is nice and bright. I took the rest of the rubbish up to the dump so there are no more jobs left to do. Merry Christmas to me.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone who has ever read my blog a very Merry Christmas and a really great New Year. Let's hope 2011 is the year that we all achieve everything that we set out to do.
I will continue writing my blog over the festive season as there are always developments that I can let you know about. I will also be revealing the date of the official launch party, so keep your eyes peeled.
I hope you all have a great time with your family and friends.

Busy Night Then Very Busy Day!

Stewart Perry-Ward

Stewart Perry Ward

There are days when you know that you've got a lot to do, so the night before you go to bed at a sensible time. Then there are random nights when you ignore the fact that you will be absolutely hectic have a crazy late night and still expect to achieve what you had planned. I am proud to say that I managed it and it was a day long event.
I went and got the work from Claire Hincks the Ceramist (yes, that is how you spell it). You learn something new every day. It has been over ten years since I last saw her and it was great to see her again. She was very good back then and now I think it's fair to say she has improved with age. Her work is fantastic and I can't wait to put it out in the gallery.
I have made contact with another glass artist who makes the most unusual but fascinating works. His is the work in this blog. I hope that you like it. I have to finalise the workshops page for my website as my website designer wants to get on and finish up. I have been busy writing other stuff but that is the most important job tomorrow.
An early night beckons.

My Vocabulary Has Left The Building!

How the white stuff seems to be wreaking havoc with everybody's very existence. Mine included. I have planned a strategy to ensure that everything that I need to do for the gallery is done prior to Christmas. Apparently that is not going to happen. I have been snowbound but not anymore...but people I need to see are still snowbound. I remember the days when I was young and the very thought of snow filled me with anticipation of time off school, snowman building and snowball fights. Now as an adult I worry about delays, car accidents, missed deadlines to name but a few. When did I grow up and put the NO into sNOw? I'm not sure but I suppose since I am my own boss I don't get paid for Snow Day no fun there then. I feel the cold more now and I worry about falling flat on my arse. I am supposed to be writing an article about myself promoting me and the gallery for a magazine but the truth of the matter is I can't think what to write. It would be great if I could just write ' Come to my gallery, it's full of cool stuff and it's a really nice space to be in'. I know that would not cut it. I shall have to continue to ponder that one. I tried to think about whilst playing Harry Potter on the Wii. Apparently that calls for multitasking skills way beyond my control.
I have asked Father Christmas for a skills sharpener and I'm hoping that I have been good enough to get one.
If your life is being totally screwed over by the snow I hope that it rains for you like it did for me and now we have no snow!
I would be eternally grateful if anyone had any words of wisdom about how to sell/promote the gallery. I have done it too well on the website and don't want to keep repeating myself.

Observations of A Gallery Owner

1. Don't pay anyone upfront, they work slowly as a result of not being hungry for the money.
2. When creating a lot of dust breathe less often. Alternatively wear a dust mask.
3. Ignore the phone for at least the first two months unless you specifically want to be cold called and sold something you ultimately don't need.
4. When ordering things from the Internet, make the phone call to check they actually have the thing you are trying to buy.
5. More than 5 layers of clothing on your upper body does restrict your movement making painting difficult.
6. Don't leave all outdoor painting until it starts to drop below freezing, not only does it take ages for the paint to dry but it takes ages for you to thaw out.
7. Polyfilla is not designed to fill any hole no matter the size.
8. Do not believe the lies of Sales people. They are only interested in their commission and will quite happily sell you the wrong product or the most expensive.
9. People that say they are not trying to sell you anything are all trying to sell you something.
10. Don't use a ladder that is more than fifty years old.
11. Toilet roll has many other practical applications, none of them restricted to the littlest room.
12. Don't tell anyone too much about what you are doing, because some people are just negative pessimists.
13. Don't sweat the small stuff until it mutates into the big stuff.
14. Think before you paint, don't just start where it's most convenient because ultimately you'll end up leaning on it when you paint the less convenient places.
15. Don't take ladders for granted, they are not human, they do not understand fear and will topple if given the right encouragement.
16. In the cold weather try and find a warm drink that's an alternative to coffee. Don't have a 'warming coffee' every hour and expect to sleep at night.
17. Think twice about inviting drunk people to the gallery when the floor isn't quite dry.
18. At no point is it appropriate to behave like an ostrich when confronted with a crisis.
19. Don't expect artists to contact you back, they are a creative bunch with an abstract understanding of time.
20. Electricity is sold by charlatans and thieves.
21. Keeping the workforce happy can be as easy as having Quavers in the cupboard and a regular supply of tea/coffee.
22. Power tools can be cool, not scary especially when you actually get over the initial fear!
23. Writing a Blog keeps you focused and honest. It totally lifts your mood when you get nice comments and lots of readers. 
24. Lunch should not just consist of the afore mentioned Quavers and coffee.
25. Just because you work four doors up from your local pub does not mean that you have to call in there every night.

