21/09/2024
WORKSHOP EXHIBITION
There was a moment during the night where Debbie (a good friend of Paul who owns the building) turned to me and said ‘I have a favourite’. I asked which painting she was referring to and It was really funny to me that she was talking about the stealth bomber in the centre of the room. It’s not actually that funny, but you know, if you met Debbie you wouldn’t expect that she would take any interest in war planes. It of course, was the colour that she was drawn to. She wasn’t actually aware that it was a stealth bomber. Which obviously, is because I camouflaged it well and not because it was drawn poorly.
I later bumped into Debbie in the pub and before any beers were sunk I decided that I wanted to offer the painting to her at a super discounted price. 100 pounds. 80% off or something like that. Cheekily, Debbie somehow got me down to 70 quid. I think my interaction with Debbie sums up the exhibition pretty well.
In the build up I did a lot of stressing over whether I should have been pulling out all the stops to promo the event. In the end, my hand was ‘forced’ into keeping it a bit more close knit. No, it was forced. The exhibition was on the 21st and everything had to be moved out by the 24th. 35years worth of prop designing stuff. Lots of tools, the odd thing that was worth a bit of cash and then there was a lot of junk. Five skip loads of junk. Some of which maybe wasn’t junk. The two canoes that got chopped in half to fit in the skip probably could have been found a home if someone had been a bit more on the ball. Oh and for the record, the fire show wasn’t part of the plan.
Please note I didn’t just pose with a hammer and pretend to get stuck in. I did actually help. That was the trade off. I had floated the idea of a leaving party/exhibition past Paul quite early on and he was up for it but understandably stressed at the prospect of moving everything out. It proved to be a lot of work and it’s fair to say that there were a few rocky moments. Other than Paul almost falling over with a 18ft ladder, they were mostly dust related.
My personal favourite was when he all of a sudden looked quite concerned whilst passing a plank of wood down to me from above my room. He remarked ‘I’m not 100% sure but this might be asbestos’. Missing the memo I took the plank from him and I wouldn’t quite say I lobbed it but I did sense a bit of panic when the plank hit the floor. I think I was supposed to place it down with a bit more care. Which was unlike me to be honest but everyone was just a little stressed.
The dust was a lot and I didn’t help myself by committing to a couple of all nighters upstairs. I felt I needed a second painting of the Battersea Power Station for some sort of back drop. Well actually at first I planned on doing three. Which was overly ambitious. Two worked out nicely in the end and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn't squeezed in some extra time.
As much as it was a priceless opportunity for me to be able to hold an exhibition, the night was first and full most about giving a good send off to Paul. I knew already the importance of his 35years of prop design in Battersea, but it was further reinforced when not long before the exhibition, a dressed as you would expect, Harry Hill, came around the corner with an ironing board In hand for one last job. A somewhat regular occurrence over the 35years, his sadness that the workshop would be no more was telling of the work of a truly great man.
From an art perspective, the night didn’t go completely to plan but it ultimately was always going to be a little rough around the edges. That was kind of the point. On entry you were met by my first painting, some time before lockdown now and after working your way around you get to stuff that I actually believe is half decent. You know, I think the next event might look a little different. Maybe I’ll get a tank or something. Okay that’s maybe a bit ambitious but I do at least know what pattern I’m painting now.
21-09-2024
BATTERSEA IN
COLOUR -
WORKSHOP
EXHIBITION PREVIEW
Camouflage wear is optional but will be well recieved. There will be food, there will be music and there will be a colourful room full of mistakes as I maybe leave the workshop with a feeling that the work is in fact ‘good enough’.