Sunday 24 October 2010

Going To Mass In A Minute, Doing This In Haste AGAIN, Such A Busy Artist

http://www.antoniarolls.co.uk/ for my website
http://www.jesusonthetube.co.uk/ for my other website
http://www.agracefuldeath.blogspot.com/for the exhibition A Graceful Death, paintings from the end of life.  Read the latest on the Dublin response to the exhibition as it nears its conclusion in the first showing of it in Ireland

Off To Mass In A Few Minutes, Dublin Hosts Have Lovely Church And Congregation, And My Goddaughter Is Singing A Solo

I am still here and loving it.  The exhibition, A Graceful Death, is closing today.  My wonderful, truly wonderful, Dublin friends have made their home into a gallery and have set up the exhibition as a private invitation only showing of the A Graceful Death exhibition.  I am showing A Graceful Death as the main exhibition, with a small exhibition of Jesus on the Tube, and Every Day Angels.  Dublin Friends know more people than you can imagine, and have made contacts and invited the most amazing characters who would find this exhibition of great purpose in their work.  We have had representatives from the Irish Cancer Society, the Irish Hospice Movement, the Clergy, Undertaking firms, the Glasnevin Trust alongside the Bethany Group of bereavement support, and hospice volunteers and all manner of interested and interesting people from all walks of life. 

I have written up the exhibition so far in the A Graceful Death blog, at http://www.agracefuldeath.blogspot.com/ to which I now direct you, as it is very good what is happening here.

So back to the next half hour.  I am going to Mass.  I do not go to Mass often.  When I stay with my Darling Dublin Friends, I go with them and find their church a positive, thriving place full of children and wonderful ways for the children to take part.  This morning, I am going to hear my goddaughter sing a solo.  My goddaughter (call me biased, but I don't think I am) can sing with the voice of an angel.  She doesn't just hit the right notes, she had Power in her voice, and alongside all the other good things she can do, it will be a joy to hear her this morning. 

So.  What can I say.  I am very tired and don't want this exhibition to end.  I may have to be escorted to the airport on Tuesday and made to get on the plane firmly, but gently, by my Dublin Friends.  This house, the family in it, are so gracious and generous.  It makes me wonder, could I give my home over to someone to show 3 exhibitions at once?  And do all the organising?  And provide tea and cupcakes and round the clock support?  I don't know.  If it was for the Dublin Friend and her creative work, then yes. Absolutley.  A pleasure.  And too, the amazing photographer extraordinaire Eileen, I would do it for her.  So for a selected few, I would do it happily.  I have seen and expereinced how it should be done, so I have a few practical advantages.  Oh yes, and the Glorious Clarissa made her house over into an Gallery for A Graceful Death last Feb, so she is utterly fab too. If she wanted a Property Lodge exhibition (her company) I would do that for her.

In between the last sentence and this, I have been to Mass, come back, shown some folk around the exhibition, had lunch, had more lunch and sat with Dublin Friend on the sofa and made rude jokes about the exhibition.  Yesterday, my dear old friend Caroline travelled with her truly excellent (and all agree here, very pretty) mother from one end of Ireland to Dublin to visit the exhibition.  I am so impressed with this, and it was wonderful to see her again.  I have not seen her for about 5 years now.  We met when we were about 12 at our Convent Boarding School and it is funny how one forgets that Caroline remembers Everything...Caroline can entertain a crowd for hours with stories of how dreadful we used to be.  Ooops.  It was the highlight of the day.  (Seeing Caroline, not her stories of our frankly Dreadful pranks).  Thank you for coming Caroline.

I will go back now into the Fray, and take more bus loads of Invitees Only around the exhibition, pausing to have a little light hearted moment with the Jesus on the Tubes under the stairs (not in the broom cupboard, I will put up photos of a very neat exhibition space under the stairs later when I get home) and ending with a bit of good humour with the Every Day Angels exhibited in the kitchen.  The tea is on, the cakes are being eaten and replenished, talk is being talked, and people are spending time deciding what they think and feel about the A Graceful Death exhibition.  I listen with huge interest.  So, off again for the moment.  The next tour is about to start.
Oh and the Goddaughter sang like a Super Star.  Wonderful.

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