Rory McEwen lives on

Tuesday was a sad day - I wasn't in the gallery on Monday when the rest of the team began to take down Rory McEwen The Colours of Reality, which closed on Sunday. On Monday I was busy celebrating Henry's birthday, decorating the house with bunting and balloons, tending to the garden and cooking, so I missed out on the de-installation.

It can be fair to say that Monday was a day of merriment and celebration, but Tuesday? Well I was gobsmacked by how much work my team had done in a day - when I came in, most of the paintings were no longer on the wall and were instead standing on foam blocks ready for wrapping. This really marks the end of a show for me, seeing all those paintings on blocks. It's a sad moment at the best of times.

I think this show has been one of our most successful at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art and all of us in the gallery are very grateful to everyone for their support in buying the catalogue, coming to the show and talking about it with their friends. An exhibition is nothing without it's audience.

Tulips are down and ready to go back to their owners

This exhibition changed my life. It did this in so many different ways, from seeing the paintings for the first time in the flesh, to the people I met along the way. It seems like a long time ago when I saw the paintings for the first time in the form of a digital file whilst was designing the website. I remember being bowled over even then! Something inside me has been moved by these paintings and I think it has for us all. How wondrous to be the person responsible for touching so many souls after so many years after passing away. Miraculous really.

One of my favourite little sketches by Rory McEwen - so much energy

Rory's two daughters visited the gallery on Tuesday afternoon to pack up the show cases. I took some photographs for our archives as there was so much information packed into those cases. One of my favourite things to do at the end of the day is to see how many hand prints are on the cases. Sometimes it's a good measure of how busy we have been, or how sunny it was outside (suncream always leaves marks) or if we had school groups in (they leave small hand prints and children tend to have the stickiest of mits).

In the case of Rory though, I rather liked seeing which cases caused people to stop and stare more. In this exhibition, it was the music display case that got more handprints on than any other - the one with his guitar and records inside. The next most 'touched' was the one with his painting schedule written out on loose sheets of paper with the 'Is that you Rory?' postcards running along the top. I think a lot of people found this display to be very informative as it showed how fast he was at painting and how he worked on several paintings at once. Lastly, the Karl Blossfeldt show case in Dr. Sherwood's part of the show proved to be a popular gazing ground too. 

The showcase with Rory McEwen's paints inside, Kew Gardens

As the show cases got packed up it was my job to open them up. The highlight of the day was opening up the case with his apron, tools and paints inside. As I opened it the most exquisite smell of paint and old paper seeped out. I stood there wondering if that was the smell of Rory's studio, trying to memorize it as it diffused across the room. 

Rory McEwen's tools including a very fine scratching tool for sharp, defined highlights.

So I guess, like summer, the show is over and it's time to embrace something new... As the leaves on the trees start to change colour in a rather 'Rory' way, we are busy sanding and peeling sentences of vinyl off our walls... I tell you something - I won't be forgetting the glorious summer of 2013 in a hurry!

In case anyone is interested, the Estate of Rory McEwen have got a website. 

Also, the remarkable botanical artist, Martin J Allen, has written a very in depth post on his website pointing to all things Rory, from exhibition reviews and blog posts such as those by Coral Guest, to books and memoirs. I recommend scouring through every link, as each author's take on Rory's work demonstrates very well how people interpret things differently. Yet also at the same time, I find it extraordinary that by reading each review one can see very clearly that, as human beings, we are all affected by Rory's work on a spiritual level. I personally think it's something about the condition of being alive.

Changes at the Gallery

 One of Rory McEwen's Leaves * 

(I want to know which shade of green he used to get this colour - ideas anyone?)

So it's all change here in the gallery this week! At 8am this morning I witnessed two of our David Nash sculptures leaving on the back of a lorry - The Sliced Cedars. A sad moment in the morning drizzle (below), and the end of a season. I am glad that the exhibition closed during Spring though, as it's a time of new leaves and colour and that makes me feel more hopeful.

So less about what is going on outside the gallery and more about what's happening indoors! Like a chrysalis, there is a lot going on inside our walls. We've been having lots of deliveries... all paintings. The Rory McEwen show is starting to take shape as we get work from Kew, the family and from private collections. It's really exciting to be part of this. The paintings arrive all wrapped up in white opaque bubble wrap and we have no idea what's in them. Unwrapping each one if like unwrapping a very expensive and delicate chocolate truffle. It's a million Christmas' all at once. I have never seen so many beautiful pieces of work in such a short space of time. I felt like crying.  It's going to be an extraordinary show - real food for the eyes and soul.

Laying out the paintings for the Rory McEwen show

As a point of interest, I feel that now is a good time to talk about frames. Many of the frames around Rory McEwen's work are now roughly 40-60 years old. Some are amazing - my favourite one is a bamboo piece which looks very 1970s! However, what I really wanted to talk to you all about is how frames deteriorate over time and what we can do as artists to prevent this.

 A close up on one of Rory's Fritillarias*

*Please note that these pieces might not be in the exhibition. We are still selecting work. This is how we work - we select a whole collection of work, and then lay them all out and decide which paintings work well together in each gallery space.

Now I know all us good artists invest in proper frames with acid free boards and mounts and a proper seal at the back. Rory probably did too. But something I have discovered since working in this show is what happens to frames over time and how badly they can age. I had a chat with a conservator about frames as I was interested to know more about them and how damage occurs. Apparently, the biggest killer is just neglect on the owners part. Even acid free materials don't last forever. This brought back memories of me working in a museum and the fact that we have to repackage objects every few years because acid free tissue paper loses its effectiveness. I guess the same goes for frames. 

So apparently we need to check our frames every 5 years for damage and bugs. We need to pay particular attention to the seal at the back, the state of the mount and for rusty nails etc. Even if acid free board has been used, this still needs replacing roughly every ten years. So, if anyone owns a piece of artwork which they love and value, like a classic car - you need to maintain it. I think there is a bit of a mentality in many of us that once you have parted with your hard earned cash for a piece of art, one feels that they don't need to pay anymore. They own it and it's theirs, but like a classic car or a house - you need to keep injecting the cash now and then to keep it looking good and structurally sound.

 

Bugs are the worst problem - they get in all sorts of ways, but it's especially bad if the taped seal at the back is broken. Acid boards are pretty bad too, as are woods that emit a lot of acidic gas. Apparently pear wood is the best wood you can use as it emits less gas and lignins and isn't on a CITES list unlike other woods.

A close up on one of Rory's decaying leaves*

*Please note that these pieces might not be in the exhibition. We are still selecting work. This is how we work - we select a whole collection of work, and then lay them all out and decide which paintings work well together in each gallery space.