Leave My Bank Account Alone!

Technically This Is Corfe, Close Enough

It's amazing what reading your bank statement can do for your health. I am not talking a positive effect here. There is nothing like having a big corporation milk your bank account for vast sums of money to get your heart beating and your palms sweating. Thanks for that BT. If I lived in America I am almost certain that I would have employed a legal eagle to sue them for cruel and unusual treatment. I have to say without a doubt that BT have caused the most upset to me both at home and at work over the past year. I have refrained from using all the far better acronyms that I have made BT stand for. Because I do not want to get in trouble for using bad language on my blog. I am going to sever my connection with them as soon as I possibly can as it is by far the most expensive contract out there at the moment.
Rant over.
I have had to prod artists into action as they have been promising me work for ages and it has been very slow in arriving at the gallery. To the point that I was worried that I wasn't going to have nearly enough to put on the next exhibition. What a disorganized bunch. Not all I hasten to add, some people were incredibly prompt and I am eternally grateful for their consistent reliability. Thank you.
So this show has entered its last day and I will be taking it all down tomorrow and I think that I may well get a free lunch out of it so that's all good.
A Taste of PAWF starts on Saturday and I have got all my mulled wine spices together so that I can serve up a tasty glass of this to all visitors. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Swanage is the place to be this weekend as there is so much going on and it is all free. It has the Christmassy vibe that all little towns get when the Christmas lights go up and there's Christmas trees in all the windows. I am going to put mine up on Thursday. I'm not sure where exactly but it'll be visible from the street.
I hope that whatever you are doing today you don't have to spend much time out in the gloom that is Tuesday in Swanage.
I am going to try and design a Christmas card this afternoon for the gallery. Wish me luck it will be my fifth attempt.

The Deadline Looms!

I am determined to get this written and posted on the same day! I have had an eventful morning there are so many fine tuning details that I need to do before each new exhibition. I would like to sit on my laurels and think that I have organized everything to the nth degree. The truth is that whilst I try to do this it quite difficult. The fact is that artists have a great knack of leaving everything to the absolute last minute. The hand in deadline for this show is 5pm today and there are still people who tell me they are coming but I am yet to see them.
I am just glad that I left myself plenty of time before the show has actually got to be up. I think that the selection process should be interesting.
I am currently working from three lists of things to do, that's how many pages it takes up any way. I am hoping to have whittled it down to one page by the end of today.
I have applied for the gallery to be on Trip Advisor as an attraction so as soon as I know whether or not it has been accepted then I will be asking all of you who regularly visit the gallery to write me a review please.
I am constantly looking for new places to promote the business so if you have any bright ideas feel free to share them with me.
So Tinted Grey finishes on Wednesday and the new show will be going up probably on Thursday or Friday. The girls are so happy about the great feedback that they have had from their first ever exhibition, they were buzzing when they left here on Saturday.
I will be working on my day off so that means that I might need to take some time to make sure that I have got everything in place for Saturdays Private View. Please do come if you can it should be good and don't forget there is plenty to do in the Purbecks next weekend so it will not be a wasted journey. From what I can gather if you fancy a free mince pie and a glass of mulled wine you are almost certainly going to find that on offer at approximately 4 different venues. Maybe you should get the bus. To quote a song 'I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can'.

I Am The Oracle

Infinite Possibilities Of Things To Do

Another Saturday and another Private View. There has been a steady trickle of people to this show all day which is really nice. The gallery is in competition with the newly opened Durlston Castle Gallery as the show I mentioned yesterday is open to the public today. It is definitely worth a visit as there is a good variety of work and there and it is a great space.
The Tinted Grey artists have had some great feedback from the visitors to their exhibition which making them feel very motivated to start thinking about their next show. I'm just hoping that they will consider showing with me again in the future.
I am starting to think about the last part of next year and getting the shows in for the last couple of months. I want to do something really exciting so I am approaching some big names with the hope of tempting them to show with me. I hope that I will have some more news on that front very soon.
I must get out of the habit of taking through my blog deadline. For the last few days I get the majority of my blog written and then there is a visitor to the gallery that means that I talk instead of post.
So now it is Sunday morning and I am going to post my blog come what may.
I just want to remind you that I have a new show starting on Saturday. It will be the Purbeck Art Weeks Christmas Show. The Private View will be next Saturday starting at 3.00 and ending at 6.00. There will be mulled wine and mince pies. There is also a Christmas Market in the town next Saturday and the turning on of the lights. I would say it will be one of the best days to visit Swanage in the run up to Christmas. Also the following weekend there will be the Bizarre Bazaar. If you ever needed a reason to visit I have just given you a few and the best thing about them all is that they are free and extremely family friendly.
I have to tell you that my blog has smashed through 30,000 and is only just short of 31,000. So thank you very much.
Happy Sunday everybody.

