Rogue's Galleries - Genesis of a Gallery

"Four Seasons in One Day"

I suppose it's fair to say that most artists are gregarious by nature. It's all right being the solitary spirit suffering for his art but in reality artists need the company of other artists. The fact is it takes another artist to be able to understand an artist. Being creative has its great joys but it can also be challenging so association with and support from fellow strugglers can be a  blessing at times. I certainly enjoyed my association with our little group. We painted together and socialised together mostly at the Bosville Arms where Tony and Eileen hosted many memorable evenings but occasionally we would be invited to the homes of our friends to enjoy a meal together in convivial surroundings . Our meetings always started off sedately enough but soon degenerated into riotous and happy assemblies. Part of the problem was the fact that a couple of our stalwarts were a bit (!) deaf so communication tended of necessity to be on the loud side. Obviously a generous quantity of the red stuff tended to add some merriment too so all in all, these were occasions to look back on with great affection...well the bits you could remember!  It was one such dinner that provided the next stage on my painting journey. We were dining at the home of Liz and Jonny. Liz had a long standing appreciation for all aspects of art but after enjoying a painting course with Tony she really got 'bitten by the bug' and became an enthusiastic member of our little gang. After a couple of bottles of excellent wine she announced that she had decided to open a gallery of her own borne out of the laudable aim of putting something back into the community of Bridlington. We were all a bit surprised but it turned out to be no fanciful whim. Liz was a full time GP and someone asked her if she would have enough time for the enterprise and what about the stress? "It will be a relaxation for me,"she replied " Being a GP - now that is stress!" 'Nuff said as they say! A few weeks went by  until she found the perfect location. She rented a large shop in the Old Town in Bridlington. Old Town, Bridlington is one of the, if not the very, best preserved Georgian streets in the country. Don't think Bath because this was a working street with lots of shopfronts and alleyways. She settled on one such property.  It featured lots of interesting nooks and crannies and many original fittings and features. The owner dealt in antiques so Liz agreed to rent the ground floor for her gallery while the landlord retained the right to show and sell a few pieces of quality furniture. It might sound strange but in practice it worked well as the art and antiques enhanced each other. As mentioned Liz was a GP with a full workload so she needed someone to run the gallery for her. Merice was duly appointed and as she needed a chauffeur Liz offered me the whole back room as a studio. It was such a wonderful opportunity that I was able to say goodbye to 'Art@Alternatives' without any regrets. However we did remain close friends with Marjorie  until sadly she died a couple of years later.
Obviously we were in serious need of another meal to choose a name for the new gallery. We were old hands at having 'name choosing' parties. Merice once decided that Glenn Marshall was not a good name for an artist. Back then there were hundreds of Glenn Marshall Artist on Google so changes would have to be made! As the evening progressed and the wine flowed many variations and combinations were mooted until it was finally settled. From then on I was to be known as Ship McCoy! Even to this day I answer to 'Ship' from Tony and Rob though I am happy to report that a present day Google search for 'Glenn Marshall' brings up yours truly in either first or second place. Once again many weird and wonderful suggestions were put forward, but eventually Liz won out. With a definite nod to her Edinburgh influences she simply incorporated the building number and thus 'Gallery Forty-Nine' was born. Now we can start planning for the grand opening. Can't wait....but you'll have to! Sorry but that will be next instalment. Incidentally the painting above - "Four Seasons in One Day"- was the first one I sold in Gallery Forty-Nine. See you next time. Glenn

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