Last Month in the Arts: Part 2

So - the second exhibition opening in June was a 'retrospective' (sounds grand, huh?) at Pam Jefferies' 'PH Salon & Gallery' (formerly Pamperhouse Salon) in Newtown, Powys, about 15 miles away.  (Yes, 15 miles (24km) away is our nearest town - that's how far from civilization we are...).

"Aurora, Goddess of the Dawn" : Digital Painting 29 x 11in : Copyright © 2005 by Martin Herbert
Print available from PH Salon & Gallery, Newtown

PH Salon and Gallery is our friend Pam's hairdressing business in Newtown, and she had the great idea of turning it into an art gallery, mainly for her clients - she has a lot of people visiting every month, and she gets to have some great art on the walls to give the ladies something to talk about while they're waiting for their highlights to cook, while artists get to display their work to a discerning clientelle of potential art buyers.  It seems to work quite well. We held a private view on 24th June which was reasonably well attended and there were a few sales on the night.

Me, with Pam Jefferies (right) and Val Howard, mayor of Newtown, who officially opened the exhibition.

The show is a retrospective as it features all the framed prints which I had in stock after the gallery in Llanidloes closed when I went off to Spain. When I came back, I realised i had quite a lot of prints and greetings cards left and figured there must be a few hundred pounds worth which I could sell off.  I did an inventory and came up with over £11,000 worth, so I figured I can afford to have a bit of a sale - all this stuff is doing no good lying around in my studio, and I need to get get rid of it to make room for new work.  So - all the work at Pam's (1-2 Park Street, Newtown, Powys, SY16 1EE) is pretty much half price, as is much of the work on the website (www.spiritvisions.com).  I've also reduced the abstract work on the 'unlikely realms' website.  The main website will be redesigned soon as a showcase for new paintings, and more or less replaced by this blog, so now is the time to order prints!

"I'm for the Hare that Runs by Night" : Digital Painting, 36" x 24" : Copyright © 2003 by Martin Herbert
Full sized framed print for sale at the PH Salon & Gallery, Newtown

On the subject of private views, despite the evening at Pam's  being a success, both myself and my wife Vivi-Mari (go look at her art at www.vivimaricarpelan.com) have had opening evenings for exhibitions since setting up home again here  in Wales last year, and the experience has not generally been good. We've ended up spending time and money on wine and food etc. for a lot of people who just don't turn up - I figure there is no money about and people are embarrassed to come along knowing they aren't going to purchase anything. Actually we'd rather have the people there having a good time - at least it makes it look worthwhile!  However, we've pretty much decided not to do it any more - we need to find other ways of selling.  I read a piece by someone recently who was lecturing at Berkeley and was asked "what is the secret of selling your art?". His answer (paraphrased) was "You only have to do two things: do some great art, and get it in front of people".  All suggestions on how to get art in front of people will be gratefully received!

Martin Herbert: Retrospective continues at the PH Salon & Gallery, 1-2 Park Street, Newtown, Powys, SY16 1EE, UK for the next few weeks.

Last month in the arts ... dragons at the Oak

Well – a lot going on in June, and continuing into July – two exhibitions opening, submissions to be made for others – trying to find time for some grant applications, and in between all the marketing stuff, trying to actually do some art!

June's first exhibition started at the Great Oak café in our home town of Llanidloes, at the beginning of the month, and is under way there until the end of July.

In 2008 I was commissioned by LLANI Ltd. and the Town Council to design a set of 10 plaques to form a “town trail” around Llanidloes.  Ten of the drawings on show at the café are the original designs for the plaques, which were then made by local sculptor Sue Thornton and can now be seen on various buildings around the town centre.

The trail is meant to be followed by solving the riddle poems written in Welsh by children from Llanidloes High School, and these are displayed next to the pictures. Don't panic – there are English translations there as well! A leaflet containing all of them can be obtained from the Visitor Centre on Longbridge Street.  The names of the 10 dragons were also chosen by local schoolchildren

One of the original designs was never used and there is therefore an elusive eleventh dragon.  Visitors to the café can suggest a name - the winner will receive a signed fine-art print of the original eleventh dragon drawing.

"The 11th dragon" : Sanguine pencil on prepared paper : Copyright © 2011 by Martin Herbert

The drawings are done using some of the oldest drawing techniques used by masters such as Da Vinci and Rafael.   The paper is prepared using a diluted wash of red egg-tempera which I make by hand, by grinding red iron oxide pigment with a medium composed of Dammar varnish, beaten egg and water.  The drawing is done with red and sepia earth-colour based pencil and highlighted with white chalk pencil and white egg-tempera or gouache.  Sepia ink is also used on some of the drawings.

All the original drawings are for sale, and open edition fine-art prints are available to order at £75 (unframed).

At least our local news photographer was there to record the occasion...

A private view was held on the 11th of June and unfortunately coincided with someone's birthday party, which is a sure recipe for disaster in a town with only 2,500 people.  It's at times like this that you find out who your firends are - well, apparently I don't have many, that's for sure.  A grand total of several people attended - no sales.  Not the most uplifting start to the month, but we soldier on ....

The exhibition, “Dragons at the Oak” continues at the Great Oak café, 12 Great Oak Street, Llanidloes, Powys, until the end of July –  I hope you'll find time to visit.