Penultimate summer show

How quickly this has come around! I can barely believe that we have only one more summer exhibition to host and the schedule will be over. 

Yesterday we opened another collection (see here) with our attending artist, Flynn O'Reilly. This was Flynn's first show with us, but he wasn't in the least overcome by the occasion and chatted to clients about his work which was the result of his winter residency on the island. Flynn lives and has a studio in Cornwall and has been holidaying on the Isles of Scilly since he was a young child - consequently he knows his subject inside out. Congratulations to him for making his first two sales with us by the end of the evening!

My outfit for the evening was not what I had planned. I have a really lovely vintage maxi dress in a sheer black fabric printed with orange flowers that I had hoped to wear, but after much faffing about with underskirts of various lengths combined with camis/bodies I gave up. I really need to line it and do in fact have black satin bought with that in mind. Time has been sadly lacking to get this done over the summer months, but hopefully before the October show I will manage to get my sewing machine out to tackle the job. Instead I wore - skirt: QED London, top: Tu at Sainsbury's, belt: eBay, shoes:H&M, necklace: Dorothy Perkins, rings: pre-loved.

My thanks as always to the dream team of the evening - Heather, Polly and Max who were all in fine fettle as you can see!

On Friday I'll be featuring my Black Trouser Challenge and on Sunday it'll be time for Ping Pong Piece once again. Do please join me!

Anna x

5th August show night

I'm surely not the only one to be slightly alarmed at the speed we're whizzing along currently. Here I sit, typing away frantically on the 9th about the event on the 5th while I have my mind on the 11th! So let's stop, breathe and just be in the moment.

I've been waiting for months to show you these fabulous new shoes. I bought them in the River Island sale in April when I was in Harrogate and have been keeping them for the right outfit. Fuchsia and red make for a stunning combination don't you think?

My frock is a recent charity shop purchase. The brand is Monsoon and I was delighted to find a dry cleaning label attached meaning I didn't have to undertake that myself. It's a lovely coral colour that works perfectly with the shoes.

 The breeze made for an interesting photo shoot with the majority of the photos being discarded thanks to my lack of fringe - oh how I hate to see my white forehead!

And here are the girls, also battling the effects of the wind. Max, Polly and Heather were on top of things for the evening, making everything run smoothly as usual. Many thanks to them.

The artists featured in this week's show (see here) are Teresa Pemberton, Tom Rickman and Jenny Ulyatt, shown above with her husband. They spent a couple of days on the island winding down after her opening night. Jenny works in watercolours, but with a very fresh, contemporary feel. See the link above to view her work.

Apologies for being brief, but I must head on out for my morning swim now. The sun is shining and there's still a brisk wind blowing, but the sea beckons no matter the weather.

Outfit details - shoes: River Island, dress: Monsoon, necklace: Debenhams, rings: charity shopped, sunglasses: Quay Australia. 

Anna x

Summer show 25th July

So here we are, already at the end of the month with our final July show, and I can't understand where the time has gone. Do you feel the same? Perhaps the lack of what feels like consistent summer weather hasn't helped. Anyway, let's take a look at what we got up to last night shall we?

Heather, Polly and Ruth were still smiling at the end of the evening, despite it being one of the busiest yet. On the right is our attending artist, Iona Sanders, who managed to get across to the island for her opening night at the gallery. Iona spent the night chatting to clients resulting in her selling two beautiful paintings which was a great start to her show. See the full line up of our July shows here.

My outfit comprises of a vintage dress that was a charity shop scoop for £9, gold sandals from H&M, the bracelet is green amethyst and was a present from my husband when we were in Morocco, the large brown ring is from TK Maxx and the other rings were from a charity shop.

Iona and I had a farewell squeeze before we said goodnight. My job is a wonderful way of meeting people and making new friends and Iona is not only a talented artist, but also a lovely new chum. 

