Meet the New Cats and Dogs of the Kilkenny Arts Festival 2011

Thank you to all who applied to the gallery, sorry we were not able to get back to all of you individually as we are away getting our ghostly frames sun burnt and trying to get as far away from interwebiness as much as possible. We are happy to announce that The Little Ghost will be the host of a pretty exciting and honorary show. This year we will be hosts of the National College of Art & Design Graduates Show. The show which is titled 'N.ew C.ats A.nd D.ogs' will be something of unique treat indeed and worthy contender for the BEST FUCKIN EXHIBITION OF THE YEAR award.  Upon walking up the little stairs and into our little gallery you will be high 5'd In the eyes by the selection of work by some of the new and best artists that our little country has to offer. This Is the perfect opportunity for anyone who missed the NCAD Degree Show to catch a glimpse of it here. We have been wanting to get fresh new work In the gallery to bring It back to life and we really wanted It to be young and brand new. Stepping away from painting and Illustration we are so excited that some hand crafted artistic structures will haunt the space for the week and hopefully longer.  So here Is whats on offer -  

10 recent graduates of NCAD showing a selection of their work as part of Kilkenny Arts Festival. Jewellery - Glass - Ceramic - Sculpture - Photography Opening Night Saturday August 6th, 7pm all welcome! Open Daily 10am - 6pm The Little Ghost Gallery, Coach Road, Dean St, Kilkenny... (Canice's Cathedral hill!) Featuring the work of... Muireann Walshe, Eimear O'Connor, Julia Schreckenbach, Anna West, Sam Hamilton, Conor O Toole, Charlene Mcfarland, Daniela Cardillo, Ruth Power, Eoghain Thomas O'Brien & Ian McDevitt. We can't say enough about the artists and their work, but whatever you do make it to what will be a great opening night and surely not to be missed, we wish all the artists the very best and stayed tuned to see and hear more right here and on the Face of Book!

CALL FOR EXHIBITION AND STUDIO SUBMISSIONS

Calling all artists, crafties, photographers, designers and creatives alike. We are calling out for you to exhibit In the Little Ghost for the Kilkenny Arts Festival this year. We have decided to have an open call to anyone who is interesting In having a show In the gallery. We will select the work and artist that we feel represents the gallery the best. The more different and engaging the better. We are looking for energy to be brought to the gallery to make it less ghostly and more alive. The artist must be highly motivated and willing to draw a crowd. Is this you? The gallery is In a great spot around the festival, right on the tourist trail, leading up to one of the main venues for the Arts Festival, St Canices Cathedral. The gallery gets visitors during the day and night because of Its location and is a very versatile space that can engage with the public. 
If you would like to rent the gallery space for the festival all you have to do Is the following: 

• Email the littleghostgallery@gmail.com with your intentions for your show. Attach sample pictures of your most recent work, a C.V.  and any relevant information about the show you wish to house In the gallery.
• The DEADLINE to get your submissions In to us Is July 22- THATS NEXT FRIDAY!!!!!!

We will be renting the gallery to the artist. The gallery Is rented to the artist for 3 weeks for a set fee. This gives the artist a week before and after the show to work In the gallery and have plenty of time to continue their show after the festival. 

For anymore information please email us littleghostgallery@gmail.com or you can contact us by phone on 0851032909 

We hope to hear from you soon.....well ya have a week and a day so REALLY SOON!!!! 

Little Ghost Vancancies - Apply Within

The Little Ghost Gallery has been a little more ghostly than usual over the past few months. After having many a cup of tea with a sit down chat followed by the ever more serious stand up hand signal chat, we have decided that we are going to make the Little Ghost a more creative place full time. With our ever growing work loads and the distance from home we have agreed that we would like to have someone with similar interests, ideas and intentions as us move into the space and make that their creative home.
The gallery is now a blank space which we intend on transforming into a studio space all depending on the artists studio needs. 
The studio will be available to rent for exhibition for the Kilkenny Arts Festival which is now open for application. 
If you would like to apply for the Little Ghost Studio we need the following from you:

• A brief description of your practice and work to date.
• Your intentions for the space and studio needs
• 3-4 images of your most current work 
• Your favourite animal and song
• A current C.V.

