To the Fair

Bit of a super duper busy day today in paint world, but as Stu is off and dinner is imminent I am going to cop out entirely and finish this post in the morning... what a slacker. Just in from the Edinburgh Art Fair opening and mulling over the things we saw, so I'm sure a more measured response will be possible after a sleep and relaxation time. But it has to be said that I am in confident and positive form!
One of the things I find useful about such occasions is imagining your work (presuming it is not there!) on a stand and mentally figuring out if it would look out of place - whether certain galleries might be interested or receptive in other words. And whether my paintings would look acceptable among other works. This year I was pleased to discover that I felt more than comfortable in the comparison test and this gave me a confidence boost going into the show; this is after all the most work I have had on show in a gallery and it is all new. In fact I found the quality of work on display reassuringly mixed; there were some outstanding artists on show but also what I would file under 'mediocre'. The Axolotyl gallery had a stand which I was interested in as they are a newcomer on the Dundas Street strip; the work was very good but I must confess to being a little surprised that it wasn't more...um, different. Besides the very lovely giant chicken and fish by Roland Corbin there was nothing really that grabbed me; nothing that wasn't showing in another shape and form elsewhere in the show. Not a problem, but the gallery has very much arrived on a mission to bring us new and different art, and mentioned 'narrative figurative' in its opening blurb. Apart from a very nice angel whose creator I have shockingly forgotten, in the main the figurative work was in the form of life studies; very good life studies, but not in my mind narrative or 'new'. Sadly they also stood out as one of two galleries who handed me invites to Christmas show openings with the wrong date printed on them. I know this because our opening is on Friday 26th and the two I read were for Friday 27th and Friday 28th... maybe the gods are being kind to us and misdirecting the public at large!..
During the day we had a drive-around getting art related chores accomplished; case of wine picked up and poster displayed in Tusitala for the opening; frames from Cheryl, along with a great lacquer picture we bought in Vietnam finally framed and on the wall; looks great next to Ritchie's fishing man as it depicts a fishing boat full of its catch and fisherfolk.
Next to the printers in Leith to retrieve greetings cards to go on sale over the duration of the show, which are of four of the angel paintings, so hopefully at least if someone can't shell out a few hundred on an big angel, they can now pick up a memento. Lastly to Ritchie's gallery to drop off the all important rest of the show and hand over cards, wine and etc. in exchange for flyers and posters.
Friday tomorrow - counting down the last week accompanied by daily reminders in Facebook and blog.