I think 25 observations are more than enough. I hope you enjoy them.

Don't Put Off Today..........

There are days when it flows and there are days when no matter how hard you try it is clumsy and boring. I'm talking about writing my blog. I really do try to make it as interesting and humorous as possible but I know sometimes it falls short. So thanks for reading it anyway. This is actually my second attempt as I thought the first draft was duller than an overcast day in Dullsville.
As soon as I posted my blog yesterday I remembered all the stuff I forgot to mention. I have organised my first advert and it looks great. I have tried to put a picture in the blog but apparently I do not have the rights to publish it. I have also lined up some more publicity with Wessex Muse, they wrote about me a few years ago. They are going to do a double page spread about the opening. I have already had to update the website in order to make sure that there is enough information on there for people to start emailing/phoning me to book places on one of my workshops. Have I mentioned that I'm an eternal optimist?
Now the gallery is pretty much finished it is time for me to focus on other things. I am sure that my blurry eyed approach is not doing me any favours. I have all kinds of tedious tasks to do but I cannot seem to settle to finish any of them.
I've been doing a fairly in depth study of Harry Potter Lego for the Wii and I find it to be both amusing and challenging. Needless to say it does not help me to complete any of my tasks. I am now allowing myself to get sucked in to 'Murder She Wrote' and writing my blog. If I could win a prize for procrastination I might get round to collecting it tomorrow or maybe Saturday.
I'm going to the gallery in a little while so that might motivate me to get a few more of my tasks complete before I go.
I better go and get on with them then. Jessica Fletcher has just promised not to keep a secret and a policeman just said 'wild thoughts give me the willies'. I kid you not. It's very, very bad!

The Fear Factor!

I apologise that I have missed my 6 o'clock deadline that I have been trying to meet. I have had a very busy afternoon. I would like to say that it was a busy day but no just a very busy afternoon. I left my house at 7.50 this morning with the intention of doing many productive things before my midday meeting. Getting my haircut and writing my artists disclaimer thingy! No, apparently the world had other ideas. My hairdresser didn't even open until 10.30, admittedly I hadn't booked but still!! I did however manage to catch up with my best friend Ian for coffee. That was lovely. No disclaimer thingy was written as I'd forgotten the template for it.
I headed to Poole to meet with Rob Marshall, he makes the most amazing glassware. If you've looked at my website you'll have seen some of his work. I got five fantastic pieces from him and also picked up the work of ceramic artist Charlotte Blake. I'm excited about putting it all out on display.
I didn't say much in my blog yesterday as I thought it would be good for you to just see what I have been doing. Matt and I hung the work (mostly him) and it looks amazing. I had at least 25 'pinch me I must be dreaming' moments as it all seemed very real. It feels like a bit of scary wrapped in a blanket anticipation with a generous sprinkle of excitement.
I feel it is only fair to tell you about my up a ladder experience yesterday. You saw the lovely 'after' photos,what I neglected to show you were the 'before'. Maybe I have at some point but not yesterday. My front windows were two tone white at the bottom and beige at the top. I want you to guess what I had to do yesterday? I know you all got there with absolutely no help from me. I had to get up a ladder and paint it. I operate with a certain 'ladder theory', if my shins are beneath the top two rungs I won't hyperventilate and subsequently not fall off and die. Suffice to say that I had both shins exposed not behind the safety of the top two rungs. I was nearly sick with fear, I tried my hardest not show it but I was on the High Street with the world and his wife walking past. I slapped that paint on like a drunken abstract expressionist painter in a race against the clock. It would definitely not hold up under close scrutiny. Add to the nausea a wind chill factor that actually turned the tips of my fingers numb so that I had to keep getting down to defrost them enough to hold the paint brush. Grim times! But Hooray it's finished!!
I will put some more pictures up tomorrow of the final developments and the work that I collected today. I will also give you my top 10 maybe 20 of things not to do when 'Becoming A Gallery Owner'.