Amazing what a little paint can do.....

Things moving a-pace now.. or so it seems.......

.........the frontage now has all its undercoat in the right places......

The dark blue on the inside of the door and window is an approximation of the topcoat colour.....(impossible lighting to snap by!)

... and   I made a sensible decision.... and asked the builders to do the white gloss paintwork inside ( I will  emulsion the walls ).. so far only one undercoat ... but what a huge difference difference it makes ! 

 It also gives them something to do when the rain comes and they have to stop painting the outside......they are hopping in and out like yo-yos... or those little weather people  in teh weather house (I even suggested one should wear a skirt to complete the image!!!) .so benefits us all... and will get it ALL done faster and better than I would !

Note the rolls of  flooring sitting there...... I unrolled a bit today wide mock light oak boards ...and its going to look great..... it links with the lonely stripped oak upright... so may allow me to keep the ceiling beams white after all.......the open door you see reflected in the mirror is the one to be replaced by a full length mirror door when its closed... bouncing light and images across the gallery,

I've also spent two wide awake night re-jigging  the interior plan.... there going to be a distinct seating / book browsing / commission discussing / coffee drinking etc area  on the left inside the door with its own fire  ... well I have to do something with the one no longer going in the main fireplace. !  The oh-so-comfortable sofa/couch however is going up to the far back of the gallery so I can have a quick nap  unobserved from the street !!!!

We have had more heavy rain ... and wind........ so not vertical stair-rods like the last time....... and only dampness in the fireplace - not flooding... the proposed cowl on the chimney should solve this last problem

My excitement is building !!  I think I will get there by September after all !

frontage ready for painting!

The builders have made great progress..... I am really pleased with the way they have matched up the false timberwork.  here it is with the primer......... and the paint arrived so I guess that will start happening next week :^) 

The flooring  is ordered for delivery next week.. and the cable protector to stop folk tripping over worklamp cables when painting.   I am spending money like nobodies business.......and realise time is getting short!!!  Hoping for good health until opening....!!

Heres the  inside view right now

Transformation taking place....

I am getting excited because work has started on the front !

Apparently there have been many positive comments already about the dreadful tiles having disappeared !!  This is good news !  I have definitely decided to go for very dark blue and white.

Last week I painted out the black interior beams

They probably wont stay white ... but will certainly not go too dark ... probably the wall colour. .. a  darkish cream 'magnolia' Paintwork will be white .. I think !!!


Meanwhile we have gone through two very heavy downpours... and on each occasion the floor has got wet again :(   But we think it is now coming down the chimney...... so I have taken the gas fire out which needs the ventilation and will install a modern stainless steel and pebbles electric job... to match the contemporary lighting and hanging system ( which I stashed way somewhere. hope I can find it !!!) ......... I hope an interesting mix of old and new.


Hopefully am also getting the light bulbs sorted at last......but the place is full of woodshavings right now so that will have to wait.

Building work will take another week at least .. then  I can really get cracking on the inside .... so a late August early September opening is now  a distinct possibility.

need to start thinking about some of the details now !

...... getting somewhere at last !!

I seem to have lost most of May to doing anything useful ...... mostly because of a strange episode of amnesia during which I ended up in hospital with a suspected stroke and have been awaiting a CT scan.........results yesterday and scan showed 'nothing sinister' ...... so we have to see if the doc thinks the source is worth pursuing.  meantime I had to rest......couldnt drive or exert myself physically !  Not good for decorating !!!

The GOOD NEWS is that Ive just learnt that Ive got the shopfront grant......... and am hoping teh builders can fit that work  in before the end of July... ...so I can open in August ...... I need to be open in time for H Arts week mid September even though Im not taking part....

Light bulbs are proving a bit of a problem.....amazing waht some sellers think is 'daylight'  The last lot had an eeerie green glow !!!!   However I have now got 7 daylight hobby lamps for the painitng/display tables

Meanwhile more heavy rain showed no extra water influx... so hopefully that problem solved at last and  I can now get on with decorating and then getting the floor laid....... and I MUST pay attention to dealing with teh 'kitchen ' area!!!!

But none of this while sun shining and untl Ive got rid of this horrendous summer cold which is draining my energy right now.

The Lighting is in!

... and quite a lot of rewiring done as I made a bad miscalculation and needed to split the circuits or blow the place up.  The good news is that there are now a number of switches and I can turn banks of lights on and off as required to suit the activities.....if I can just position them right !!!....even two separate bars of 6 each in my work space .. and extra sockets on two walls

The sofa has two adjustable drop ends...... a good ebay buy...... sturdy with high seat but quite light to move around....good for customers as well as for posing models for painting drawing

Now to get the window repaired and the decorating done while waiting for news re the shop front grant.  Am now thinking of Dark blue and warm off-white now as colours to go with William Morris  'Ianthe' fabric curtains and dark blue based persian rugs from house

Turning the Corner?

First of all,..... thank all of  you who offered sympathy for the broken window ......an arrangement has been reached with the miscreants (though sadly it seems they were not the main trouble makers, rather goaded into it after too much birthday celebration) to pay for the cost of repairs over the next couple of months... and I've already received the first instalment.

So time for some more upbeat news.......

It seems there are to be more 'Shop Front Grants' available from May..... and I shall be applying to transform the gallery into something like this

 

However this means putting off the opening until the early summer....... absolutely no point in patching and smartening up for the opening then doing the work all over again.....

Pride of place inside will go to this..... which I bid for on Ebay and my friend Caro bought as an opening present for the Gallery

 

The artist perched on it is Picasso.....  

produced for me in a Charity Shop in Kington Yesterday !!

his eyes follow you about the room!  Or the garden in this case !

 

How could I be miserable with him around ?

Im not a happy Bunny : (

All has been going well in the gallery.. if slowly.....we seem to have sorted out the water ingress problem ... and the floor has now been skimmed and holes patched up in walls and skirting boards.......

there is still a bit of smoothing off to do .. but I was looking forward to moving on to the next stage....... fitting lights, decorating, flooring etc.... when.. at almost midnight on Friday.... I got a phone call reporting this..........

 

it seems two GIRLS from the flat opposite were having a fight during a rowdy party!!!

They were taken into custody  and are now released on bail !

The glass shards have been removed....

  

And the window is boarded up.   

 

I now have the hassle of sorting it out ....... whether its insured, and if it is, if its worth claiming on.........whether we can alter the window so the large pane is split as in the other one....... half the damage in future...... ( conservation officer), getting estimates, passing them to the police........ No wonder I have an upset stomach today !!!

Still better now than on Friday April 30th !