Tuesday 30 October 2007

the postcards...














The postcards have come back from the mill and look great. I only hope that people are intrigued by the images and want to know more.

For some reason it seems to be taking an age to get the signage sorted. Original etched vinyl lettering on the front window had been there 24 years and the shadow of 'Greenhouse Gallery' seemed destined to haunt us. Eventually though a very nice bloke from b&b signs in the village dropped by with some noxious fluids which did the job.

Monday 29 October 2007

the best bit...

It all feels very real at last. some wonderful artists have agreed to show their work in the gallery and from the end of this week I can start to hang pictures.

It's been strange, filling the space - first a sofa, then a desk - but still no paintings, a little like a stage with props but no performers.

Tuesday 23 October 2007

dan gets comfy...


Dan likes the new sofa.

The children think it's fantastic to skate up and down the wooden floors with just their socks on.

The cat - called blue, although he's actually black - is banned.

Friday 12 October 2007

the new white....



We finally chose to paint the exterior of the gallery 'swansdown', which is almost white, but isn't. Originally I had wondered about dark grey (and all the colours inbetween, hence the myriad of tester pots in the kitchen) but decided it would look too funerial and went for something bright and clean instead.

We've had lots of positive feedback over the last couple of days which is fantastic, and by next week we should be able to start dressing the gallery. Several artists have arranged to visit and view, and I'm confident they will want to exhibit in the space.

Nick at Polite Printing up at Clarence Mill is taking care of the promotional material, and I'm now able to start thinking about advertising and marketing the gallery in time for the launch.

Tuesday 9 October 2007

nothing is ever simple...

It was all going so well...the night we finished plastering, we also noticed a leak. Of course, it was directly behind the part of the wall we'd had boxed in, so on Saturday morning, I set too finding a plumber. Two guys turned up and gave a collective sigh, muttering "steel pipes (shake of head) don't touch those, sorry love." Finally found a bloke who was prepared to come out on Sunday morning to take a look. Fortunately, he was positive and suggested taking back the plaster and asssessing the damage. We had a bizarre conversation in the bedroom (where the boiler is and where i'm currently working) about faith - I thought this might have been because I was listening to Sunday Worship, but apparently not - he just wanted to know whether I believed in God. All this whilst draining the radiators.

All well, as the leak was just a few inches above a stop cock in the wall and not a huge job after all ("we could have to chase it back behind all sorts" said one of the half empties, "who knows where that could lead").

By Monday morning we were back on track and on Thursday the flooring went down, not without it's problems of course as this is an old building and the floors are uneven. Once the boards were down, the joiner, Simon, could begin to fit the skirting and box off the old radiators to give a clean finish. It was wonderful to see him work the wood and produce beautiful results. The decorator, Rick, arrived on the same morning, but they managed to work around each other and to take the project forward.