Please email us at littleghostgallery@gmail.com    


Submissions for Kilkenny Arts Festival: 

• A brief description of your practice and work to date.
• A brief description of your intended show
• 3-4 images of your most current work 
• A current C.V.

We will have more news on developments In the coming days but for now spread the word and ask around. 

For any inquires about rates and rent just email us at littleghostgallery@gmail.com 

We look forward to hearing from you.   

FLEA MARKET TIME!!!

We will be hosting our 5th Flea Market this Saturday and Sunday the 9th and 10th of April. We only have a few market days left before we close up so please try and call down to us and have a rummage around and see what you can find. We hope to see you on the weekend. We open at 11 and close our doors at 5ish. 

The Littlest Ghostliest Flea Market Open this WEEKEND!!!!

The Little Ghost Flea market is open again this weekend due to popular demand. I'm not kidding we are becoming popular, us, the littlest of flea markets has now got followers and regulars. This will be our 4th week and each week we are getting bigger and better and growing in stock but you HAVE to get down early to get the best buys. We are hoping to eventually expand If the demand Is there so we really need your support and for oy yes YOU with the reading eyes to tell people and post this page on your Facebook pages. The more people who visit us the more we can offer. If In one weekend we get over 100 visitors we will grow into a larger space next door and rent more tables to people who want to join in. SO come on down a support a very little market with a very big heart. 

MORE FLIPPIN FLEA MARKETS!

The next two Little Ghost Flea Markets will beheld on the last two weekends of this month: 

Sat 19th & Sun 20th and 

Sat 26th & Sun 27th March 

11am - 5pm each day. 

The intimate space of the Little Ghost Gallery will house a jumble of little treasures for sale. Rummage around a great selection of vintage toys, comics and art books. There will be original art work for sale along with some unique bits and pieces for you to browse through. Comb through the rails of clothes for both ladies and gents. Flick through the huge selection of CD's, Vinyl & DVDs and feel free to have a listen if you’re curious of the unheard. 

We are open from 11-5 both Saturday and Sunday and remember the first ones there get the best stuff as happened with the first market the week before last. 


“A beautiful way to spend your Saturday in amongst other peoples stuff”
FLEA UNCUT ****


"The Littlest Flea Market with the biggest heart",
Mick's Ma *****


"Some Buzz",
Eddie B - Man of simple pleasures ****

Little Ghost Flea Market the Sequel !!!!!

The second installment of the Little Ghost Flea market will be premiered this coming weekend the 26th and 27th of February. The intimate space of the Little Ghost Gallery will house a jumble of little treasures for sale. Rummage around a great selection of vintage toys, comics and art books. There will be original art work for sale along with some unique bits and pieces for you to browse through. 

Comb through the rails of clothes for both ladies and gents. Flick through the huge selection of CD's, Vinyl &  DVDs and feel free to have a listen if your curious of the unheard. 

We are open from 11-5 both Saturday and Sunday and remember the first ones there get the best stuff as happened with the first market the week before last. 

" A beautiful way to spend your Saturday in amongst other peoples stuff "

FLEA UNCUT ****

"The Littlest Flea Market with the biggest heart",

Mick's Ma *****

"Some Buzz",

Eddie B - Man of simple pleasures ****

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE FLEAS

Fleas, Workshops and Exhibitions!!!!

After a long break and planning the Little Ghost Gallery will be opening it's doors to a new year with loads of exciting events and shows.
We will be having the Galleries first Flea Market this month. The first of many to come so please come along and find some hidden treasure. We took time out to plan a new direction with the gallery to really make the space more interactive and well just active. We will be hosting some workshops in Illustration and creative practices, more info on these to come in the following week or so. We are also looking into renting the space throughout the year to artists as a creative studio, so If anyone is interested in learning more about this please email is at littleghostgallery@gmail.com.


