Celia Hart's blog about what's going on in and around her studio.
Art, printmaking, inspirations, gardening, vegetables, hens, landscapes, wild flowers, East Anglia, adventure, travel.

Monday 7 December 2009

London Part 2: Edwards & Todd

Last week I mentioned that I had been packing up prints to deliver to a couple of galleries, one was the J M Gallery in Long Melford and the second? Well that's very exciting indeed . . .

Last month I recieved an email from the owner of a shop/gallery near the British Museum in London, they exhibit and sell the work of contemporary artists specialising in linocuts and they thought my work would fit in well with their plans for the gallery. After momentarily thinking that they didn't really mean me, I re-read the message, drank a large strong mug of tea and telephoned the writer of the message, Gary Edwards. He had spotted my work in Verandah in Norwich and yes, he was very keen to include my work alongside the beautiful work of Richard Bawden and Colin Moore

So that is why on Saturday, after breakfast in the hotel in Wembley, we headed into Central London - luckily Cliff knows the way without a sat-nav and he's also very confident about finding a parking place - except the space we expected to park in was surrounded by cones - arghh!!! Luckily, just around the corner we found another parking bay and a pay-and-display machine - phew! A brisk little walk later and we were skirting around the British Museum, into Great Russell Street and just before the main gates of the BM, we turned right into Museum Street - a little side-street lined with individual shops, cafés and galleries full of tempting treats.

Near the far end on the right we found Edwards and Todd - and because I entered the shop carrying a large flat parcel, Gary guessed immediately who I was :-)

Gary explained that he has plans to display the framed linocuts along one wall and reorganise the browsers of unframed prints - linocuts in the English artist/illustrator tradition seem to be increasingly popular at the moment. He also takes his stock to print fairs around London on Sundays when the shop is closed and was confident my work would sell. (I've just received an email to say that he's sold four already!)


So, it's Saturday just after midday in the centre of our capital city, the sun is shining and after a huge fix of life enhancing laughter the night before, we're feeling mellow - where did Cliff take me?


a) To a smart restaurant for lunch


b) To Regent's Street to spend lots of money


c) For a walk around a muddy, overgrown graveyard


I'll tell you in Part 3 ;-)

14 comments:

  1. Well, of course you went to the muddy graveyard.
    Congrats on the new gallery and sales! Isn't it wonderful to have that immediate gratification when the other world you work in - that of books - takes so l-o-n-g to see things come to fruition.

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  2. Many congratulations on your gallery sales! Museum Street is a lovely unknown little place. Many lifetimes ago I worked there and had lunch nearly every day in a tiny little Italian cafe which I am sure is long gone. So long ago that freshly cooked lasagne and a coffee cost £1.00 . . . having the BM across the road was a bonus too.

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  3. Congratulations Celia... very prestigious being in a London Gallery. Bet it was the muddy graveyard!

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  4. Well done! You are exhibited in a very small gallery in East Yorkshire (my living room) though the prints there are not definitely NOT for sale !

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  5. Well done Celia!
    What a lovely day you had by the sounds of things :)
    x

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  6. Celia, I do know a bit about that lovely part of London. How wonderful that your prints will be available there to a wider public.

    Wonderful news. Wherever he took you, I think that both of you enjoyed the tour. Seems as if you've found a kindred soul who appreciates your unique art.

    Bravo! And congrats on the parking, too.

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  7. Congrats, Celia.
    My money's also on the graveyard. Probably not Highgate; somewhere smaller?

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  8. Fantastic ! Really pleased to read of your news.

    Onwards and upwards! :D

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  9. Just caught up with your news...Fantastic! Congratulations! You're showing the metropolis just how talented East Anglian artists are! Lovely to be able to make it a real outing too, with hotel and show.
    Bet it was the graveyard though!

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  10. Just caught up with your latest news - congratulations Celia! Very posh indeed - a wonderful part of London with great individual shops. Many years ago I worked in Bloomsbury and would pop into the British Museum during my lunch break!

    Glad you enjoyed Eddy Izzard and look forward to reading the next instalment ... my money is on the muddy graveyard:)

    Jeanne

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  11. congratulations on the gallery posting! i'd want to head to the cemetary :) isn't it a minor miracle to find parking in central london so easily?

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  12. Hi Terry - Correctly guessed - obvious, wasn't it! Very true - sometimes I never ever get to see the printed book!

    Hi BilboWaggins - What a lovely place to work - I think the Italian Café is probably still there - Giovani's?

    Hi Gina - thank you! Of course it was the graveyard...

    Hi Veg Heaven - I'm pleased my pictures have a good home in East Yorks :-)

    Hi Karen - Thank you! You can't help being in a good mood after an Eddie Izzard gig.

    Hi Frances - you're right, Bloomsbury is a very special corner of London. Cliff is always confident he'll find a parking place in London - and he always does (even on Millennium Eve!!!)

    Hi Moreidlethoughts - Highgate! Bingo!!! you got it right on the button! Read all about it in part 3.

    Hi Feltmaker - Thank you! and a tad scary too!

    Hi Penny - of course it was the graveyard. It feels like there's a real East Anglian School of Linocut emerging... taking a traditional medium into the 21st century.

    Hi Jeanne - I really must take time to explore the other shops when I next visit. Yes, you guessed correctly!

    Hi Petoskystone - Thank you! Finding a parking place in central London seems to be all about confidence and knowing the side streets ;-)

    Thank you Threadspider! Now I need to get down to a new series of prints... I need to keep the momentum going... no pressure!

    Celia
    x

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  13. This is brilliant news! Congratulations and well deserved. Your work is inspirational.

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