Curiously, Gallery Update

If you aren’t living in Berwick-upon-Tweed you won’t have noticed that I’ve had to close my studio and gallery. You won’t have seen the scaffolding that has been on the front of that building since November. You won’t have heard the banging and the obscenely loud whirring of power tools coming from inside.

I started in my new studio on Church Street in February of last year, I opened the gallery area at the front of the space in May with my first group show. It was shortly after that show opened that the noise started.

It can’t be helped, the owners of the maisonette above my gallery wanted to renovate, how long could it last I wondered, I’ve been renovating my own house with my husband, we’re doing it on weekends here and there and we had the bulk of the major work finished in six months. But these are professional tradespeople, they won’t be watching how-to videos on YouTube or ringing their father-in-low for advice. Surely they’ll be finished soon, I’m all settled in now, let’s stick with it, I thought.

But as the noise regularly hit 80db (yes, of course I had a decibel meter), and when all sorts of debris, water and just muck starting coming through the ceiling, it was time to admit defeat and close the gallery. I couldn’t risk the work on display being damaged, and of course nothing says ‘relaxing time at a gallery contemplating contemporary art’ like intense drilling above your head.

I kept going for as long as I could, using the space as a studio and adapting the window into a gallery to display small exhibitions. But the noise continued, and when the scaffolding went up blocking the windows, it was time to admit defeat.

So back to my old studio I went, while I decided what was next.

I was of course bitterly disappointed about having to leave, I’d worked hard to set everything up, I had exciting exhibitions planned that would have to be put on hold and it was extremely disruptive to my own art practice.

It’s hard to look back at last year and see what I’d do differently next time. I think the main lesson I’ve learnt is that some things are completely out of my control and no matter how much I try to prepare for every possible outcome, sometimes things happen and there isn’t really anything I can do about it.

Which is quite the sobering thought.

But there is good news, I have been about to find somewhere to move Curiously to and I’m hoping to have my new studio up and running in the Spring, with exhibitions beginning again in the Summer.

In the meantime I’m continuing to create new work and travelling around the UK visiting art shows with WMA, whilst disengaging from most social media.