The next phase

On Monday the next phase starts! We're spending the day at the storage space doing two things - firstly, moving out (to the studio) anything that will fit into my mid-size Toyota van, and second, tidying the store so that only the large paintings remain there.

To recap - when Dave's studio was cleared out for the refurbishment all his work was put into storage in an old mill space, roughly 6 miles away. Since the work was completed on the studio I've gradually brought the smaller pieces back, and in December we had an opening to celebrate that fact. But since then a large number of big paintings (300?) have remained at the store. This isn't great as its (a) damp, and (b) costs about £400 a month in rent. So tomorrow the final step in moving everything back to the studio starts.

By big paintings, by the way, I mean canvases of about 1.5 x 2.2 metres in size.

Then over Easter I'll hire a remover with a big van to recover the big paintings and (with help) I'll move these back to the studio, and the whole storage issue will be over. No more damp or rental to pay.

My worry is that we'll actually fit all the big paintings back in. Logically they all came out, so they should go back. But I've taken over the ground floor front room, which is the most accessible space, as a gallery room. So without this it's possible we won't have enough space to return all the work. I'll report when when we cross that bridge....

More work at the See

I've been snowbound much of the last week, and hadn't visited the exhibition at the See but Julian called me to discuss things. So many of the pieces have been sold that we need to replenish the stock - not because pieces are being taken off the walls but simply because visitors are disappointed that there isn't much left to buy. 

This is really good news for the Trust; I promised to meet up with Julian at the studio tomorrow to choose some more work for the exhibition. In  addition I had a couple of visitors to the studio yesterday and sold several pieces to them. 

Saturday...

I opened the studio up from 12.30 until 5.00 pm today. Busy right from the doors opening until about 3.00 pm, after which there were only a couple of visitors. It seemed odd just sitting still after weeks of frantic activity; but also provided some time to contemplate the paintings which, perhaps oddly, there is never time to do when they're being moved around from store to studio.

We sold another eight pieces and I had time to consider the financial situation after the opening last night. It means, at the very least, that the pressure to immediately move from the storage unit has been relieved, and that the Trust can begin to pay the monthly rent and bills for the refurbished studio.

The next step must be to put aside some of the key pieces of Dave's work so that they remain with the Estate. Paintings and other works are being sold at a low price at the moment, and I want to make certain that the Trust retains a selection of the best work for a time when, I hope, the prices more truly reflect the quality of the work.