Yes, my first ever solo exhibition is underway. If anyone reading this lives within a reasonable distance of Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, Scotland then you are welcome to pop along.
For everybody else … what can I say about it?
Firstly, it is evidence that I have enough work that I consider ‘good enough’ to be worth showing.
I want the quality of my paintings to keep improving. Consequently it’s easy to think that my work “isn’t quite there yet” and that I should wait until it is better before showing it. Obviously, this could go on forever so at some point I have to put it out there as it is.
Secondly, the venue is a community centre and not a dedicated art gallery. In fact the building used to be the public library where I would sometimes go to revise for my school exams thirty years ago!
So there was no grand opening, canapés, free wine, string quartets or speeches. In fact the organisation was stress free. Some very helpful people from the centre hung the work and all I had to do was get some posters printed and distribute a few locally.
Thirdly, I have no expectations of what the exhibition will achieve. As the centre is used for many purposes such as classes, clubs and even film nights, it’s certain that my paintings will be seen by a good number of people over the five week period. Whether any of them will make a purchase – who knows? Perhaps I will be surprised, maybe I’ll get a commission, maybe I’ll be invited to exhibit elsewhere or maybe nothing will happen at all! The final verdict will be the subject of a future blog post.
As the exhibition rumbles I am having fun painting some small sketchy portraits such as this one of a former colleague from my time in France.
His name is Paul (nickname Polo) and is quite a character and favorite around the village of Saint Just le Martel, where we both worked (and he presumably still does).