I spent several hours this afternoon clearing up after an exhibition. The event itself was very satisfying, with a positive response from visitors during the discussion session. The theme was “Seeing and Believing”, and it took a broad survey of the different ways in which faith has been involved in my work over the years. It was a great relief also that somebody else was responsible for organising the occasion. As they used to say during my childhood in East Lancashire, however, “After ‘t wedding comes ‘t corporation dustcart.”
One of the less enjoyable duties of an artist, of course, is the packing away of work after an exhibition. Everything has to be checked, re-wrapped, and stored. I have yet to discover a way of sidestepping this stage of the process. As any artist will tell you, we have a love-hate relationship with bubble-wrap. With some types of work there seems to be no satisfactory alternative to it and a means of protecting work. It is, however, a very unfriendly, uncooperative substance. This was a relatively small exhibition, with only about a dozen works on display. Even so, I was whacked by the time I reached dinner time.
In the reverie which invariably sets in during this kind of boring work, I fell to reflecting on how it must be for an eminent artist, such as David Hockney. A hundred to one he simply hands over the job to his staff! I really fancy having a “staff”, but the chances of that happening are rather small. Actually, I’m very pleased that people want to look at my art, and seem to enjoy that experience.
t