Original artwork description:

The Lighthouse. The frame alone cost £900! There's a fascinating tale behind this painting as Tom explains:

"Once upon a time I had my own wee art gallery called ArtEscape in Brighton's Kemptown Village...which used to be a thriving backwater, of unique independent shops from a vegetarian shoemaker to a French gift shop and my wee gallery too) all just a minute's walk from the seafront, and where we traders enjoyed the footfall of many locals and tourists alike. Sadly over time, estate agents and coffee bars took over the area...but as it happens...the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery opposite London's Old Vic Theatre invited me to exhibit in their gallery...and so I closed mine and moved my work to their auspicious gallery, while moving my studio back onto our dining table at home!
However, one day prior to my move, I happened to be in London recording a documentary for television...that's my day job...I'm a professional actor and have been doing that for the last 50 years. On my journeys home from London I always made a point of strolling back via Cork Street, Bond Street etc in order that I could visit every gallery I could...this was a pastime I enjoyed long before I took up painting in my late 50s (I am now 70).
It was during one of these visits to the Metropolis for acting work that I happened upon a rather grand large picture frame leaning against a shop front in Bond Street with a piece of paper attached by sellotape. On it were written the words ‘Please take me’. So I enquired in the shop as to whether the note was for real and when I was told that the frame was surplus to requirements I managed somehow to carry it all the way back to Victoria on a number 38 bus (I can assure you it was and still is no lightweight) then onto the Brighton bound train...once in Brighton I caught another bus and then had to walk the last 10 minutes before eventually arriving back at my gallery ArtEscape in Kemptown.
Of all the many paintings I had at the time, quite a few were in need of a good frame but as it happened only one fitted the frame I had just carried all the way from London. With a few minor additions to the painting itself, it not only fitted the frame perfectly but looked as if the frame had been made especially for it. But then the problem came as to where to exhibit it. I had a rather small gallery which I also used as my studio but I had the bright idea of leaning it against the gallery door at an angle, so not only would the passing public see it in all its glory but it would also be great for keeping the door open (it kept shutting itself which wasn't helping me get potential customers through the door!)

Now to the point of all this rather overlong missive:
Little did I know at the time that it was probably the most expensive doorstop ever. But while it leaned there it did have the desired effect and customers couldn't help wandering into the gallery enticed by what we now know as The Lighthouse.
One day I found myself again in London at some casting session or other, leaving a good friend and fellow artist, whose work I also exhibited, in charge of the gallery. On my return I noticed that The Lighthouse had vanished from its post as a doorstop. Hoping that he had managed to sell it for the price I was asking - £350 - and didn't have to offer a discount which so often happens in galleries he informed me not only that he hadn't sold it but had wrapped it in bubble wrap for safe keeping. When I enquired why he had done that he told me this story: ‘An artist friend of mine was passing and saw The Lighthouse leaning against the door and was aghast at how awful it was for me to display it in such a place when the frame alone was in a rather famous style preferred by a particular artist over a century ago (the artist's name now eludes me) and that alone the frame was worth some £900.’
That was some 10 plus years ago. I still cherish The Lighthouse in that very same frame to this day.
However, being an artist trying to survive during these rather difficult times, if someone offered the right price…"

Materials used:

acrylics

Tags:
#landscape #seascape #sea #beach #lighthouse #sand 
The Lighthouse (2018)
Acrylic painting
by Tom Cotcher

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£3,000

Original artwork description
Minus

The Lighthouse. The frame alone cost £900! There's a fascinating tale behind this painting as Tom explains:

"Once upon a time I had my own wee art gallery called ArtEscape in Brighton's Kemptown Village...which used to be a thriving backwater, of unique independent shops from a vegetarian shoemaker to a French gift shop and my wee gallery too) all just a minute's walk from the seafront, and where we traders enjoyed the footfall of many locals and tourists alike. Sadly over time, estate agents and coffee bars took over the area...but as it happens...the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery opposite London's Old Vic Theatre invited me to exhibit in their gallery...and so I closed mine and moved my work to their auspicious gallery, while moving my studio back onto our dining table at home!
However, one day prior to my move, I happened to be in London recording a documentary for television...that's my day job...I'm a professional actor and have been doing that for the last 50 years. On my journeys home from London I always made a point of strolling back via Cork Street, Bond Street etc in order that I could visit every gallery I could...this was a pastime I enjoyed long before I took up painting in my late 50s (I am now 70).
It was during one of these visits to the Metropolis for acting work that I happened upon a rather grand large picture frame leaning against a shop front in Bond Street with a piece of paper attached by sellotape. On it were written the words ‘Please take me’. So I enquired in the shop as to whether the note was for real and when I was told that the frame was surplus to requirements I managed somehow to carry it all the way back to Victoria on a number 38 bus (I can assure you it was and still is no lightweight) then onto the Brighton bound train...once in Brighton I caught another bus and then had to walk the last 10 minutes before eventually arriving back at my gallery ArtEscape in Kemptown.
Of all the many paintings I had at the time, quite a few were in need of a good frame but as it happened only one fitted the frame I had just carried all the way from London. With a few minor additions to the painting itself, it not only fitted the frame perfectly but looked as if the frame had been made especially for it. But then the problem came as to where to exhibit it. I had a rather small gallery which I also used as my studio but I had the bright idea of leaning it against the gallery door at an angle, so not only would the passing public see it in all its glory but it would also be great for keeping the door open (it kept shutting itself which wasn't helping me get potential customers through the door!)

Now to the point of all this rather overlong missive:
Little did I know at the time that it was probably the most expensive doorstop ever. But while it leaned there it did have the desired effect and customers couldn't help wandering into the gallery enticed by what we now know as The Lighthouse.
One day I found myself again in London at some casting session or other, leaving a good friend and fellow artist, whose work I also exhibited, in charge of the gallery. On my return I noticed that The Lighthouse had vanished from its post as a doorstop. Hoping that he had managed to sell it for the price I was asking - £350 - and didn't have to offer a discount which so often happens in galleries he informed me not only that he hadn't sold it but had wrapped it in bubble wrap for safe keeping. When I enquired why he had done that he told me this story: ‘An artist friend of mine was passing and saw The Lighthouse leaning against the door and was aghast at how awful it was for me to display it in such a place when the frame alone was in a rather famous style preferred by a particular artist over a century ago (the artist's name now eludes me) and that alone the frame was worth some £900.’
That was some 10 plus years ago. I still cherish The Lighthouse in that very same frame to this day.
However, being an artist trying to survive during these rather difficult times, if someone offered the right price…"

Materials used:

acrylics

Tags:
#landscape #seascape #sea #beach #lighthouse #sand 

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Tom Cotcher

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Location United Kingdom

About
"I trained at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and for the past 43 years have been a professional actor working in theatre, television and films as well... Read more

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