2006 The Back Catalogue

Sometime April/May 2006 I was contemplating life, my navel, oranges and other things. The Liss Fine Art/Fine Art Society show was a great success, the BIG Brangwyn retrospective had started in Leeds, the corresponding books were published. The world was an open door again - which direction to take? The Catalogue Raisonne now the main goal, but how to produce it. One tome including all 12,000 or so works ranging from murals, to oils, watercolours, etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, interiors, furniture, carpets, stained glass etc etc would be mighty expensive and mighty heavy. Perhaps the best thing would be to publish each discipline separately.

Having worked with Charles Mapleston on the Brangwyn film ART? It's just a job! I'd begun to appreciate the possibilities of film and we began to discuss the concept of publishing a catalogue as a DVD. The catalogue I felt to be most complete was stained glass, it's also the shortest, and co-incidentally the most cinematic. A painting can be appreciated on any wall, but to appreciate a stained glass window one needs to see the environment, the architectural setting - preferably in 3 dimensions.

The actual academic stuff could be produced as a PDF file printable on any Mac or PC to produce a hard copy. The DVD format would give me the freedom to add information as necessary, to film the glass in situ, to interview practitioners and experts on camera (Peter Cormack and Martin Harrison have both agreed to be interviewed and you can't get any better than a line up like that), to produce a slide show of windows, details and studies. The initial seed grew exponentially. We'd had problems with copyright on music for the Brangwyn film, so Charles suggested commissioning some music - we ended up with the concept of 'Ella meets the monks' a capella, and his friend, the jazz composer, Mike Westbrook agreed to write some music. My sister in law, Carolyn, used to sing with a vocal ensemble called Miscellany, based in Clevedon. I contacted their leader, Andrea Argent, and they were on board. This was becoming multi-layered and hugely exciting!

I dislike 'art speak' with a virulent intensity - it means nothing whatsoever to me. And I also feel strongly that if people understand more about the processes involved in creating art, they might actually appreciate it more. Which led me to consider commissioning someone to recreate a Brangwyn design for stained glass - possibly one he produced for Tiffany back in 1899 and (as far as we know) never manufactured. But it had to be someone exceptionally competent. By chance Gareth Morgan contacted me shortly after the Brangwyn exhibition began in Swansea. He admired Brangwyn and explained, apropos of nothing in particular, that he designed stained glass. I reviewed some of his work, more exchanges of emails, and I've got my glass maker!

Next a detailed budget - places to go, people to see, fees to pay. UGH! More than I'd earned in the previous 2 years, and almost equivalent to the amount Brangwyn research had already cost me. I needed to get some sponsorship for this venture. So then I produced a glossy proposal setting out the aims, which was checked over and finally approved by Graham (by far my better half) and Charles.

First port of call, Richard in his flat in Albany. Richard is extremely intelligent, a successful businessman and in some ways quite scary, but I always feel at ease with him. He looked through the proposal, cooked me lunch, offered his flat as a venue, and gave me a good starter cheque. What a man! He also suggested all sorts of leads for sponsorship.

Then the problems. Frank Brangwyn Stained Glass (FBSG) is unique. As far as I can gather, no-one has ever produced a catalogue raisonne in this form. It just doesn't fit the standard requirements for grants from such bodies as Paul Mellon, British Council, etc. I talked to a lady from Yale publishing - 'Brilliant idea' she opined, but we couldn't give you an advance. I wrote to wealthy collectors of Brangwyn, whose works must have escalated in value through the voluntary research I've undertaken in the last few years - which produced one cheque.

But by this time I was completely hooked on the concept, and all the gallery owners and art historians I've spoken to (except for a few Luddites - just kidding PC and DB!) think it's a brilliant idea. So it has to be done. Sometimes sponsorship rolls in when a project develops, so who knows?! Not me.


Carpe Diem, Non Est Vivere Sed Valere Vita (It's not the living but the force of life - a tag FB often used) and all that stuff. Go for it girl!