Putting You In The Picture

I am afraid Venus Gallery has had to close due to it not making enough profits to cover today's high retail costs. It is my intention to live in the gallery with my daughter, teach part-time in a college and be a part-time freelance artist. Thank you for everyone who made Venus Gallery such a fun and happy experience. If you have paintings of cards in the shop please ring the shop number to arrange collection, no hurry.

JULY

Click here http://www.youtube.com/VenusGallery to see the singing dentist in Venus Gallery.

Cornwall

I read a fantastic book called 'Notes on an Exhibition' by Patrick Gale. This is my comment posted on his website Just wanted to thank Patrick for postcard of Sainte Lisant (a girl reading!) it came the day after I finished reading my second book by him called Rough Music (Notes on an exhibition being the first). I believe strongly that things have to be in the open so once again want to thank him for writing about a woman loosing her mind. I believe I may have read in the above book or imagined that some believe there may be a connection between Alzheimers and a sad life. For the past ten years the passage of divorce has and still makes me so very very sad at times. Rough Music was like a lantern making me want to step back into the light again and try my hardest not to be sad anymore so as to increase my odds of holding on to my beautiful mind. Finding this website and seeing Patrick's joy of the arts and music only fuels my desire further to step in to a sunny future. You postcard said you could not write more as your hands were cold please Patrick buy a muff or get heaters in the pottery studio. Wishing you much happiness in your life so that you hold on to as many grey cells as possible to write more books that touch, open, aid the healing of reader's macrame minds. Posted on 26 Mar 2008 10:08 am At the back of the books are beautiful prints by June Hicks Patrick's mother-in-law. I am currently exhibiting June's limited prints in the gallery the private view is on Tuesday. June liked the idea of exhibiting with 8 other print makers from Penwith in Cornwall. I drove down to Cornwall recently to pick up the prints from Jess Leroy Smith a very exciting artists who recently exhibited at the Royal Academy. He has three great pictures to view. I will photograph them and paste them soon on to my website and blogg page. I want to share some other info. Whilst heading down to Cornwall. I dropped in to my son in Plymouth who has just finished a degree there. He took me to an exhibition of Robert Lenkiewicz work. I have consequently purchased three books on Robert who sadly left us in 2002. Robert painted himself a lot. I share this not for ye bloggers / Narcissus (self-Admirers) but because of so many things, his studio in the Barbican filled with books and paintings, he produced 10,000 paintings and acquired an equal amount of books on philosophy and theology. Robert was seen to be rare, valuable, eccentric and lived and worked in a physical environment of great artistic and intellectual richness basically what I would call / say 'he was seemingly charged' he also left millions in debt. I can't express my point here. All I can exude is that by sharing this passion for him I am stumbling across some red hot fuel to carry me through the struggle of a new business. It sometimes feels in Henley that there is no room in the inn (Town) for the rare and slightly eccentric. One needs a brand name. The high street seems to becoming a place were teenagers can walk and buy very expensive crumpled style clothing, prewashed tired looking jumpers and flip flops even though we are miles from the beach (tongue in cheek). Of course we have the arts we have the Music Festival I am going to see the Gypsy kings £48 on the promenade (I understand this to be standing). I did ask if I could paint the Gypsy Kings as I understand we will be visited by someone doing like wise, the idea was met by what I shall describe as a kind of petit grand mal a choking fit. All I am saying is that by opening this topic it is opening opportunities for me. On Friday I went to Camden to a 1920's Tango dance. There was an artist called Fielding who paints Tango dances and he lives in Cornwall just the other side of Plymouth over the ferry that I took to get to Cornwall. I told him about Robert and he was taught painting by Robert. WOW!!!!!!!!!!! So for those that drop in to Venus you may well see one of his prints soon. Plus do come on the 24th to our life drawing class 7-9. We are having a really good looking young bloke, who has been working out for us so we have lots of muscle definition.

