The Sensational Success of my Strand Gallery Solo Show

I haven’t written on The Daily Norm for almost a week. The reason is probably obvious to all those who have been reading my posts of late. It was because I was otherwise occupied hosting my biggest ever solo exhibition of paintings, illustrations and prints, a show which combined some 165 works from the last 6 years of my creative out put. The exhibition, which was held at London’s preeminent Strand Gallery finished on Sunday, with more bubble wrap and more packing than I would ever have wanted to engage in during my whole life, let alone a single day, and the days which have passed since have been a flurry of deliveries, unpacking, repacking, digesting and collapsing with the exhaustion of 9 months preparations which has still not quite left me. But, despite the energy-sapping effort and the complete bodily and mental exhaustion, I am delighted to be able to report that my solo exhibition, When (S)pain became the Norm, was a complete and utter show-stopping success!

My eyes are close to pricking with tears as I relay how this show not only pulled in crowds into the hundreds, but also sold some 42 works with further commissions arising out of it. Expecting to sell a number in single digits, I was blown away by the support I was shown and just stunned by how many of my works went to new homes. Perhaps unsurprisingly for fans of this blog, the real winner of the show was The Norm, my little blobby character with one arm, the paintings and sketches of which made up around 80% of the sales.

Those beautiful dots signifying multiple sales…

The collection of Norm paintings based on art historical masterpieces sold out, with only Infanta Norm, which I had saved for myself, remaining. My Norm sketches, made primarily as illustrations for this blog, also sold well, with at least half the collection emerging at the end of the exhibition with red dots upon their titles. And my latest endeavour – printmaking – sold similarly well, especially where the Norm, once again, had managed to creep into the image, making my prints a further attraction to the art-buying, Norm-loving public.

So by way of a final hurrah before I close my exhibition files and move on to the next project, I thought I would share some further photos of my show with you. Not only photos of the gallery looking resplendent when hung with my works, but also full of the very many marvellous people who came to see the show, including my parents who merrily took on the roles of gallery manager and barman, and my dear partner, who supported me throughout.

When (S)pain became the Norm was truly a personal achievement and was undoubtedly the high point of my art career so far. At its close, I emerge not only more confident in my work and the support that exists for it, but also full of excitement for what the future holds.