Installation Time!

Whilst I was preparing for the exhibition I bought some ready-made frames from The Range and Dunelm Mill and although they looked great, they were expensive which meant I had to factor in that extra expense in my pricing (which I am always reluctant to do) but it was necessary.  I used them on my large charcoal drawings to protect the drawings and add some drama to the pictures, I think they worked well. Until now I have relied on a fixative spray to protect the charcoal drawings but have been concerned that each time they've been moved some of the charcoal gets rubbed off.  The final result looked much more professional. 

My encaustic pieces (the small pictures above) also needed hanging and I was pleased to learn how to attach these little saw-tooth hangers onto the back of my wooden frames (thanks to Dave on Youtube  https://youtu.be/j09slth4xj4). This was straightforward to do, so I will use this idea again. I bought the hangers cheaply at B&Q and they are nice and sturdy. 

I used the plate hangers to hang the planets (below) and had already hanging fixtures to the large triple moon artwork so that was fairly easy to hang. I have learned what to use and what works best with these because the triple moon usually hangs above my altar at home and the planets have been exhibited before. So I am gradually learning from my previous mistakes!  

The saw-tooth hangers for the encaustic art

My corner of the Room

The picture above shows my pictures and artworks all up, priced and in place.  It took a couple of hours for us both to get everything up.  Mark did a marvellous job drilling into the walls and I was glad I didn't have to do that.  In fact, we were really lucky because there was a team of experienced helpers on hand throughout the whole process and they were terrific! 

Mark working hard

Due to the helpful suggestions of Kate Yates and Lindal Dease I changed my mind about how to display the work and I love the way it came out. Kate suggested that I put the planets beneath the triple moon artwork in the shape of a crescent - to echo and compliment the piece above it.  This worked really well. Lindal suggested the arrangement of smaller encaustic pieces beneath the charcoal picture of 'the embankment' and again, I was delighted with how this came out.  I felt the whole area looked dynamic and exciting. So much better than my original ideas!   

Lindal and me having fun

One thing that I was particularly pleased with was how the lighting in HIVE really brought out the best in the encaustic pieces, they looked much better than they do in my home - so this was a really nice surprise. Kate and Dawn are great photographers and kindly took some photos of the exhibition, both during the installation process and afterwards.  I tried making a video but it wasn't very good because people were working and it was very noisy.  Kate and Dawn added some photos to Facebook to promote the exhibition and the HIVE Arts group which was great.  Dawn made a lot of helpful suggestions about creating a Facebook Events page too and that helped Mark set that up. 

All packed and ready to go...

As you can see I used suitcases to transport the smaller pieces and this together with a brilliant team of helpers to take the work from the car to the venue worked really well. Without the helpers, it would have been a tough job, mainly because Marks artwork was so big and heavy.  My work was much more manageable and when it comes to exhibiting work the practicalities are really important.   

Mark's Art Work - looking good!

Although we couldn't have an official opening event the publicity the event has got from the HIVE organisers, the installation team and ourselves on Facebook and Instragram has got a good response.  We should also be in the local papers soon as I sent a press release and they got back to me requesting a full story.  Catherine Mugonyi from 'Blackpool Social Club' also contacted me to write an article and promote the event for us, plus Barry McCann the editor of the prestigious Mensa Arts magazine 'Parnassus' is going to take some photos and write an article too. 

Me and Mark in front of some of his artwork

To my delight before the exhibition opened to the public someone from Facebook bought two of my encaustic paintings!  These are the two she chose...  

Glastonbury by Starlight 

Castlerigg at the Winter Solstice