If anyone has any enquiries about the space just give us a bell and we will get back to you. Big Ideas, big plans to make bigger and better times.

You have Fleas!

The Little Ghost Gallery will host a curious little Flea Market this month. So if you are around Kilkenny on Saturday and Sunday the 12th and 13th of February then pop on up to us and have a little browse around. 

'Under the Guise' an exhibition of new works by Victoria Cody at The Little Ghost

Opening next Friday 26th November at 8pm

 - Sat 4th December 2010

Victoria Cody Graduated from Limerick School of Art and Design with a Degree in Fine Art Printmaking (2009)

"I fell in love with collage making through making stencils while studying printmaking in college. Every aspect of collage making is appealing to me. I love the rummaging and collecting. Searching for images in second-hand shops and vintage magazines is an exciting part of the process. 

Transformation is a recurring theme in my practice. Working with collage on paper is the perfect medium as it enables constant transformation. The images I find are sliced up and recombined to form new images with new meaning. The work is strongly influenced by Victorian art and working on paper conveys the frailty that underlies the tragic and romantic themes in my work.

The hybrid animals are like messengers or religious icons. The stark contrast of vivid colour on a white background gives the work the 'felt' quality I seek. I want my figures to communicate a haunting quality and also to have a sense of isolation as if they were subject

 to some subliminal force of nature."

http://situatedontheotherside.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103572876383087

The Sunday Times Help us fight crime!

We were surprised to find this little piece in a section of the Sunday Times today. 
We are getting ever so closer to the sticky bandits! We really don't want to have to name and shame the person or people but If it comes to it we just might do it for the craic! 
We said a week ago that we would give it a week for whoever drunkly stole from us to return the goods. We politely extend this invitation to return the items to the gallery by 24 hours. 
After that we are going all out and if we have the attention of the national newspapers then we really will go all out! 
So to you who knows who has our lights, YES YOU! then you know what to do or we make this even more CRAZY !!!!! 

Paul Mahon and the Pen Pal Pears.

This is a really great little piece of film made by Paul Mahon. Where would we be without Paul Mahon. I know I would be pushing a shopping trolley filled with trash and pulling along a pet duck on a lead. Anne would be running some underground type Fight Club for ducks hence where I got mine. This is exactly the way our lives would be if we hadn't a Paul Mahon in it. So I suggest you go out there and find yourself a Paul before it's too late. 
To Paul this was a quick little thing he through together in bed one morning that as he said himself "sure man I didn't really give it much thought to be honest". 
I love how Paul is the guy in the room who everyone knows, the guy with the headband and bright coloured pants always seeming like he is up to devilment.Who would have known he was the one who captured these lovely shots when no one was looking. I think it encapsulates the feeling of the whole night. Everyone sharing curious glances, chirping to one another and sharing good laughs. Everyone has a child like sense of wonder in their face as they were reading and peeping at all the artists work. Just Perfect. Thank you Paul. Couldn't have chosen a nicer track to accompany it. 


Click on the video to watch it in full screen!!!

WE HAVE BEEN ROBBED AND NEED YOUR HELP!

After having such a great night for the opening on Friday we were so disappointed to discover that someone had stolen something from the gallery. 
We had two handmade Little Pacman style glass ghost lanterns on our stairs and someone swiped them. We have had them since the gallery opened and they mean a lot to us. The thought that someone came to the show, drank our wine, ate our food mingled amongst the good folk and then took the lanterns is really shit! 


We know someone there knows who took them and we want them back. Please mail us at littleghostgallery@gmail.com or call us on 0851032909 if you wanna rat out your scumbag mate.

