For art's sake

I bought some new art when I was in Wales - a lovely watercolour of Newgale Sands by a local artist. A nice picture is my souvenir of choice when I visit somewhere I want to remember. However, now I'm running out of wall space and I've nowhere to hang my new acquisition. What to do? While I'm pondering my dilemma, let me share some of my pics with you...

Whilst sorting through some old, pre-digital photos it crossed my mind that it's a shame that all those old prints just sit in a box. I regularly see my favourite digital pictures as I have them as a screensaver on my computer. But I wanted to find a way of enjoying my photographs from before I had a digital camera. So, I found some nice (but cheap) frames and bought them in bulk. Then I put together a good cross section of pictures, from childhood holidays through to my last 35mm-film-photo-taking trip (to San Francisco in 2002) and put them up in aesthetically-pleasing groups around my flat.

On that same San Francisco trip, whilst wandering around downtown, a colleague and I happened across an art gallery. We dared ourselves to go in and look around, safe in the knowledge that everything in the place would be out of our price range, considering the window display consisted of Warhols and Liechtensteins. Real ones.

Almost immediately we were joined by a salesman. (I'm sure that in a fancy art gallery they don't have salesmen - they are probably Consultants or Executives or Directors - but he was there to sell us art...) His name was Barry and he was one of the most friendly and personable people who are trying to take large amounts of my money that I've ever met. He gave us a tour of the gallery, wowing us with Picassos (Picassoes?) and Chagalls, describing the works, giving us some history, taking down any pictures we showed even an inkling of a liking for and displaying them for us in a specially lit viewing room. When I said I'd have to remortgage my house to buy the cheapest thing I'd seen so far, he said "So what? If you love it, it's worth it!". Well, the truth was that I hadn't loved anything I'd seen. Until...

On a small wall there was a display of miniature paintings that just captivated me. "How much are these?" said I - I couldn't take my eyes off them. "You're going to be sorry you asked." said he - he'd got me! They were prints of watercolours by Fanny Brennan and they were entrancing. At first glance, they look like small landscapes. But on closer inspection you see that they're slightly surreal. I umm-ed and aah-ed and said that I would have to give it some thought. But I wanted some and I would be back. The next day I went out with another colleague to help him choose sunglasses, in return for him helping me to choose art. Just like the true friend he was to become, he talked me into it. I bought 2 of them. Barry packed them up for me and when I got them home I found he'd included a book of Brennan's work that's a work of art in itself. That's how I got me a dealer!

About a year later I bought some more. So now I'm a collector! I called Barry and he arranged for them to be framed the same as the others and shipped over. It took a while, but when they were delivered they arrived in an actual wooden crate that had to be opened with a crowbar! That was an expensive business, though. The shipping costs were reasonable, but the freight company's storage and Customs clearance fees meant that it would have been better value for me to have bought a return ticket to San Francisco and gone and got them myself. I'll know next time. Anyway, of course my collection takes pride of place in the living room. Here's four-fifths of it...


Also in my living room are some photos that I'm rather proud of,...

... an original piece by Alan Brain, a tasteful picture of irises over the fireplace, and my angel in the corner.

Oh, and as I've run out of space, some of my more recent photographic efforts have to live on the fireplace until I work out how to fit them all on the walls...

Other holiday souvenirs include the day- and night-time views of Rhossili Bay on the Gower in Wales that hang above my bed...

And some brass-rubbings that Thomas and I did at Bodiam Castle when we went to Kent this year (they can't stay propped on the radiator forever!)...

As I hate an empty wall, the bathroom's not exempt...

And neither's the kitchen...


I know what you're thinking - surely there's some space on that other wall in the hall? Nope...!