With just under 4 weeks to go until our exhibition at Ashdown Gallery, we have set about getting ourselves organised. As well as producing a robust body of work, there is a significant amount of planning and ground work needed in the run up to the show. We thought it might be of interest to write a little of our processes here. This might be a bit dry, but bear with us.. or look at the lovely picture of the mug of tea and cake, of which we have plenty too!
Each work is photographed and catalogued here at our studio. It’s a useful start to keeping track of a sizeable portfolio, particularly when each piece is at a different stage of completion. We keep these in a chronological file and add notes as we go; size, medium, print run for example. It’s a really good habit to get into and provides really useful reference to answer any enquiries. (Files can later be marked as sold, archived or the relevant gallery where the painting is being shown can be noted.)
We have selected 2 images to be released as limited edition giclee prints during the show. We use the most excellent Jim Holden in East Hoathly, East Sussex, who creates the most exquisite reproductions of our work. He goes to such lengths to precisely colour match and ensure the tonality is perfect. We love working with Jim and are very proud of the resulting prints. These will be the images used, please note they are our snaps!
We wanted to have some cards available too, so have used high resolution jpgs of the following 4 paintings;
The company we always use is Digital Colour Services and again they are fantastic. Be sure to send CMYK files, not RGB, as the professional printers won’t interpret the colours quite right. This is a standard requirement of most reprographic services and Photoshop is a good place to start to convert your files.
We have spread the task of framing 22 or so paintings over several months and have used 2 excellent framers close to home, Denny’s and Bury Framing Centre and my old favourites, Uckfield Framing Company in Sussex for the very large pieces, (so that they can be easily transported to the gallery). We are so grateful to each of them for their professionalism, high standard of craftsmanship and vision for each piece. We are delighted with every single painting and each one is presented to its very best.
Finally the framing is almost done, cards are packed and prints are in the hands of Mr Holden. Next on our list is to sign the backs, print certificates of authenticity for each painting, and generate a comprehensive schedule for Ashdown Gallery… oh and publicise the show as much as possible! We are delighted to have such a nice article in Ingenue magazine and have been adding each new work to social media platforms of course.
It would be so wonderful to see some of you at the exhibition, but we will be posting full coverage for those of you who can’t make it.
Finally thank you all for your support and kindness, we really appreciate it.
Lorna and Stephen x
The Kirins 