The singing dentist will be coming for three nights to the gallery as part of the Henley Fringe Festival. Eeek I can't wait :-0

Hannah and Vicky

Many thanks to Hannah and Vicky who drummed and did 10 min free reiki sessions in the gallery on Tuesday. One person who stayed for tea and greatly enjoyed the drums purchased a painting to remember her Venus Experience.

Private View

The private view went well. Amanda and Lynda read some nice poetry. Amanda has arranged life drawing in the gallery for the 27th of May please contact her if you are interested 07939512837 a@amandamcgregor.com

Private view Tuesday

The response to the Fairies, Angels, Myths and Poetry exhibition has improved. I have two wonderful pictures that are to view but are not for sale. They were made with 100 year old butterfly wings 100 years ago and sold in Harrods. They have a nice story attached to them. One was purchased in Cambden and then the other was purchased by the lady who has leant them to me by her mother in the Cotswold where she found another. For those that lke to believe in magic there is something magical about it as neither daughter or mother have been able to find another by the artist. Hannah is exhibiting some wonderful pictures that she says are great for partially sighted as they are bright bold and textured. Lesley has some great fairy pictures in beautiful pastels as well as cards and prints. Amanda has an enormous male contemporary angel picture. I have been visited by SODC and now can sell tea and coffee. I am also going to have the singing dentists in the gallery for Henleys first Fringe Festival. On Monday Come Dine with me filmed in the gallery as a kind of tester as to the suitability of the venue for a one off but I've yet to hear how it went. I wanted my dinners to have the Venus experience poetry, a cartoon drawn etc. I think I was to here by the end of the week so it will probably not go a head. What I do have lined up is Tuesday week Hannah doing demo healing and on Wednesday lunch some poetry by Amanda. Amanda will be doing some poetry along with Lynda and Mark between 7 and 9 on Tuesday. I've just asked my neice to draw me a glittery Fairy for the exhibition which I hope to display next week. Anyone who comes in and says they would like 10 percent of sales to go to Sue Ryder please let me know. Lesley has already offered. I'm off to Amora on the bank holiday Monday to research erotic cocktails for Come Dine with me incase it is still going ahead. Please let me know if you have sensual art by that I do not mean explicit or rude. Sensual could be a landscape or still life. By the way no one turned up for the life drawing but Amanda and her friend are keen to take bookings for me for anyone interested at a future date. Her friend by the way is a fashion student working with art deco designs and I hope to display one of her dresses this month.

What's Going On In Venus

Do you ever watch the Apprentice? Well sometimes I feel I'm in the program. I'm given a task and then Sir Allen says think your a sales woman, how comes your costs where so high, how comes you made the deal exclusive. Well I sat in my gallery Tuesday and awaited a rush of local artists eager to take advantage of the one pound to hang a painting deal, giving artists a chance for exposure, something to go on there profile / cv, a chance to engage with other like minded people, the chance to make some money and two people turned up. Thank you again for your beautiful Angel pictures and poems. Back to lasts weeks 'Apprentice' which was so inspirational. You see because one teams luck was down but what they did was they kept trying and trying in the end they went door to door picking up little sales and became that weeks winners. So that Tuesday evening inspired by there keep going attitude, I photo copied flyers and went door to door myself. One of my flyers was picked up by a boy who gave it to their mum who is an art teacher at Shiplake and consequently she has brought in some stunning works of art. Having studied textiles at Amersham University and freelanced textiles for a London company the work now on show is mixed but very textile inspired and would work well in a contemporary furnished house. While excepting the art works we were joined by Eva, Eva saw the Enchanted Exhibition (Angels, Fairies, myths and poetry inspired work) and has always loved fairies and does not want to sell her work but wanted to share her passion, she is able to also produce work for anyone who is interested. All four of us found ourselves in discussion about the fairy pictures. Eva is a Hungarian nanny here in Henley one picture was drawn for the little girl she looks after and one was drawn 10 years ago, they are done in water colour pencils two are so small and detailed they look like they may have been done by fairies. Two of us said how as children we had often drawn fairies and princesses. I am delighted to have the conversational fairy pictures and the wonderful textile style arts of work that have been inspired by a poem about Bristol Street.

