Saturday 19 December 2015

Happy Birthday, East End Gallery!

Today we celebrate. I am so proud of Michael, who had the dream of the Gallery, who persevered with that dream and who, after three and a half years of hard slog, is also the resident metal artist in the East End Gallery. We opened twelve months ago and we're still alive!

We haven't quite finished of course, but we are tantalisingly close. The final forty-five square metres of the Gallery is almost complete. The floor has been replaced and the skylight is clean, repaired and operational. Michael spent two days inside the skylight, on the top of a ladder which was perched on top of his scaffolding. The ceiling has been restored to its former pressed tin glory. The walls to be painted have been filled, sanded and undercoated. And just yesterday, the Gallery was coated in fine dust (again) as Michael and his trusty offsider Gary installed the first two panels of tin along the back wall. In the last year, we have expanded the Gallery into the front of the original Shop 4 and when the temporary wall comes down, we will open up the full one hundred and fifty square metres of Gallery space.

I'm planning on opening the Gallery this morning as soon as I've had a cup of tea and a bite of breakfast. The Sundowner starts at five this afternoon. Needless to say, this occasion will be faithful to the East End Gallery style - the best plastic wine glasses, the best plastic trays and the finest cheap and cheerful vino and bubbly!

The weather is divine. This time last year, we had a scorcher. Today is breezy, benign and beautiful. Perfect.

So now ladies and gentlemen, I am going to close this birthday post and get my skates on. Tally ho!



Preparing to open...


Christmas Exhibition 2014...


Michael's workshop, the scene of the Last Supper!


Extension time - Autumn Exhibition.


From little things, big things grow...


Selfie of the curator...


The metal artist and curator...


Crikey! I'm a curator...


Season's Greetings from the East End Gallery.

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