After our marathon in the Big Smoke last Tuesday, Wednesday was to be our first official day back in the East End Gallery for 2022. I was hoping to welcome new guests and old friends. I even dared to dream that we might have a sale or two. As Australia Day celebrations were due to finish at the swimming pool at 3pm, I thought we might attract a few bombie champions on their way home.
No such luck. Wednesday rapidly turned into a groundhog day, sitting at my desk with a cuppa, twiddling my thumbs and wondering how I was going to stay awake until five o'clock. That was when I glanced in the direction of the Giftshop and experienced vague disappointment at its arrangement. That feeling was all I needed to spring out of my chair with renewed vim, vigour and vitality.
"I'll just change the position of a few art pieces" was the voice of reason inside my head. Bollocks to that. Damn the torpedoes. If I was going to refresh the Look, I would have to do more than shuffle the odd piece from one side of the Giftshop to the other.
Hence I began a four day frenzy imitating a Whirling Dervish. Cloths on tables were pulled off and sent for washing. Dusting and cleaning surfaces, changing the position of my displays, cleaning four weeks of dirt away and experimenting with new combinations of pieces. I even moved Michael's "The Goldfields in My Garden" stand from one spot in the Gallery to another and then back again.
I thoroughly vacuumed the Gallery and the Giftshop, removed a multitude of deceased insects and startled a gecko who had made a home under the sheet across the front window ledge. I resurrected all our bottle collection and soaked them in detergent and ammonia. Some of the sludge that was removed from inside of the bottles was truly revolting. Finally, I arranged the largest bottles in our front window and the rest in a shallow plastic crate on the Artists Table in the Gallery for ease of viewing.
Saturday was our last day in the Gallery for our first week back in the saddle. Just as I had given up all hope of any sales, in walked Bruno and Patricia, relative newcomers to Beverley, who had already purchased a stunning piece of graphic art by Debbie Spinks. In celebration of Patricia's birthday, they chose two of David Lillico's leadlight birds - a magpie and a kookaburra - to take home. Later in the afternoon, when the weather had turned hideously oppressive, great buddies Lorraine and John Pichugin waltzed in. Lorraine, who is a stunningly talented painter, had been artist-in-residence at the Station Gallery in 2021 and is returning in July for another two weeks. She had fallen in love with Narelle Higson's oil pastels "Everlastings" and came to pay and collect. She also picked one of Sandy McTigue's clay mache vases, extolling its perfection as a subject in a new work.
Suddenly, we had enough commission to fund two tanks of diesel to carry us to Toodyay on Sunday for a family gathering and me to the Big Smoke (again) today to see Alex's GP.
However, I hadn't realised how tired I was due to all my activity. I fell asleep on the way home from Toodyay, woke up enough to watch "Muster Dogs" on the telly and then retired to my boudoir. Having travelled to Perth to set up referrals to investigate Alex's 'absent episodes' which may or may not be some sort of silent seizures, I will not be out of bed for much longer.
Hell, what's a bit of weariness. I am thrilled at the finished product. So, without further ado, let's share a peek at the East End Gallery as we enter February.
What are you waiting for? Come up and see us soon!
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