April Fool?

As readers may or may not know. Henley since I opened has had road works and more roadworks and one book shop owner came up with the idea of doing something fun to our shop windows for two weeks to get the message to our customers that the road works have gone and Henley is a fun place to shop. Over 5O in dependant shops took part (the town). I cut out a large paintbrush approx 2meters long out of MDF and painted it in the colours and style of a Winsor & Newton brush but put ?Newtown instead of Newton. I then wanted a big blob of paint dripping from the brush which I hung outside I used chalk for this blob and did hop scotch too. I was asked by Headways if I could give a chat at the local Townland's hospital. Headways is a place for adults with Head injuries to meet. 50 percent of the injuries have been caused by car accidents. On my day off a Monday I popped in and gave a chat and promised to return the following Monday and make art with the delightful group which is what I did. I took my son who was home from uni aged 21 and Martin Newman the cartoonist. I played one table music and this inspired them to draw their favourite things, another table I gave a bowl of peppers and tomatoes and Martin did cartoons with another table. It was a delightful couple of hours. One of the helpers asked if they could be part of the fun two weeks retail idea and I offered to put up the paintings on the staircase in the gallery which is something I have done. I may well extend the exhibition in to the first week of the upcoming Angel / Enchantment exhibition so that I can invite the headway group up for a cup of tea and see theres and the other magical paintings. The Enchantment exhibition is open to anyone it is a pound to hang a painting. Running for all of May. I am running this in colabaration with an on line healing magazine. Anyone who comes up to browse or buy will have the added experience of coming across perhaps beautiful music / drumming, a tarrot or tea leaf reading.

Next month

Sorry there are more spelling mistakes in that last blogg than ever. It's just that it vanished in to etha (? spelling) but when I logged back in some of it had been saved to draft so I published it quick before it went back again in to the black hol of peoples homework, uni essays and work reports. Yes next month my Gallery is an open studio do book life drawing classes while it is a studio.

Yesterday I had a bit of a treat, visiters. First a gypsy who said I will not be rich but will make a living out of my gallery which was obviously good news so I purchased a crochered circle from her which I thought would go well on the cake stand which I intend to have in the gallery on Thursday evening with one of Lynda's knitted donuts. My mistake with that workshop was not to book people in, I had lots of interest but did not take bookings, bookings seemingly make the choice between either staying in and watching 'Holby City' or doing something new which is always a positive tonic. I was then visited by another shop owner who kindly said that it is not immediately obvious from outside what you are going to get when you come in to Venus (I think I could have worded that better). I will amend that with a sign saying please come in and browse but on the other hand it is true you nor I know not exactly what you might incounter. Yesterday one of my Venus Art Students tried on the snore cap I am currently selling for Mother's Day if you had popped in at that moment you would have been in for a suprize. Someone popped in to purchase Flamenco workshop tickets. Someone popped in last week for a Warhol poster which I did not have so I said to him pop in next week and I would have done him as a Warhol poster which I will put on my blog later (the picture). I was not intirely sure if he was a bit inhibriated and tongue in cheek about wanting to purchase art as he kept asking about the pole dancer and pole which have been packed away for the minimal / zen set up required for the current exhibition in the front room. However, when I showed him the picture and he said the drawings bore not resemblance to him I asked if I could carry his shopping bags downstairs for him and seeing as there is no resemblance I have no fear of putting the art work on my blog to demonstrate that I am willing to have a go or have another artist attempt to work in any style or medium for a comissioned peice of art work. To be fair I expect the guy in the Warhol style picture wondered if I was inhibriated.

