‘TRACES’ – ALISON BICKMORE AND LORNA HADFIELD, HIGHGATE GALLERY 11 – 24TH MAY 2012

We had worked hard the day before the show opened arriving at the gallery at 8 am. Tom from the gallery was there to help with the hang which was great as he has masses of experience and had just hung the Bauhaus show at the Barbican.

Laying out the work around the walls to get an idea where everything will go.

Lorna getting the list of prices ready was time absorbing!

The  Private view on Friday 11th May at 6 pm. Setting up drinks with the bar staff Bill and Joan, Highgate locals and know all the ropes.

First arrivals are a few of the Highgate gallery committee, who chat to Tom and Kathy, chair of the gallery committee.  Slowly lots of people arrive and it gets very busy.

Its good to see some old Camberwell college friends and Mike Taylor who now runs  Pauper Press,  printmaking studio in Shorditch, where Damien Hurst’s skull prints were made. Tracey Emin, Paula Rego and many others have all made prints with Mike there. Pauper press have a show at King’s Place at the moment called ‘the Mechanical Hand ‘which is excellent and coincides with a book about 25 years of artists making prints at the press.

I made my screen prints Pagham Beach with Matthew Rich at Jealous Prints also now at a studio in Shoreditch, Curtain Rd. Both Matthew and his colleague Dario were at the PV the gallery Jealous Prints is in Crouch end.  Jealous also print Charming Bakers work, which has been bought by Damien Hurst and many others.

Also attending the private view was Jonas Grimas, film director ( Wallander, Silent witness, also BAFTA winner) who had been filming Stephen Chambers, who was the artist making prints at Pauper press that afternoon. Jonas said he enjoyed coming the private view and seeing the work very much.

The experience has been fantastic and we have had an excellent response to the work, getting people’s feed back about the work is invaluable.  Following on from this show I am going to be making more prints that come more directly from my paintings and I am discussing some ideas with Matthew about news ways of accomplishing this. I will be exhibiting a photograph as part of a photographic series at The Renaissance Photographic Awards at the Mall Galleries in June, the prints sold go to Breast cancer research.