After the exertions of the previous day the early part of the morning was quite enough to allow time to level the paintings so that they looked neat and tidy. There were more people about, because outside the gallery the Portobello market was being assembled, this pleased me because if the gallery was quiet, at least I would be able to sketch the market. As it turned out, over the whole three days of the market, I managed only two quick sketches of it, early on Saturday morning before the gallery opened.
With the increased footfall, I was kept quite busy during the morning explaining this and that, informing on prices and generally chatting about art. One of the things I hadn’t considered was the effect on the gallery of the nearby Tesco Express. It was a busy store with people seemingly popping in and out for one thing that they had run short of and popping into the gallery either on their way there or on their way back. Over the week, I got quite chatty with some of my new neighbours.
Almost all the people who came into the gallery were knowledgeable about art and would chat about the current and forthcoming shows in the big galleries up town, I had seen all the current ones so it was easy to join the conversation.
More worrying were the people who just looked through the window or photographed the QR codes on display, I would beckon them inside or go out into the street and give them a flyer and a business card but they were reticent to enter. I checked the Government website and fifty percent of the population have never been in a museum or gallery. These people must have been part of that fifty percent and it was such a shame that they were so near and yet so far. I smoke, but only vapes now, but I still go outside to vape, I made it my business to talk with the people who were reluctant to enter the gallery to explain that it wasn’t so scary, and they may actually like it.
Eddie and Gillian arrived around lunch time and it was nice and reassuring to chat with old friends about the OCA and progress, I declined lunch as somebody had to mind the shop, and I was the only contender. This was another lesson I learned over the course of the exhibition; it was so much easier to be in charge when Terri was there to provide back up.
The afternoon passed in a similar vein and at around four o clock, Terri and Mario arrived, Terri gave me chance to change into my suit for the opening night and Mario took photographs and two videos of the exhibition.
Figure 01 Mickos well dressed, with a glass of wine in the Galley
Figure 02 The same picture using a different lens
The opening night was sparsely attended, mainly due to the fact that many of my supporters were coming from afar and the weekend was the time for their arrival, but the locals that did attend were rewarded with glasses of wine and one to one conversation with the artist.
I went home to my hotel a tired but happy boy.