Friday, 20 October 2017

Out and About...in Mayfair!



Once the Gallery was closed yesterday afternoon, we jumped on the train to London to attend last night's Private View of David Fawcett's solo exhibition, "Observations of a London Commuter".



On display at D-Contemporary Gallery, in the heart of London's prestigious Mayfair art district, are 41 new paintings, all inspired by David's own life.



"Working in London, commuting and working in an office, going to see clients, travelling on the Tube - all these aspects of my life have provided me with great subject matter for paintings," he says.


"Tube Strike"

And as we have come to expect from David, there is usually a humorous theme or narrative to the image, often further reinforced by titles such as "You'll have to speak up John, I'm passing a load of Hare Krishnas", "I never took Maureen's stapler without asking again" and "Sometimes I'll hide behind a tree to avoid walking to the station with Bob".



Spread out over two floors, the paintings provoked much laughter among the guests, who included the artist's family, easily identifiable by their height!



And much as we love hosting our own Gallery launch parties, what a treat it was for us to be guests...especially when the host is so charming!



"Observations of a London Commuter" runs until 2nd November at D-Contemporary, 23 Grafton Street, London W1S 4EY








Thursday, 12 October 2017

A Roll Call of Thanks for our record-breaking Macmillan Coffee "Morning"...



Now in its fifth year, our Macmillan Coffee Morning has morphed into a full day of fundraising for this worthy cause.

We served coffee, tea and home-baked cakes and biscuits on Lavender Bazaar's delicate vintage china and provided a "rummage table" of Gallery-donated stock, including ends-of-lines, Christmas decorations and cards, which were all available for a Macmillan donation.

But the highlight of the day was a Silent Auction of 28 lots, all very generously donated by our Artists and Makers.



There was something for everyone, mosaics, original paintings, a photographic canvas, prints, glassware, sculptures, textiles, jewellery and cards.



Having counted up all the coffee and cake donations, the auction proceeds, the "rummage table" donations and the Gallery's own donation, we are delighted to announce that we beat last year's total, raising £1,174!

We couldn't have done this without the help of everyone who attended on the day, customers who have since put a donation in the pot and of course, the lovely artists who donated their work to the Silent Auction.

In no particular order, they were Paul Guthrie, Gill Copeland, Jo Hodder, Zed Talijan, Miranda Peckitt, Four Hands Etched Glass, Stephanie Else, Jackie Bishop, Claire Medhurst, Nichola Campbell, Helen Brown, Emma Bird, Deborah Timperley, Sarah Beevers, Claire O'Neill, Studio Shards, Misha Seelhoff and Victoria Lovell.

Our particular thanks go to Julie Janvrin and Tiff Thomas for their invaluable help on the day.