 To the person who took them we are delighted to tell you that there is a small camera above the stairs that captured the whole thing. So we don't wanna have to chase you down so if your reading this or your friend is then all you have to do is bring them back. If not we print the images of you taking them and put them on-line. Would be pretty nice to hand into a Garda station too now that I think of it. 


The gallery is open all week so drop them in any time. If they are not back in the gallery by the end of the week well then we name and shame. 

MISSING

A BIG MUSHY WARM THANKS !!!!

Thank you to everyone who came down to the Pen Pal Pears show opening on Friday night. It was a great night and we didn't expect the huge crowd that came down. The reaction to the show was immense and nothing beat the great feeling that was there on the night as all the Pen Pal Pears finally met each other. So many hugs, so many high 5's so so many new friends made.


 Thanks to Niall & his lovely girlfriend for making cake and the most amazing gummy bears shish  kebabs ever!!! To Kerry for all the food and sausage rolls, flippin YUM! Lily &  Kev we are still sooooo sorry that really expensive bottle of wine you got us was swallowed by the pirates but we are gonna relax today and enjoy our chocolate so thank you. Eleanor gave us a new edition for the gallery which you must come and see its actually magical and possesses powers beyond this universe. 


A gigantic, massively huge whopper of a thanks to Michael McDermott from LeCool who opened the show for us. I don't think anyone has ever seen an opening like Michaels. Amazing! The man is a genius. I am dedicating a whole show to the Life and times of Mr Michael McDermott. We were lucky to have him stay down another night so the party never ended. Thank you sir you made the weekend. 




To all the artists whose work is now on the gallery walls, thank you for your time, patience and dedication over the past few months. The whole experience was as challenging for Anne and myself as it was for you. We never realised how and simple idea could grow into a mini movement so quick. The stories of friendships being formed because of this show never grows old. Ever time I go back into the gallery I find something new on the wall. It is such a great show which such interesting artists. It was a pleasure hanging the work (long nights, stress, freak outs, panic attacks, fights, tea, coffee, tea, stiff drinks.......) and we hope to do it again so it is not a once off by any means. 


The show is open all week from 12 - 5 pm and the artists in the show will be invigilating so make sure to chat to whoever is there and get to know their work. It's a show that takes time to view so when your there have a cuppa or bring like a really nice ice pop and browse those walls. It is like a traditional Facebook. You get to read peoples lives and see where they are at and what they have done in the past few months. You can like or ignore the work, logout or walk out, suggest it to a friend and also poke a real live artist when your there, poke them right in the arm!!! 


We have a video on the way from Mr Paul Mahon who was so awesomely awesome to film the night with his lovely new camera and also provide the great visuals we had outside. There will be more visuals outside the gallery during the week so pop on down some night. 


I stole some photos from Lily Reilly so shhhhhh she may never know. We will post up all the artists work over the next week so keep an eye out and please call down to see it and tell your friends. 

PEN PALS POWER EXTREME !!!!

5 DAYS TO GO

Only a few days to go until the opening night for the Pen Pal Pears show. So what is this Pen Pal nonsense you so brashly speak of with your fancy pants arty jibber jabber??? Well I will tell thee. 

A few months back we asked artists of all artistic backgrounds to send us examples of their work. We chose 60 artists out of a near 200 and we spent a few nights looking closely at all the artists work. We then paired off the artists into 30 pairs and wrote a letter to each. In this letter was the postal address of their new Pen Pal Pear. 

We asked the artists to make contact with their Pen Pal and create something that will be exhibited in the gallery as a large group show. The artists were asked not to Google or email each other. We begged them not to Facebook their Pen Pal or meet them face to face. We only wanted them to contact each other using the postal system and eventually when the are finished their collaboration they meet face to face on the opening night of the show which is this coming Friday the 6th of August. 

