Friday 7th August

I pushed on with AITG preparation this week as at the weekend during a lovely relaxing afternoon drinking with Natasha and Dylan at The Cottage Inn I had a mild panic. Even with 3 weeks to go I have so much to do it sometimes makes my head spin!

On Monday I varnished all my 44 20x 20cm paintings. I also managed to add to/repaint 3 seascapes I wasn’t happy with. On Tuesday, thanks to Doggy Daycare I painted 8 more 20x20cm box canvas seascapes. On Wednesday I did the remaining 4 and painted all the edges ready for varnishing and also printed off my AITG poster ready for laminating and on Thursday I varnished the remaining 12 paintings and strung the backs of all the box (deep-edged ) canvases. I hope these small paintings sell well as I have 56 of them! I also laminated the 25 posters. 

I always panic at this stage that I haven’t got enough work for the event. Ridiculous really as I have loads with a mix of old and new. 

One thing that has bugged me lately is that during my studio sort out I managed to misplace a few things, including a large tin of varnish, (meaning I eventually had to buy another one) and my address labels which I attach to the back of paintings and all my cards. I had received my printed cards back from the printers and wanted to get them all ready for AITG asap but without labels I couldn’t get on with putting them together. I ordered some more in the end but by Thursday they hadn’t arrived. I had just messaged the seller to say they must have gone missing and please send replacements asap when they arrived in the post! Having done my varnishing and laminating on Thursday I began to have another studio sort out and lo and behold I found my varnish and my labels…

However, my main grievance at the moment is I have also managed to misplace the notebook in which I had recorded all the paintings I had in my studio and their location. We did this inventory earlier in the year and it would be very useful for AITG. I have turned the studio and house upside down trying to find it but, so far without luck. I can guarantee that it will turn up after AITG.

I have been enjoying the new series of “Fake or Fortune” and although I find it very frustrating sometimes, it’s still my favourite programme. It also sent me down the “rabbit hole” that is art forgery and I’ve been watching You Tube programmes on the subject whilst having my lunch. It also prompted me to get 2 new audio books via Audible to listen to whilst doing all my studio stuff. The first one called “Con/Artist”  is an autobiography of Tony Tetro the famous and brilliant American forger who fooled galleries and collectors for many years. It was fascinating and I can recommend the book to anyone interested in art forgery.

The second one is “Art and Crime” which looks at the tangled web that is forgery or stolen works across many cultural areas including painting, prints, books, ancient artefacts, memorabilia etc. I found the chapter about the corrupt, culturally vacant, cretin Donald Trump extremely entertaining and informative especially his decrees on modern art which he described as “degenerate art” echoing the words of another crazed world leader Adolf Hitler?? The book is generally a little detailed and perhaps “dry” for all but the true art forgery enthusiasts.

I can, however, recommend (as I have done in a previous blog) the various documentaries about painter and my ex- colleague  John Myatt and the so called “puppet master” John Drew who fooled the art establishment for several years before ending in a farcical conclusion in court and prison. 

These books/ programs are all detailing art forgery in another era. The examples of scientific testing now available as seen on Fake or Fortune make it almost impossible for a modern forger to fool the experts now but with art being such a lucrative business it is always possible for forgeries to slip through the net. It has been shown that in many cases it is not in the financial interests of the collectors, dealers or galleries or museums involved to actually discover whether a work is actually a fake. The interests of the original artist is sadly, not always their optimum concern. 

To add to my stress, I discovered that I had sold 6 paintings at Jetty Gallery last month plus a bantle load of cards. Only a few weeks ago I had pre-empted a request for more work and sent some but Annie has politely requested more paintings and cards. Have I got time to do this before AITG? Possibly? It might be a project for next week? Eeek!

This weeks picture shows 4 of my more abstract seascapes entitled “Waves in The Bay 1 11 111 1V”