Well that went well!

Exhibition News and Studio Update

The opening evening of the Art Show where my ‘Angels and The Space Between’ series of images are shown alongside the work of four local incredibly talented artists went very well!

A much bigger turn out than we were expecting and I met some really lovely people who wanted to discuss my work and the story behind it.

So what is the story behind this series?

Well, that’s down to you, in essence it’s about using your own imagination.

Slowing down to look at the work and finding how all the photos fit and work together.

I’m inviting the viewer to reconsider how they use their sight and actually ‘see’, rather than be ‘shown’.

That may seem a strange thing to say given I am ‘showing’ images in an Art Show.

But there is a big difference.

I am inviting you to ‘see’ into the picture and then ‘see’ the work as a whole.

Stand back, gaze at the wall of photographs.

Absorb.

Then step closer.

Look at the gazes of each person. Are they connected to the angel sequence in some way?

Gaze at the angels dreamlike state. What are they thinking?

Thats seeing. Thats imagining.

A number of people actually came up with the same stories and felt immersed in them.

Mission success!

To present work that others (no matter how many) feel involved with or raises questions with them is what art is for.

Some of the photos have had gold leaf placed very carefully onto them by my artist friend Kirsten, whose son Ted played the part of the 'Angel' and is standing next to me in the photo above.

It’s down to you to work out what those flashes of gold signifies.

My part of the show has been dedicated to the memory of Peter Beardow, whose amazing studio I was very kindly given full and unheeded use of, my good friend and passionate photographer Ray Derkacz, who sadly passed away unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago and my father Cliff, who always told me ‘to just go for it’ .

Without any one of these three people being involved in my life, this project wouldn’t have taken place.

There are more photos from this project yet to be published and work is ongoing in the background about how to show these in due course.

Meanwhile a new project is about to commence and I’m really looking forward to getting that underway outside of the studio!

Probably a good time to talk about the studio too. Regular readers will be aware I have been running the large and bespoke studio that Peter (who I mentioned above) had built.

You will also know that earlier this year we were told that the whole industrial site that the studio forms one small part of had been sold.

Well the time has come when the keys are about to pass onto new owners and the site developed in some way or another.

I hope we did Peter proud with the work we continued to do there after his passing.

So its back to the big outdoor studio for now and all the challenges of weather and light it brings.

But thats half the fun and I’m looking forward to continuing to offer my portrait services as this transition takes place.

In the meantime, if you fancy a lovely brunch whilst immersing yourself into the artist worlds of this little part of Surrey, be quick as the work is only being shown for a limited time.

Canela Cafe, 5 Creek Rd, East Molesey. KT8 9BE,

Oh and call ahead for opening times as they do vary Thursday -Sunday.

Telephone 020 3784 1834

Cheers,

Colin