My first exhibition

I retired in early 2018 and decided to devote as much time as I could to painting. In May 2019 I had my first exhibition, at the Newhampton Arts Centre, as a new member of the Wolverhampton Society of Artists. For many years I’ve painted and not exhibited or tried to sell my work and although I’m quite confident about most things, I was nervous for several days before the opening. There may be a word for ‘fear of exhibiting one’s work’, but the nearest I can find is ‘Scopophobia’, which is fear of being seen or stared at by others, and I suppose that will have to do.

I was one of nineteen people exhibiting, so I wasn’t alone and what I expected was that my work would draw very few comments if any. In the event, I needn’t have worried. I got a lot of positive comments and even sold a couple of paintings, one during the exhibition and one immediately following it.

Exhibiting one’s work is a good motivator. It provides focus and generates  the discipline to get work done to good standard and finished to a degree that I probably wouldn’t achieve otherwise. And of course there’s the opportunity to sell paintings…..

I was subsequently involved in setting up a Residents’ Exhibition, the work of artists with studios in the centre.  As a non-resident, my work wasn’t in the exhibition, but it gave my valuable experience and enabled me to meet and get to know more local artists and see their work.

Being a part of the team organising exhibitions even in a small way helps me in a number of ways: I meet other artists and people involved locally with the arts and get to hear news of local events and become involved with them at an earlier stage.