No, why I am writing is because yesterday was a bit great. One of my students brought in her partner and his paiting and I was thrilled to see such an interesting piece of work. It was brought in and leaned against the wall, it was tantalising I had to turn it around and peek and what a great suprise I had. First the frame it self was beautifuly made and made by themselves, secondly the time and acuracy aplied to the painting was very evident the uncompleted work was of a very high standard. What I enjoyed so much from this encounter was hearing how the person went to look at the artists work who he was copying to see how he worked which is something I would strongly advocate to someone. Then I got the thrill of learning more about an artist who I knew of but had not looked at in such detail as my visiting guest had. It was exciting to be part of something that is going to individualise their new home they are building. My other student used a paint brush for the first time and I felt very excited that I might be sending him off on his hols eager to put brush to paper on his hols and my other student who was painting a plate with chocolate cake on it was inspired but his lanscape he was painting from a photo. I am a bit like a hairdresser with a bad hair do. I do have hair with a mind of it's own as it happens but what I mean is it is often the person with the bad hair or a bald barber who can't do their own hair but can do yours and I'm lke that I'm not the best better painter I do struggle to do my own work and that is why I love to help others, I'm like the mixed up pschiatrist that has heaps of problems so wants to help others. As it happens back to 'What to expect at Venus' next month I am covering my beautiful carpet (have you not seen it yet? you must, the carpet in what was an office was a bit manky so I cut a black strip of carpet in to the existing to make it look posh). On Thursday by the way Amarita wants you to take your clothes off I mean shoes. I jest. It's just the lady who purchased the Flamenco tickets said the dress code for Thurday is just a red rose!

Thank you

Post Kenton Theatre Henley

Thank you to all who came please see photos of art workshops and Amarita on stage whos pictures will be in the gallery from the 5th.

My son showed me a t-shirt that said 'I bet more people have read this t-shirt than your blogg'

It's 4.40am British GMT time. I may not be making the wisest move in my life. It may just be cathartic to be honest but financial suicide to be honest. Apparently it is a rule of thumb that very few make a profit in the first year of buisness. Last night I had supper with two of my neighbours of twenty years and two of my new neigbours, Anne and Jean and Anna and Jean. It was amusing when Anna answered the door to Anne who said Gaye did you forget we were coming to supper tonight. And I said no Anna and Jean are here. I mention this as we worked out I need to make about 48 thousand a year and I make before deductions about £20 and twenty pence. Today was a perfect day. I was visited by Dennis who told me that in the 60's she used to go to a place in Charring Cross Road called the 'Happening' a book shop where you could drop in and a poet might be reading or something imprompt going on and so she liked what I am trying to build / do. A chap came up from the barbers underneath me (could I have worded this better?) and said that the hairdresser (who by the way and all the other staff have been very kind to me) rather cheekly said that once you have got past the nudity (meaning my 'A' board sign and then me saying Hi I'm Gaye) the gallery is actualy very nice :-)) I

Kenton Theatre

The Kenton Theatre is only a week away!!!! Along side Martin and Lynda I will introduce my next exhibion Amarita. Amarita will dance flamenco in front of her projected images.

The New Year

Now selling teas and coffees. Tea £2.50 coffee £2.50. One yummy handmade fondant chocolate £1. It's been a fun start. I've been visited by 7 of my current artists. Ted told me that he once sold his artist pallet, I'd love to do the same! This has given birth to a whole host of arty ideas and I am hoping Martin who has also dropped in will do so again, sit, draw and sell you a cartoon of you during one of the lunch times of his exhibitions I have not asked him yet but I hope he might while you are having perhaps either a cup, mug, pot or 2 pints of tea! Christianne, Claire, Steve and Steve have popped in. Lynda has done a workshop and Rupert has taken his photos to Brighton for the weekend for an exhibition but hopefully will return one or two of them for me. I've also had another local artist drop in who is currently just exhibiting in London but if he drops in again I will offer him two pints of tea and try to persuade him to consider exhibiting closer to home (I can then save you my customer, train fares, parking tickets, congestion charges, squeezing on to a tube and most all London art prices).

Art Workshops

Following Venus Galleries first art work shop the feed back was that it is nice to not be committed to several weeks of classes and those that came are coming again to work in the mediums and styles that they liked. I am consequently offering individual, with a friend or in a small group classes with any medium you would like to try watercolour, oil, drawing, pen and in any style contemporary traditional, still life or abstract at £12 per person. And will endevour to do the art work shop to the time or day that suits you.