Who doesn't like getting post? Awwwwwww it's one of those lovely little things in life that never grows old. But due to our increasing laziness and obsession with everything online we forget the good old days and we give a big MEH! to romance and letter writing. My brother Dave still writes home and I think it's so admirable and nice in today's world. When you get a hand written letter you get a sense of the process that went into putting it all together. Its all the fine details of putting the paper down, sitting at your desk or kitchen table, writing away taking the time to seal and send. Perfect! You can see how I'm totally goin for an An Post Oscar .

Well we thought how great would it be if we could ask artists to just write a letter to someone they don't know but knowing they share the same interest and have to work towards something together. We knew from the start that there would be problems and artists would drop out and people would panic and get frustrated and rush things and others would take it in their stride and some would forget and some wouldn't give a shit and some would sneak an email or even meet their artist Pen Pal. We wanted all of this to happen because ever moment was being recorded through the letters and through the creation of each artwork. 

The show itself will be something very different. The finished art works will be displayed but also all of the letters, packages, emails, notes, post-it's from all the artists so the viewer can see all every bit of creation from start to finish. We don't want to just hang all the pieces on the wall n some boring manner so we are working hard to make the display of the work as interesting as the work itself.  There are friendships formed and artists pals made for life, some of the artists met up in other countries, some never made it past the first letter, some fell out but its all so damn interesting! 

So next Friday please come and join us and be apart of what will be a very different and unique event. Meet the artists and have a drink with us. We hope to have some live music and all our visitors make their own letter to be sent to someone the may know or not know.  

Friday 6h of August at 8.00pm 

All Welcome!  

PEN PAL DEADLINE TODAY!!!!

Today is the day that will be like a mini Christmas for us! We  receive the Pen Pal work for the upcoming show that will open for the Kilkenny Arts Festival. We are delighted at the amount of work that has been made and we thank all the artists to stayed with it and followed through to the very end. We promise to give you an amazing show like no other and make a very special night indeed. We have been away and very busy so excuse our lack of blogging but we will be giving plenty of updates and annoying the hell out of people on Facebook n what not over the next week. So you have been warned!

TONIGHT!!!!!!

STEVE MCCARTHY'S SHOW IS ON TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT IN THE LITTLE GHOST GALLERY -

It opens at 7:30pm and all we ask is if you bring some drink and enjoy the chilled athmosphere and enjoy the night. The summer starts tonight. I smell a street party coming on!

7:30pm 

 The Little Ghost Gallery

BRING TREATS!!!!!

THIS FRIDAY - BE AT THE LITTLE GHOST GALLERY AT 7:30 pm

The Man Who Tasted Shapes - An Exhibition of the work of Mr Steve McCarthy. 

For the days running up to the show we will be posting up random pages of Steve's Sketch books that we robbed on the sly. Thankfully he is too busy putting the show together to notice. 

One of our all time favourite artists will be hosting his biggest solo show to date in the gallery so do come along and enjoy the craic, banter, drinks, cigarettes at the front door, hum's and ha's, dancing afterward, dancing during, bright sunny evening, lovely people, finely dressed people, amazing artwork, amazinggggggg gallery, shockingly handsome balloon animals, bunting, low - mid and high 5s and alot more. 7:30 EVENING TIME AFTER DINNER AND HOME AND AWAY!!! LITTLE GHOST GALLERY!!!!!

THE MAN WHO TASTED SHAPES - Opening this coming Friday in the Little Ghost Gallery

THE MAN WHO TASTED SHAPES - 18th of JuNe

The Little Ghost will be hosting 'The Man Who Tasted Shapes' an exhibition of the work of the gentleman artist Mr Steve McCarthy. The opening is on the 18th night of the 6th month that is this month. Doors will open at SEVEN:30
If you would like to be in with a chance to win an signed original from Mr Steve McCarthy please post a comment below telling us your most favourite tasting shape and why? 

Mr Steve McCarthy head lining on the Little Ghost stage this June.

