Tension mounts as the JAGS Art Fair approaches. Leonie Cronin, a participating artist, describes the preparations and the online auction.
Ceramics by Julian Stair 'Three Cups on a Ground' for the auction
I went to see Jenni Holman and Alison Venn yesterday who are running the art fair at JAGS. They were a hive of activity, turning Holst Hall into a vibrant Art gallery. Ah the Art Fair!
Such events always generate an atmosphere of charged anticipation, and the conversation around the JAGS Development Office, the powerhouse of Art Fair preparation, has been unusual:
Painting by Arnold Daghani for auction
How many hangers does it take to support a canvas? You might well ask. We have been consumed with finding solutions for the lay-out of the Holst hall: like the story of the three bears, some stalls are too big, some are too small, and some are just right! We almost decided to apply the principles of Feng Shui! We have asked the important questions: wires or clips on the backs of the artwork. We have fine-tuned the route to the coffee shop, the loos and exactly how to manage 31 cars arriving simultaneously to unload precious works … It will be wonderful! Come and see for yourselves.
Painting by Trevor Halliday for the auction
I am feeling my tension mounting I have to say, I’m assuming all the other artists are more organized than me as I try to:
1) get on top of trying to put a catalogue together
2) select work to take to be mounted (yes I know there’s less than a week to go!!)
3) Wonder if I should really pull a new masterpiece out of the bag (right now??!!)
4) I mustn’t forget to actually tell people of the event (who forgot to send the invitations before?)
Being an artist I thought this week, isn’t really about painting pictures but it actually means you have to be a really good administrator.
Where is that magic person who knows how to transform your mailing list from exhibition books, old outlook express and 3 different email accounts? Oh and while they are at it can they format all my photographs, slides, jpegs and random digital images into something that looks presentable. The joys of rapidly moving technology have just left me with drawers full of different formats of everything!
Well at least a deadline sharpens the mind and shows up where your weaknesses lie.
That reminds me I also have three commissions to finish.
'Cloverleaf Head' by Jane Muir for the auction
I feel like I used to when the children were small when you would find yourself in those meltdown situations and then a perfect looking mother would appear with her child sleeping sweetly in the pram. I would always feel like it was just me in a state of chaos. I have been reassured that all artists are the same, just as mothers do when they appear with freshly baked brownies!!
Jenni and Alison showed me the proposed catalogue for the Art Fair and I was really impressed (perhaps they could knock mine together!); there was a real diversity of works from the 31 artists exhibiting, made up of painters, printmakers and ceramicists to sculptors and illustrators.
Along side this Jenni is also busy arranging an online art auction, where 23 artists have donated works. This has gone on the JAGS website and will run for 4 weeks to give everyone a chance to bid for works from notable artists such as Quentin Blake, Ronnie Wood and Norman Ackroyd to name just a few.
One such notable artist Julian Stair has donated a beautiful piece of work, which he explained to me below:
This series of work explores the interface between architecture, the transient movement of pots and the stasis of display. As a picture frame aids the creation of pictorial space, the slab built grounds articulate three-dimensional space around the pots accentuating volume and nuances of form.
A palette of oppositional colours and materials consisting of porcelain, basalt, stoneware and Etruria Marls creates a play between individual forms and further enhances the relationship between pots and grounds.
Another very collectable artist Jane Muir, who is also showing work at the Art Fair, has donated one of her charming ceramic figures sculpted out of stoneware to the auction. Jane told me she chose ‘Clover Leaf Head’ because ‘I find him humorous and jolly and people are attracted to the types of figures with things on their heads.’
As well as all these lovely artists giving their works, which people sometimes forget take up a considerable amount of time and money to make, all of the artists who teach Art at JAGS have donated work too. I shall get Florence to look online at the auction and see if she will bid for the work of the teachers that inspired her!
22 November 10am-6pm
23 November 11am-4pm
Other posts by Leonie and her daughter Florence
Music For All at James Allen’s Girls’ School
South London Women Artists at JAGS Art Fair
Music For All at James Allen’s Girls’ School by Florence
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