This last weekend introduced me to a couple of things I haven't done before, one art related and one not. As I'm trying to get some gouache paintings and pencil drawings ready for display, I needed to get them matted. I toddled up to the local art shop, which is rather good at that sort of thing to see what could be done, considering the short time I have to get them completed. I have the frames, so only appropriate mats were needed, but the backlog meant that they could not be done in time. Curses. Nothing for it but to teach myself mat cutting. I purchased the necessary hardware and some sheets of mat and have spent most of the day cruising YouTube and the internet for tutorials. So far, I've practiced on a bunch of scrap cardboard and am reasonably satisfied with the results. The old rule of "measure twice, cut once" has always been my motto so most of the afternoon has been spent measuring, doing the math and coming up with the right numbers. Since I'm new at this, I've expanded my paranoia to measure 3 or 4 times, then double check to make sure the numbers come up the same. Tomorrow, when I'm fresh, I'll gingerly set about cutting the boards.
The other new(ish) thing that occupied my Sunday morning was diving into the innards of my motorcycle's engine to find an elusive noise that I noticed the last couple of rides. Enfields have a tendency to produce weird and wonderful sounds anyway, and I've become used to most of them, but this was new and seemed to be coming from the engine case rather than the cylinder head, the normal source of the bike's vocalisations. Without getting too technical, all was well within the case: the clutch and primary drive chain were in good nick and within wear limits, but upon closer examination, I discovered that the automatic tensioner for the primary chain was installed backwards, which meant that the chain was not tensioned properly and was most likely a bit loose, hence the disturbing racket. I've never had the Left side of the engine case opened before, so this had nothing to do with me, mate. Most likely, it's been like that since it came from the factory 6 years ago and finally wore the tensioning pad down enough to start rattling. Anyway, it's now installed the right way around and a short ride before the rain hit proved successful; less noise from the beast. Always a nice feeling when something you do works out right.
My commission for the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum has been turned in and will form part of our exhibit celebrating the 75th anniversary of Group Captain 'Teddy' Donaldson's speed record which took place in Sept. 1946. His Meteor F4 is one of our exhibits so the painting will accompany the aircraft.
Meteor F4 EE549 is readied for Group Captain Donaldson’s speed record flight, Sept 1946.
I usually go on about the projects I'm involved with and works that are presently in progress, but I thought I'd stray a bit from that path this week. A fellow artist, Michael Daley, has an interesting tale to tell, so here it is, in his own words:
A TRIUMPH OF ENTHUSIASM OVER EXPERIENCE
By Michael Daley
"I’ve been painting to a professional standard for about 11 years now. In that time I have been fortunate enough to have a few commissions for aviation and marine work They are always a journey of discovery but have mostly turned out ok. I confess I am no businessman and have generally worked on trust and good will. Sometimes however, it goes “tits up”!!
It all started about 16 months ago pretty much coinciding with the start of the pandemic.
A chap who had been following my work on FB initially sent me a friend request and then sought membership of my FB Group. A US citizen living in Scandinavia he asked if I took commissions. He wanted a painting of a vessel that his grandfather had served in durning WW1. He had already got a fair bit of info on the ship and provided a photo of her in dry dock. Two things intrigued me; It was a type of warship I had not come across before and she was wearing Dazzle camouflage (Razzle Dazzle ) in the US. I could only find two photos of her on the net. Th one he sent me and another blurred image of her at anchor somewhere.
The painting was to show her off Gibraltar as a convoy escort in the Spring of 1918, As per usual I made some thumbnail sketches, six in all and sent them off. We agreed on one and I did a small watercolour to show the overall colour scheme. Much discussion via FB followed regarding size and price. He decided he would like a very large painting on canvas, 4 feet by 2 feet. Overcome with enthusiasm for the project I ordered a canvas, before receiving the deposit we had agreed. First mistake. My problem was and is, is that I love painting big pictures and don’t often get a chance to do so. Also, I have been interested in Dazzle paint scheme on vessels for a while and here was a perfect opportunity to indulge myself. My research threw up the Dazzle colour chart used by the USN during WW1 so I was up and running.
Then it started, excuse after excuse as to why he was unable to pay the deposit. Didn’t want to use PayPal because of the fees the charged, great difficulty getting his bank to recognise my account for BACS transfer and so on. By this time of course I was well into the painting. As luck would have it I had been in touch with the US Coast Guard Archives seeking info on the vessel, a CG Cutter. I shared my colour chart info with them since they had not seen it before but despite doing some digging they were unable to give me much more info, however we struck up an amicable relationship.
You’re probably saying I should have binned this chap long since and you’d be right. However due to my own naive enthusiasm I had a very large canvas and a half completed painting blocking up the studio. To cut a very long story short. I eventually admitted defeat after this gentleman dropped off the radar, stopped replying on messenger and email. I finally wrote to him in what I hope was a professional manner saying enough was enough and the job was at an end. All I received in acknowledgement was a yellow thumbs up sign.
The Triumph bit of the story is that the USCG Museum expressed great enthusiasm for the painting. They had so little info on the squadron sent to Gibraltar during the war and were very keen to obtain the painting. After many months of negotianions and amiable discussions my painting of the USCG Cutter Manning now resides in the US awaiting its place in an exhibitionn devoted to the work of the Coast Guard during WW1.
Sadly, I am now a much less trusting painter and work on a strict “no deposit, no painting” basis. I don’t like it but I escaped a great financial loss by the skin of my teeth and shear good fortune. Once bitten twice shy"
The US Coast Guard Cutter Manning. Spring 1918 on convoy escort leaving Gibraltar. Acrylic on Canvas 4 feet by 2 feet. Now in the collection of the USCG Museum and Exhibition Centre Maryland USA. by Michael Daley
If you want to see more of Michael's works, you can go here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2333696986717405
There are words of wisdom here for all of us, I'm sure. I know a reasonable number of independent artists (including me) whose business acumen is not quite up to scratch. I suppose that's why so many of us are keen to get taken up by a gallery and let them do the sales.
Well, it’s back to the matting adventure now. Here’s hoping.