More Things To Do In Swanage This Weekend

The truth is that I wrote my blog and then promptly forgot to post it. So apologies about that. I have been busy with visitors to the gallery, no really I have. Some have been submitting their work for the Christmas Exhibition and others just popping in for a chat. It's always nice to see friends. Of course there have also been people coming in to see the work on show.
It would appear that people like it when I have a rant, it's been the most popular blog of recent weeks, I wonder if it is because you all know that I am a placid person so me getting riled is both novel and entertaining. I continue to quietly seethe but I am officially over the worst of it.
I had one of the most chilled out days off on Wednesday. I usually run around like a mad woman trying to cram in a ton of jobs in one day. Yesterday, I had lunch with the painter Jan Dagley and we plotted world domination. Just kidding we are teaming up to deliver master classes in Printmaking and Painting. I am very excited about this as this is exactly the kind of thing that I want to be involved with. I am in the process of researching various aspects and I know that Jan is too.
I'll give you all the details when I have them.
There's a show called 'Beginnings' starting at the new and improved Durlston Castle Gallery this weekend if you are in Swanage you should make sure that you take the nice walk (and it is a really nice walk) up there and go and have a look at the work on show and all the refurbishments. I'm going to pop along to the Private View this evening to support some friends of mine who are showing there.
What I would really love is if everyone who reads this blog could share it because I would really like to achieve 30,000 page views before the 1st Anniversary. I am only 400 off that amount. That figure astounds me, 30,000 that's crazy. But I am grateful for each and everyone even if it was generated by 'Sex, Sex and More Sex'.
I have to mention that there is second Private view for Tinted Grey tomorrow starting at 12.00 and ending at 4.00.
So please feel free to pop in.

Do NOT Get Me Started!

If you know me you will know that I am a mellow laid back person. I am passionate about many things but mostly I am easy to deal with and I hope that all my customers/clients will agree.
Today I have had my buttons pressed and I have had at least two full on rants. As I am a professional I am going to keep you in the dark about who, how and why. Suffice to say my cool was lost. I do not bear grudges but I do have an elephantine memory and I am running a business.

I am always waxing lyrical about my fondness for lists today I am going to give you a 'Things Not To Do as A Gallery Owner Or A Human Being' list.

1. Do not assume people that are smiling at you and agreeing with everything you say are actually being sincere.
2. Do not get overly confident when up a step ladder because you know people are watching you. This will inevitably lead to a heart attack inducing wobble.
3. Do not close the gallery for lunch just to get rid of people as they will notice you sneaking back within 10 minutes of you putting a sign up saying closed for an hour.
4. Do not be too encouraging to anybody professing to be an artists. Draw your own conclusions as to why not.
5. Do not give too much away for free as people will see it as the 'norm' and expect it every time.
6. Do not rely on people being on time if you have a job to do for them. Expect them earlier and that way you'll always be ready.
7. Do not give people false hope about their creative abilities. Remember the bad news, good news, bad news sandwich. There's a much coarser word for it, I'm being polite.
8. Do not dismiss an 'out there' idea. If you don't ask you don't get and what's the worse that can happen?
9. Do not admit to keeping dead things (not people) in the fridge. It freaks people out.
10. Do not become a work bore when you work in a team of one. It is way too tedious.

That's enough for now. I have had the pleasure of meeting a new artist today, her name is Clarissa Galliano and you will be able to access her website via my website a bit later on today. Her work is great, right up my alley and I hope that her work will be selected to be exhibited at the PAW Christmas Exhibition. 

The Spilling.......Is Very Affected!

Mmm Nice Jumper

You absolutely cannot type when you are watching something with subtitles. Fact!! I have a growing admiration for all the Swedish/Danish thrillers that are on the BBC 4. They are really good, if you can get over the dodgy jumpers and generally unattractive lead characters they're great. I'm used to being able to multi task but subtitles do hinder the process somewhat.
I have been working really hard to get all my admin done. I'm not sure if it's a reflection of my efficiency. There seems to be so much more to do now than there ever was. I keep thinking that the more I get done the sooner I will be able to get on do something else like my own work perhaps.
I'm really not complaining as a year on I am now dotting all the i's and crossing the t's that I had not even realised I hadn't one. That and acting on the ton of good advice given to me by some very knowledgable and well respected artists. It's nice to know that I've got some great people behind me.
I have to apologise for my spelling mistake in the flyer I posted on Saturday. It's got something to do with the fact that what I really need is a proof reader. (An irony that I have to share with you, I am re-reading my blog which believe it or not, I do, do. That sentence was so grammatically incorrect I had to laugh maybe I should have left it as it would have beautifully illustrated my point)
If you fancy a job where there's no wages, no incentives but a great boss please feel free to apply.
Been another fairly busy day at the gallery so I'm glad I'm open. I am in a minority though I've had a walk around town today and have seen that many businesses are in fact closed. Oh the deliberation of which day to close. I may just have to follow the trend of the other business owners. I'll let you know.

I've Got Designs On You!

There has been a dramatic improvement on attendance to the gallery today. I think the Tinted Grey girls will be pleased. I was hoping that the mild weather and sunshine might bring a few more people over the water and it would seem that I was right.
It is always a little difficult to gauge how attendance to shows might be but I am of the belief that if you offer people a good variety of things to look at you will be constantly growing your audience. I have spoken to you just once or twice about growing the business. It is my mission, I am just looking into getting the gallery into the 'Galleries' magazine. That costs mega bucks but I guess I have to speculate to  accumulate. I just wish I could speculate with someone else's bank balance. I would find that hugely beneficial to my speculatory (sic) skills.
I may well do the lottery tonight, you have to be in it to win it. Just before you think to yourself if I won the lottery would I still run the gallery? The answer is a resounding yes! I would invest in making it the most high spec exhibiting space in the South West and I'd buy next door which is currently empty. But I have to admit I would probably employ someone to run it at least part time for me.
Now I have got that complete flight of fantasy out of my system, let's get back to business. I have designed a flyer for the Bizarre Bazaar so here it is. I hope that you appreciate the humorous approach.

That's the first thing that I designed today, and I'm pretty pleased with it. I have also produced a poster for the anniversary exhibition. I have deliberately kept it simple and kind of like and eye chart. That's what I have been up to. I have also been buying some really cool stuff for my market stall.