Just idle chat

Exhibiting with a new society

02/08/2015
Which style will fit??
Having moved to the seaside and joined a new local art club, I approached my first exhibition with some trepidation. I have got used to selling well in Sevenoaks but sense that the likely "clientele" in Ferring might well have different tastes. My wife agreed and suggested a return to watercolour. After half-a-dozen aborted attempts ... it certainly does need a different "touch" to oils! ... I produced two watercolours (Holly Cottage and Woodbridge Tide milll ... see "current work" in the gallery). I got some good feedback on them but, sadly, neither sold. Instead, I sold a large acrylic of Honfleur harbour. Now what does this tell me? Actually, it tells me exactly what I have experienced at other times in other places ... you just cannot be sure which of your paintings will strike a chord with a member of the public. So often I have treasured one painting only to see it being returned time and time again; another which I thought would soon be painted over ... sells on its first display. Real message, I think, is ... paint what you enjoy. Maybe that's what actually sells!