The rumours you have been hearing are true. We would like to be the official word on the street and tell you that yes Mr Steve McCarthy is head lining this year at the Little Ghost Gallery. 
I know what your thinking and I honestly do sympathise with you about buying Oxegen tickets or tickets for any other festival this year now knowing they were a waste. It has taken us about 15 years to get Mr Steve McCarthy for what will be his biggest solo show to date. 
I was introduced to Mr Steve McCarthy last year by a young chimney sweep named Rob Dunne. We shook hands and exchanged witty banter and childish witticisms. He held the air of a gentleman with a cheeky swagger of a knacker after throwing stones. "This lad is Awright", said a passing drunken Naval Officer, who Mr Steve McCarthy had obviously entertained moments before. My curiosities began to shit their pants. 'Who is this seemingly flawless gentleman, and where did he get those shoes'? 
After a visit to an exhibition I was having in what is now the Little Ghost gallery, I was quick to realise that Mr Steve McCarthy was an artist, due to his lack of interest of what I had on the wall. Being the mysterious gentleman that he is, he did grace his fingers to his chin when viewing some of the pieces only to mutter a purr like 'hmmmmmmm'! I must say I did like the cut of his jib and who was to know that less than a year later I would be sharing a studio with the man and having a child with his girlfriend. (cough!)



In the past year myself and Anne have befriended Mr Steve McCarthy. This meeting has created so many wonderful happenings. I now share a beautifully cool studio space in the Monster Truck Studios with him and other amazing folk. Through Steve I have met an array of great mates that would make up a killer Top Trumps set of cards. Without meeting this fine gentleman I would still be wearing Velcro strap shoes and I wouldn't have witnessed his brother skateboard in a banana suit. Thank you Mr Steve McCarthy, Thank you. 


For those of you who don't know Mr Steve McCarthy and missed the weekly Mr Steve McCarthy Collectors Magazine, here are some facts about the artist that you may not have been aware of; 

•    There is no I in team and there sure ain't no I in Mr Steve McCarthy. Spell-check that shit! 
• Mr Steve McCarthy is a very serious DJ.
• Mr Steve McCarthy makes a quality vinaigrette.
• Mr Steve McCarthy knows nothing about any Volcano. 
• Is the only person who can print the colour green.
• Makes a sandwich like this - CLICK HERE! 
• Does not own an eraser - EVER! 
• Steve McCarthy OWNS you! 
• Is the only man in all existence who can hold his dignity whilst changing his shorts under a towel on a beach. FACT! 
• 43% of his bone marrow is made from crayon.
• The Priory of Sion want Mr Steve McCarthy to give their secrets back. 
• Mr Steve McCarthy likes reading, walking and running and shanking.

So now you know a little more about Mr Steve McCarthy lets talk to the man himself about his upcoming show in the Little Ghost. 

Me - Hi Steve, thanks for taking time out to speak with us.

Steve - Ah its Mr Steve McCarthy if you don't mind. (yawn!)

Me - Ah, sorry, uhhh, hmmmm, OKAY! Its just in my notes here........

Mr Steve McCarthy - ....Yeah fuck your notes and your ridiculous time to interview people, its 4:30 in the morning, I'm in bed.

Me - So how would you rate yourself as an artist from 1 - 10?

Mr Steve McCarthy - 11. Now get the fuck outta my house before I call the cops. 

Me - One more thing.......

Mr Steve McCarthy - ( Pulls a prison shank from his bedside drawer) 

Me - (Exit)

Steve McCarthy is one of the most welcoming artists I have ever met. This kind of personality is seen right through his work which seems to flow from him so naturally as if he was given life to do this and only this. Without you ever knowing it Mr Steve McCarthy would have introduced himself to you. Like this AD we all admired on the tele, that was Mr Steve McCarthy saying 'How-ya Boss'. Who would have thought that the person who created such a loving advert owns a large collection of prison shanks. 