Coming up soon on the blog is a special edition of The Black Trouser Challenge, followed by Anna meets... (yes I know I promised this previously, but it's nearly finished now) and the 5Over50 collective will be rallying soon with our next challenge "Orange is the new black" - the most difficult part of this challenge will be to decide which orange outfit I feature as it's almost a daily occurrence for me at this time of year!

My trip to the mainland yeilded a fabulous haul, but I'm afraid it's already packed/squashed into my wardrobe. Things are full-on at work during the exhibition period and I really didn't have time to do the usual bed-spread. If this causes huge disappoinment to you, then leave me a comment and I'll drag it out for a quick photoshoot. If I say that I bought 18 pairs of shoes and boots, then you'll get an idea of how good the shopping was. Sasha steered me through the best of the summer sales and yes, I descended on my usual charity shops too. According to the masters of retail therapy we're already in need of our autumn clothes, hence this shedding of all of the summer fripperies. Well, I'm ever hopeful that summer will just be taking a breather and is about to return with gusto and therefore I'll be needing all things, floaty, flowery and lightweight in readiness for the next heatwave. And if not, then at least I'm all stocked up for next summer! New swimsuits and a bikini have me all primed for more beach shoots too...

Anna x

Summer show 15th July

I'd like to say that the sun always shines on this little island paradise, but clearly that would be a lie. On exhibition nights we always wish for the perfect evening so that the party can spill outside and our clients, with a glass in hand, can watch the sun sink down in the West. That wasn't the case last night, but I'm happy to report that the dull weather didn't spoil our enjoyment of what was a brilliant collection of paintings. To view or download the brochure of our three July shows follow here. The show of the moment features work by Neil Pinkett, Marie Mills and John Bampfield (as seen in the brochure) and has the gallery teaming with images of boats, beaches and flowers as well as a rash of red spots to indicate SOLD.

I spent the evening rustling about in this tulle maxi skirt that I'd found in a charity shop (surprise, surprise!) which is by Jesire and cost me £14. It did earn me a lot of compliments. The black devore body is by Ayanapa and the boots are by Jessica Wright, both are from TK Maxx.The chain belt is so old I can't recall where I bought it and my rings are charity shopped.

The team were in fine form, working hard to make the evening, as well as the wine, flow seamlessly. Thank you ladies for your support. From l to r - Polly, Heather, Ruth and Max - my dream team!

Linking with -

Cherie of Style Nudge

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Anna x

5, 15 & 25

Yes, 5, 15 and 25 are the dates of the summer shows at the gallery this summer. During July and August we host 6 exhibitions in 60 days which is quite a turnaround. Polly and I work harder than ever to keep the gallery running smoothly and looking at its best. Our visitors love attending the opening night parties and we thrive on the additional challenge these nights bring. Without our back-up team of helpers we wouldn't cope and so first of all I want to say a huge thank you to them all, Polly included, for everything they do over these next two months.

At the end of the evening the girls still look as cheerful and fresh as at the start - thanks (L to R) Max, Polly and Ruth for your support!

The show we opened on Wednesday was for Ellen Watson, Ramie Leahy and Imogen Bone and can be viewed online here. Each artist sold work and received acclaim for their paintings which made a wonderful display. The sun shone and our clients spilled outdoors to enjoy the view in between making their purchases. We couldn't have had a better start to our summer exhibition period.

The following evening we had a party to say a fond farewell to a local family. Alex and Nicola along with their sons George and Harry have lived on the island forever it seems and are now making a fresh start in mainland Cornwall. They will be sorely missed and will leave a huge gap in this tiny island community. It's sad to see them go, but we all have our own path to tread. We wish them every success and much happiness in their new life. 

On evenings like this we locals always say how we wish we got together for reasons other than a family leaving or a funeral. It seems to take these sombre events to bring us out en masse and yet we'd all prefer to come along for no other reason than to say hello and how ya doing? Food for thought.

Outfit details - I found this orange lace jumpsuit by Darling in TK Maxx and must admit it was a dream to wear. Shoes are from Primark, necklace was a gift and the other jewellery and belt are all charity shopped. Sunnies are from Quay Australia.

Linking with -

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Anna x