Craft and Contemporary Design Show

Off to Wellington College Crowthorne (near Bracknell) early tomorrow morning for a Craft in Focus art fair over the weekend. Open 1pm to 6pm Friday and 10 am to 5 pm Saturday and Sunday. We will be setting up tomorrow before the show opens so hope the traffic is all right so that we arrive in good time. Call by if you are in the area and want to see several hundred of my fine art original photographs, books, posters, talk about courses or just for a chat.
Hope to see you there. Dave

Birkenhead Lecture

Off to Birkenhead in an hour or so to give a lecture to the Birkenhead Photographic Association. Same talk as Monday night, Peak Light. Quite a nice day here so hopefully lots of people will turn to see my pictures and hear what I have to say.

Another show at the weekend coming. This time in Crowthorne near Reading. Just the 3.5 hour drive compared to the 4 hour drive to Sevenoaks last weekend. Saw quite a few Christmas shoppers last weekend and hopefully we will see more of that as we move closer to the Christmas.

Lecture at Retford near Worksop

Not quite recovered from the show at the weekend; I strained a muscle in my back unloading the car at midnight last night after driving home from Sevenoaks. Had some acupuncture and massage this morning which has eased it considerably.

Off to Retford near Worksop tonight to give my print lecture Peak Light. Starts at 7.30pm so will have to leave in a couple of hours. Just time for a few scans for new book Lake Light.

Walking to Buxton tomorrow if back sufficiently recovered. Forecast is for rain all day which will not be pleasant. Spending day in Gallery in Pavilion Gardens.

Sevenoaks Contemporary Art and Craft Fair

We are in Sevenoaks this weekend at the Sevenoaks School for a Contemporary Art and Craft Fair. Up early on Friday and on the road by 4.20am. Setting up at the venue by 8.30am and open at 12pm. Bit of a squeeze fitting everything in, width was fine but depth 2 feet less than normal.

Friday afternoon was reasonable and Saturday was good. Lots of visitors to show.

This morning our good friends Lin and Chris, who live close-by, called in. Used to go to college, work, play football and walk the hills with Chris in 70's. Could have chatted away for hours but they were on way to North Wales so just saw them for a few minutes.

Last day tomorrow, 10am to 5pm. Come by and see my latest photos and have a chat if you are able to.

Same again next week at Crowthorne near Reading but before that have lectures Monday and Wednesday evenings and Buxton Gallery all day Tuesday.

Just watched Match of the Day. Hope we remember to turn clocks back or we could be at show very early!
Dave Butcher

Catch Up

Still catching up after Nordic trip. Last weekend we did the Great Peak District Fair in Buxton. A busy show both days with over 10000 visitors. Shipped some orders Monday and had a flu jab. Tuesday found me in the gallery in Buxton Pavilion Gardens all day. Managed to get some exercise too by walking the 12 miles there and back. Nice morning but jolly damp on return.
Today I ran a 1-to–1 darkroom workshop. Now watching Chelsea play in the Champions league and leading 2-0 with 40 mins to go.
Tomorrow prepare for weekend show in Sevenoaks.
Dave Butcher

Great Peak District Fair

Good to see old friends at Deeping Camera Club yesterday for lecture, especially Tony and Derek.

On way home from staying with our best friends Rob and Annie on their narrow boat just north of Coventry. Went for a walk today but it was in the rain so no pictures. Bit flat in this part of the world. Had a very nice evening meal and a few pints at the Greyhound pub at Hawksbury Junction. Very nice metal canal bridge outside pub, one to come back to.

Tomorrow we set up for the Great Peak District Fair which opens on Saturday at 10am. Entrance is free and runs to Sunday at 4.30pm. This is more than an art fair, it is combined with a farmers market and the Buxton Beer Festival. All the exhibitors are from the Peak District. Maybe see you there.
Dave Butcher

Buxton Gallery in the Gardens

Tomorrow, Tuesday 13th, I am in the Gallery in the Gardens in Buxton all day, 9.30 am to 5 pm. It's a bit quiet at this time of the year so I will take my Lake District contacts in with me to mark up those that will possibly go into my new book. I am walking the 12 miles there and back so don't want to carry too much more than this. The weather today was great so am hoping it holds for tomorrow too. Did some printing today and will do more Wednesday; still trying to catch up after Nordic trip. Big show at the weekend; The Great Peak District Fair also in the Buxton Pavilion Gardens. Looking forward to that. It's a mix of art fair and farmers market, free entry so you've no excuses! Should be busy with maybe 10,000 visitors over the weekend.
Dave Butcher

More Lectures

Just back from giving a lecture in Chorley near Preston. It was Peak Light again and a reasonable audience size of 45-ish. Another very friendly club and an enjoyable evening. Next one is Wednesday in Market Deeping near Peterborough. This will be my 4th or 5th visit and we always enjoy it there.
Dave Butcher

Oldham Camera Club Lecture

The lecture season starts today for me (September to April). Just packing up my lecture Peak Light and getting ready to go to Oldham Camera Club tonight. This is my latest lecture, and the start is 7.30pm in the Gallery Oldham building, Lifelong Learning Centre. I have been to them lots of times in the past and they are a very friendly bunch so I'm quite looking forward to it.
Dave Butcher

Harman Ilford Film Processing Service

Just swapped emails with Steven Brierley, sales director of Harman Technology who make the Ilford black and white products.

They recently expanded the processing services they offer and now do 120 roll film through a high quality processing machine.

With about 100 rolls to process and at least 500 a year, this is good news. I hate processing film, it's not a creative step - I process every film in the same way, and it's veruy time consuming (about 45 minutes for every batch of 5 films).

Keeping fingers crossed they give me a good price and the quality is what I would produce.

Watch this space for my verdict on quality.
Dave Butcher