Since we opened the Little Ghost Gallery we have been hoping to get Mr Steve McCarthy have a show there and at long last he is now booked in a ready to take to the main stage to headline a huge solo gig! 

I don't want to reveal too much about the show as I don't even know the title of it yet but what I can tell you is that it will be truly unforgettable. If you are expecting the typical pictures on the wall with some boring price tags underneath then think again. We don't roll in such ways. This will be an opening night you will not want to miss. I have heard rumours of well know spinners of vinyl playing on the night. I have heard rumours of large projections and people travelling from a far to see it. These are all but rumours but I'm fully sure Mr Steve McCarthy created them so they have to be real. 

The opening night of the show will be the 18th of JUNE! Chalk it down! Be there early on the night to get the free goodies which are all mini fun size artworks that you will cherish and pass on to your children. Mr Steve McCarthy's work sells fast so make sure you get down and fall in love with his work. 

Mr Steve McCarthy was awarded a place in my top 5 artists earlier this year when I saw him at work one in the studio one day. He doesn't sketch or rub out or delete it just seems to flow very naturally and I hate him for that the BASTARD!!! But he has actually been officially awarded a place in my Top 5 artists list in no particular order: 

• Scott Campbell
• Jean Michel Basquiat 
• Mr Steve McCarthy
• Esao Andrews
• Denise Nestor  

If you would like to have some of Mr Steve McCarthy's amazing artwork on your desktop then all you have to do is click HERE to download an amazingly stylish lumberjack tree leg scene .

Mr Steve's wallpaper was chosen and put up on the well respected and much admired Kitsune Noir blog by Bobby Solomon. Respect!!! There are plenty more awesome wallpapers on there to have a look for but I warn you don't take Mr Steve McCarthy's one down for at least 4 years as he will send the van over to your house and you know what that means...yes he will move your furniture around into some senseless manner that you will never feel comfortable sitting in watching television. So be warned. 

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Inter-web, this is Mr Steve McCarthy. Remember the name because you just got SERVED!!!!!!!  

Pen Pal Pears NEWS!!!!

Thank you to all who applied for the Pen Pal Pears group show. We were knocked out by the huge amount of submissions we received for the show. We had set aside a weekend to go through all the artists work thinking it would take just a few hours but how wrong we were. 
We had planned on pulling the selected artists names from a hat at random to make the pairs for the show but once we received all the submissions after the deadline we realised that this would have complicated the show and not made the pairings as successful. We were able to pair artists from other countries who compliment each other in the mediums they work. Photographers with graphic illustrators, poets with musicians, tattoo artists with comic artists, painters with writers, conceptual artists with delicate hand craft artists and so on and so on. This process of matching up each artists by their work took us days but it was so exciting and uplifting but also tough as we had to say no to a lot of the artists who applied. We are so grateful to those artist who replied saying they would stay in touch with the gallery and will be down to the show on the opening night. Damn you nice artists making us feel even more guilty!!! 
The show was very nearly cancelled as was the gallery just after the deadline of the submissions. We had a huge fire in the floor shop that is in the same building as the gallery. The fire service were incredible and kicked the living shit out of the fire and killed it before it gutted the building. The gallery sustained some smoke damage and we are without electricity and heat and there is a big clean up to be done. We were about to cancel the group show and all other shows booked in this summer but to hell with that. Nothing a weekend, some good friends, a few beers and some serious elbow grease won't fix. We will have the gallery up and going in a few weeks hopefully.  


We picked 60 artists out of nearly 200 who applied. This 60 were put into 30 pairs. These 30 artists are the Pen Pal Pears. We will not be releasing the names of the artists or pairs as we do not want any of them to know who was paired with who until the opening night of the show in July. 


By now all the Pen Pals should have revived their letters revealing their chosen Pen Pal Pear so if you have get cracking and stay in touch with us if you need anything or need to know about size as the gallery is small. To anyone who has not yet received their Pen Pal or an email to say why please email us and we will sort it out.